Sverre Krogh (11 March 1883 – 26 October 1957) was a Norwegian actuary, newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Communist Labour parties. He later became a Nazi, working for Norwegian and German Nazis during the Second World War.

Early life and labour movement

He was born in

Kristiania 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, an ...

as a son of Colonel Gerhard Christopher Krogh (1839–1916) and Thora Regine Clementine Angelica Neumann (1856–1928). He studied at the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German public university, public research university in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and a research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Ka ...

and the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, graduating as an

actuary An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require investment management, asset management, ...

in 1905. He worked for a while as an actuary, but was a radical writer and member of the Norwegian labour movement. He was sentenced to three months in prison for revolutionary trade union propaganda in 1908, and to four months in jail for antimilitarist agitation in 1912. In 1920 he was convicted as responsible for the physical assault by some workers on

Henrik Ameln Henrik Ameln (29 April 1879 – 17 September 1961) was a Norwegian jurist and politician for the Conservative Party. He was a mayor of Bergen, and served five terms in the Parliament of Norway. Personal life He was born in Bergen and grew up o ...

; they had attended a meeting where Krogh called for revolutionary actions. In 1912 he was hired as subeditor in the Labour Party newspaper ''

Arbeidet ''Arbeidet'' ("The Work") was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Bergen in Hordaland county. History and profile ''Arbeidet'' was started in Bergen as a socialist newspaper on 6 December 1893, by a grouping called . It was the first socialist ...

''. He was promoted to editor-in-chief in 1918. In 1920 he was a delegate (for Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund) at the Second

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

Congress. In the press he defended the

Twenty-one Conditions The Twenty-one Conditions, officially the Conditions of Admission to the Communist International, are the conditions, most of which were suggested by Vladimir Lenin, to the adhesion of the socialist parties to the Third International (Comintern) cr ...

. He was also a member of

Fana Fana or fanaa most commonly refers to: * Fana, Bergen, a borough of the city of Bergen, Norway * Fana (Sufism), the Sufi term for "annihilation of the self" People * Fanã (born 1960), Portuguese football manager * Saint Fana (c. 354–395), Eg ...

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

from 1916 to 1922, and was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

from Hordaland in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

. His last term ended in 1927. He stood for election in 1927, and was the communist candidate who came closest to winning a seat without actually winning (three others managed to win a seat). He had joined the Communist Party in 1923, and stepped down as editor of ''Arbeidet'' in 1924.

Nazi period

He later joined the Fascist 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 ...

, being persuaded by

Birger Meidell Birger Øivind Meidell (4 February 1882 – 29 January 1958) was a professor and a member of The Norwegian Science Academy who served two posts in the fascist NS government of Vidkun Quisling first as Church and Educational Minister and then as ...

. He found work 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 ...

as a consultant in the

Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Enlightenment The Ministry of Culture and Enlightenment () was a government ministry during the German occupation of Norway, established on 25 September 1940, and closed down at the end of World War II. The ministry was set up on 25 September 1940 by ''Reichsk ...

from 1940 to 1941. When the Nazis usurped control over the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

, they formed a group of former labour movementarians-turned-Nazis. Krogh was an informer for the ''

Sicherheitspolizei The often abbreviated as SiPo, is a German term meaning "security police". In the Nazi Germany, Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agency, security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of ...

'' from 1941 to 1944, especially of situations in the trade unions. From 1943 he was an office manager in Granskningskommisjonen av 1943, a commission that was tasked with scrutinizing the actions of

Nygaardsvold's Cabinet __NOTOC__ Nygaardsvold's Cabinet (later becoming the Norwegian government-in-exile) was appointed on 20 March 1935, the second Labour cabinet in Norway. It brought to an end the non-socialist minority governments that had dominated Norwegian p ...

prior to the war, and thus find legal grounds for the Nazi usurpation of power. In 1948, during the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The legal purge in Norway after World War II (; ) took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was found to have Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborated with the German occupation of Norway, German occupat ...

, Krogh was tried and convicted of treason and sentenced to two years and three months of forced labour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krogh, Sverre 1883 births 1957 deaths Writers from Oslo Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Members of Nasjonal Samling Norwegian actuaries Norwegian expatriates in Germany University of Göttingen alumni Norwegian newspaper editors Politicians from Bergen People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway Members of the Storting 1922–1924 Members of the Storting 1925–1927