This Month in Holocaust History

The SS Donau transported 530 Jews from Norway to Germany, 345 of whom went directly to the Auschwitz gas chambers in November 1942. (Photo from the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Oskar Mendelsohn.)

vidkun quisling and the deportation of jews from norway

On November 26, 1942, the Norwegian Secret Police, Germanske SS-Norge, and members of the Hird, the paramilitary wing of Vidkun Quisling’s fascist party, deported 532 Jews to Stettin, Poland, via the Donau, a boat requisitioned from the German navy. From Germany, they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Germany had invaded Norway on April 8-9, 1940. The King and the Norwegian government fled to London, and Vidkun Quisling, who had established the pro-Nazi Nasjonal Samling (National Unity, or NS) party in 1933, declared himself prime minister. He was removed from that post by the Germans just two weeks later, although he remained leader of the NS and was used by the Germans as a figurehead beneath their own administration.

Prior to the invasion, Quisling’s party failed to gain momentum in Norway, and fearing that Norway’s neutrality would be compromised in the war that had broken out in September, he approached the Germans directly, meeting with Hitler and other German officials in December 1939. He proposed the idea of a coup, with his NS party taking the helm. Hitler guaranteed Quisling funding and troops if Britain threatened to invade.

At the time of the German invasion, there were about 1,700 Jews in Norway. Arrests of Jews began in October 1942 with the help of the Norwegian State Police, the SS, and regular police forces. Swedish consular officials in Norway took steps to protect Jews who had been formerly Swedish citizens, as well as those who had loose connections to Sweden. Other Jews went into hiding. Recognizing their plight, neutral Sweden offered asylum to 930 Norwegian Jews by the end of the war. Ultimately, 770 Norwegian Jews were deported—most of whom were murdered in Auschwitz.

The Germans capitulated to the Allies on May 8, 1945. Quisling was arrested, tried in September and executed on October 24, 1945. He became known as a notorious Nazi collaborator, and to this day, his name is synonymous for “traitor” or “collaborator.”

In talking with students about Quisling and his crimes, focus on the concept of betrayal. Why is Quisling’s name synonymous with treachery? Whom did he betray? You might also discuss his motivations. Did Quisling act in the interests of Norway? What were the repercussions—immediate and long-term—of Quisling’s actions? Discuss the implications of choice and individual influence and aspirations in a socio-political context.