“The formation of the National Assembly in 1933 does not at all mark the introduction of fascism into Norwegian politics”. Author Terje Emberland writes this in the introduction. Nor was NS the first party in Norway to find inspiration in Germany, the rise of National Socialism and Hitler worship, he continues. In 1931, politician and journalist Carl Lie turned the newspaper Ekstrabladet into a National Socialist mouthpiece. The following year he became leader of the first Norwegian party with the swastika as its emblem. This party, Norway’s National Socialist Workers’ Party (NSSAP), is the subject of the book. About Norway’s National Socialist Workers’ Party Norwegian political party founded in autumn 1932. Inspired by the German Nazi party NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei). Predecessor of Nasjonal Samling (NS), Vidkun Quisling’s nationalist fascist party which was founded in the spring of 1933. Had at most around 1,000 members. The party was disbanded in September 1939. Big gallery, lots of strange The story of the editor, wannabe driver and fraudster Carl Lie and his cronies deals with a flora of more or less short-lived organisations. It describes a large number of individuals with varying agendas on the far right flank. NATIONALIST SPEAKER: Carl Lie was the editor of the strongly anti-labour movement Ekstrabladet. In 1931, he changed the name of the newspaper to … the very telling “Hakekorset”. The reader gets conspiracy theories, an end-time preacher, a circus director, mystics and neo-pagan religion. Here you can find natural medicine, vaccine resistance and “the high priestess of Norwegian anti-Semitism”: author Marta Steinsvik. Then only something is mentioned. ANTISEMITES: Circus director Karl Norbeck, known as “Norway’s strongest man”, and writer Marta Steinsvik were active in the environment that led to the formation of NS. Photo: Oslo Museum / Oslo Museum But, above all, a comprehensive and broad-based hatred of Jews that runs deep, far beyond the ranks of the radicalized and extreme. Even after reading most of the new books about the holocaust in Norway, quotes appear at Emberland that are simply shocking, not least from well-established Norwegian newspapers: Had served on timeline “Fascism and national socialism never had any great importance in this country before the was introduced on German bayonets in 1940,” writes Emberland. He then discusses the question of whether the social democrats’ and communists’ fear of – and fight against – fascism can seem alarmist and exaggerated. This points to a level in historian Emberland’s source work that borders on the violent: Almost comically marginal phenomena are mapped and evaluated down to the smallest possible detail. Almost said. We are partly talking about micro-history. There is no negative objection in and of itself. The thoroughness is one of the book’s strongest points, but it does not contribute to the uneducated reader’s overview and reading pleasure. The book would have gained a lot in terms of overview and accessibility if it had been equipped with a timeline, where people, organizations and events were placed in order and duration. JEWISH CARICATURE: The book contains many examples of how NNSAP spread its anti-Semitic message. Here is a warning that was posted in businesses in Tønsberg. Photo: Dreyers Forlag Oslo Good storyteller The negative effects of the narrow focus are, however, counteracted by Terje Emberland’s qualities as a storyteller. The promises in the text often come in overviews of political moods, major and minor events. One example is the story about the newly formed Nasjonal Samling’s attempt to hold an election meeting at Grünerløkka in September 1933. The keynote speaker, none other than Vidkun Quisling, was experimentally assisted by large loudspeakers. Confrontation and humiliation for the Nazis was inevitable, while the narrative itself is downright enjoyable. STREET FIGHT: The anti-fascist demonstration during NS’s meeting at Grünerløkka was one of the most violent before the election in 1933. Here from the communist newspaper Arbeideren. Photo: Dreyers forlag Oslo More importantly, however, Emberland simultaneously sheds light on the current discussion about freedom of expression, whether it should apply to everyone regardless of the balance of power. The differences between bourgeois newspapers and those of the labor movement are clearly evident. So does the hard-line agitator and leader Einar Gerhardsen, who was then secretary of the Oslo Labor Party. The election was a fad for NS. Things got even worse later – until the Germans came. Our own time It is hardly part of Terje Emberland’s agenda, but the reader cannot help but be impressed by the similarities with social moods in our time. This applies to the polarization, but also to the flora of conspiracy theories. Several of them are almost identical to phenomena that today find followers in droves. When we read how the German general Ludendorff resonates with the strongly right-wing with his explanations for Germany’s defeat in the First World War, it is unwise for the reader not to associate with today. The scapegoats were the “superstate powers”, i.e. the Jews, Freemasons, Jesuits and occult societies. Nowadays: the notions of the deep state, controversial philanthropist George Soros and what have we not. PROPAGANDA: Nazi General Erich Ludendorff greatly inspired the right-wing with book publications at the anti-Semitic publishing house Antiforlaget. Photo: DREYERS FORLAG OSLO Stage denial à la 1933 The chase of Nazis from Grünerløkka can also be seen as an eighty-year-old example of what is today called stage denial. Emberland quotes critics who believe that NS and Quisling received more attention than necessary through the riots. It is interesting to read how key people in the Labor Party were uneasy. They feared that the widespread unemployment in Norway at the time – and accompanying poverty and discontent – would drive young workers into the arms of the far-right. The leader of the Labor Party, Martin Tranmæl, stated in Arbeiderbladet: It sounds familiar. So does the image formed by the struggles between the street radical forces on either side of the spectrum. The fronts stood sharply against each other, especially in the gymnasiums, eventually with the Nazis as the dominant ones. But, when it came to the university and the Student Association, the left held its own. STEEP FRONTERS: The disputes between the high school students on the far left and far right wings culminated in fights and vandalism in 1934. Photo: DREYERS FORLAG OSLO Dominated by men The book’s title also plays on the rise of the young, Nazi men at the expense of an older, slower and ideologically more dispersed generation. Boys and young men dominated the extreme parts of the in reality few movement that became NNSAP and later NS. They were radicalized in organizational isolation and through the confrontations with the left. At the same time, they were inspired by their German role models. Again, it is tempting to think about one’s own time. Women and girls are almost absent in this story. AT “DRIVING SCHOOL” WITH HITLER AND HIMMLER: Journalist Adolf Egeberg jr. (bottom right) took over as “driver” in NNSAP after Carl Lie, and is one of many mentioned in Emberland’s book. Photo: Dreyers Forlag Marginal phenomenon – until 1940 Nazism and fascism thus had no great social significance in the years before the war. One can therefore ask whether an innovative research work such as Terje Emberland’s in this book is really worth the effort? The answer is probably a fairly clear yes. Inside all the historical details lies important knowledge and insight. What they are can be the subject of further discussion. news reviews Photo: Dreyers Forlag Title: “From the boys’ room to the Gestapo” Author: Terje Emberland Genre: Nonfiction Publisher: Dreyers Date: November 2022
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“From the boys’ room to the Gestapo” by Terje Emberland – news Culture and entertainment
