Hjalmar Steenstrup (11 October 1890 – 18 December 1945) was a Norwegian insurance agent, and

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

pioneer and intelligence agent during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Personal life

Steenstrup was born in

Modum Modum is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area has a long tradition of ...

as a son of curate Hjalmar Steenstrup (1847–1915) and his wife Fredrikke Brun (1861–1905). He was a descendant of Paul Steenstrup and Peter Steenstrup, and a nephew of Johan Brun and brother-in-law of

Gunnar Isachsen Gunnerius Ingvald Isachsen (3 October 1868 – 19 December 1939), was a Norwegian military officer and polar scientist. From 1923, he was the first president of the Norwegian Maritime Museum. Early years He was born in Drøbak, Norway in 1868 ...

. He married Eva Glatved Martens (1896–1976) in August 1916 in

Alversund Alversund is a village in Alver municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland of the Lindås peninsula, along the shore of the Alverstraumen strait. The village sits between the villages of Alverstraumen (ac ...

Career

Steenstrup worked for and later managed the insurance company ''Det norske gjensidige Skogbrandforsikringsselskab''. He was co-founder and manager of the insurance association Samtrygd Gjensidig Norsk Forsikringsforening. He issued the book ''

Hvem er hvem? ''Hvem er hvem?'' () was a Norwegian book series, presenting facts about notable persons from Norway. The first edition was issued in 1912, and the 14th edition came in 1994. From 1938, the plan was to publish such a book every three years, but th ...

'' (lit. "Who is Who?") for 1930, 1934 and 1938, and wrote journal articles on insurance matters as well as on language politics. He had been a co-founder of Riksmålsvernet in 1919.

World War II

During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, Steenstrup was a central courier travelling between Norway and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He carried money from Government representative

Anders Frihagen Andreas Frihagen (born 28th January 1892 in Vanylven, Møre og Romsdal – died on 5th April 1979 in Oslo) was a prominent Norwegian bank manager and politician affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party. He served as the manager of " Den norske ...

at the

Norwegian legation in Stockholm The Norwegian Legation in Stockholm played a significant role during the World War II, Second World War. Until 9 April 1940 the legation consisted of four persons, and at the end of the war about 1,100 persons were connected to the legation. Refug ...

to the underground movement in Norway. He was in contact with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

already in the Summer of 1940, and in contact with

Malcolm Munthe Major Malcolm Grane Ludovic Martin Munthe MC (30 January 1910 – 24 November 1995) was a British soldier, writer, and curator, and son of the Swedish doctor and writer Axel Munthe and his English second wife Hilda Pennington-Mellor. Early ...

at the British legation in Stockholm. He was given the task of finding a suitable military leader to coordinate the emerging military resistance in Norway, which resulted in the recruitment of

Ole Berg Ole Berg (7 October 1890 – 23 September 1968) was a Norwegian military officer. He participated in the defence during the German invasion of Norway in 1940. He built up the Norwegian police forces in Sweden from 1943 to 1945. He served a ...

. Under the cover name "Cato" he coordinated

's transport of refugees from Norway to Sweden, and was also involved in intelligence. He was arrested in July 1941, and held at the prison

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway, where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This ...

until September 1943. After a period at the

Grini concentration camp Grini prison camp (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Bærum, Norway, which operated between 1941 and May 1945. Ila Detention and Security Prison is now located here. History Grini was originally built as a women's prison, near an old croft ...

, he was transported to the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

in Germany in November 1943, and stayed there the rest of the war. In Sachsenhausen, he was selected as "postmaster", distributing post, a position which gave him a good overview of other prisoners. By 1945, he could bring collected material on the fate of many prisoners to Sweden. He continued the registration work for the Norwegian Legation in Stockholm, and later for the Government in Oslo. He was selected to represent the Norwegian concentration camp prisoners during the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. He participated at preparations for the Nuremberg Trials in Germany in December 1945. On the return from Germany to Oslo, he died in a plane crash, the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steenstrup, Hjalmar 1890 births 1945 deaths People from Modum Norwegian non-fiction writers Riksmål-language writers Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Norway 20th-century non-fiction writers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1945