Kaare Krabbe Filseth (24 April 1901 – 19 September 1944) was a Norwegian newspaper editor who was killed during the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

. His father Johan Filseth (1862–1927) hailed from

Romedal Romedal is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964 when it became part of Stange Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of ...

and his mother Laura Krabbe (1879–1969) from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. After taking his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

he was hired as sub-editor for the newspaper ''

Gudbrandsdølen ''Gudbrandsdølen'' was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Lillehammer in Oppland county. ''Gudbrandsdølen'' was started on 1 January 1894, after editor-in-chief Johan Filseth had been jettisoned from another newspaper '' Framgang''. After his ...

'' in 1920. His father was a former editor-in-chief of that newspaper. Kaare Filseth remained in his position until 1931, except for a year from 1923 to 1924, when he worked as a secretary for the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

information department in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. In 1934 in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

he married a woman from

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2022 ...

. They had one child. In 1938 Filseth became editor-in-chief of the Hønefoss-based newspaper ''

Ringerikes Blad ''Ringerikes Blad'' () is a local newspaper published in Hønefoss, Norway. Johan Jørgen Krohn founded ''Ringerikes Blad'' in 1845. It covers Ringerike, Hole and Jevnaker. It has a circulation of 12684, of whom 12227 are subscribers. ''Ringe ...

''. Filseth's sub-editor in ''Ringerikes Blad'' since 1938 was Oskar Hasselknippe. Hasselknippe was an active resistance member during the

; it has been said that he did "more secret work than newspaper work". In 1943, the same year he became district commander in

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 ...

, Hasselknippe left ''Ringerikes Blad''. Filseth was repeatedly asked by German authorities to reveal information about Hasselknippe, but feigned ignorance and covered for him every time. One day, resistance members under the leadership of Hasselknippe, but with orders from more highly placed Milorg officers, blew up the command central of the

State Police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

in Ringerike.

Martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

was declared, and Filseth was taken hostage, selected among the populace of Hønefoss. Hostages during the occupation were taken as retaliation of resistance acts. Hostages did not necessarily have any connection to the matter at hand, but were mostly family, friends or townspeople of the suspected perpetrators. Filseth was shot in the staircase of his own home. He was buried in Hønefoss. His sister Tove Filseth (1905–1994) was a journalist. She was married to Silesian Jewish writer

Max Tau Max Tau was a German–Norwegian writer, editor, and publisher. Life Tau grew up in an environment characterized by what he later termed the "Jewish-German" symbiosis, in a Jewish household heavily influenced by the Jewish enlightenment. He ...

from May 1944 to his death in 1976 and physician Haakon Natvig from 1988. Another sister Aase Filseth was married to Carl Ferdinand Gjerdrum, who was executed during the war. His brother Tyge Filseth was a marketer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filseth, Kaare 1901 births 1944 deaths Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian resistance members Norwegian civilians killed in World War II People from Lillehammer People from Ringerike (municipality) Norwegian people of Danish descent Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany 20th-century Norwegian writers Assassinated Norwegian journalists