(; shortened STAPO) was from 1941 to 1945 a National Socialist armed police force that consisted of Norwegian officials after

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

pattern. It operated independently of the ordinary Norwegian police. The force was established on 1 June 1941 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 ...

. The initiative for the force came from the later chief Karl Marthinsen and other prominent members of the collaborationist party

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...

. At its peak, in 1944 there were 350 employees in Statspolitiet, in addition to a larger number who collaborated or rendered services for them.

Description

Its purpose was primarily to combat so-called ''political crimes'', refugees, espionage, sabotage, armed resistance and other kinds of resistance against the German occupation forces or the Norwegian collaborationist

Quisling regime The Quisling regime, or Quisling government are common names used to refer to the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaboration government led by Vidkun Quisling in German occupation of Norway, German-occupied Norway during th ...

. Statspolitiet played an important role during the Holocaust in Norway, aiding in the deportation of the Jews in Norway. Norwegians were arrested by contemporary laws, and many were later sent to prison camps in Norway and

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s in what was then Germany. Statspolitiet was organized with a headquarters 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 ...

and six subsidiaries in Oslo and Aker,

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

and

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

.aftenposten.n
Slik opererte det norske Gestapo
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Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'' October 22, 2012 Statspolitiet was subordinate to the chief of the security police and the Norwegian Minister of Police, Jonas Lie. Statspolitiet also received orders directly from the

Reich Security Main Office The Reich Security Main Office ( , RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and , the head of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The organization's stat ...

.Eirik Veum: Nådeløse nordmenn: Statspolitiet 1941-1945. Kagge forlag, 2012 The general of Statspolitiet, Karl A Marthinsen was assassinated by the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

on 8 February 1945. This caused massive reprisals, in which 34 imprisoned resistance fighters were executed at

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress (, ) or Akershus Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress has been the namesake and centre of the ...

After World War II

After the German capitulation on 8 May 1945, Statspolitiet was disbanded immediately. Former officers of Statspolitiet were arrested and tried in Norwegian courts, and were found guilty of varying degrees of such crimes as treason, illegal detention, torture, maltreatments, murders and illegal executions. The punishments were harsh and included the use of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

. The death sentences for the Statspolitiet officers

Reidar Haaland Reidar Haaland (21 February 1919 – 17 August 1945) was a police officer and voluntary frontline soldier for the German forces. He hailed from Stavanger. He was a member of Nasjonal Samling from 6 December 1940, and on 20 June 1941 he joine ...

, Arne Saatvedt, Hans Jacob Skaar Pedersen, Holger Tou, Ole Wehus, Olav Aspheim and

Einar Dønnum Einar Olav Christiansen Dønnum (19 April 1897 – 22 April 1947) was a Norwegian Nazi collaborator who was executed during the legal purge in Norway after World War II. Early life Before the war, Einar was a manager and Sunday school tea ...

were fulfilled, the officers being executed by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

.Asbjørn Jaklin: ''De dødsdømte'' (page 101), Gyldendal, Oslo 2011,

Ranks and rank insignia

References

{{Uniforms, insignia and ranks of Nazi Germany Organisations based in Oslo 1941 establishments in Norway 1945 disestablishments in Norway Government agencies established in 1941 Organizations disestablished in 1945 Defunct law enforcement agencies in Norway Norway in World War II The Holocaust in Norway Norwegian collaborators with Nazi Germany Government paramilitary forces Local participation in the Holocaust