Erling Herolf Bentzen, sometimes given as Bentsen (8 January 1897 – 12 December 1962) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

newspaper editor and politician for the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

parties. He was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

, but moved to

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

. He joined Norges Socialdemokratiske Ungdomsforbund, by extension the Labour Party, in 1911, and sat as a county board member. He found work at Oslo Gassverk in 1915, and became a secretary of his local trade union. In 1923 he broke away from the Labour Party, joining the new Communist Party. He was a delegate to the 7th Enlarged Plenum of the

Executive Committee of the Communist International The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI (Russian acronym ИККИ), was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body. The ECCI was established by the Foundin ...

in 1926. From 1926 to 1928 he was a member of the party's politburo, and from 1927 to 1928 regional party leader in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

and

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

. In 1928 he undertook studies at the

International Lenin School The International Lenin School (ILS) was an official training school operated in Moscow, Soviet Union, by the Communist International from May 1926 to 1938. It was resumed after the Second World War and run by the Communist Party of the Soviet Unio ...

. In 1932 he again became a member of the Communist Party politburo, and from 1932 to 1934 he edited their main newspaper ''

Arbeideren ''Arbeideren'' ("The Worker") was a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. It was started on 2 November 1929 as the official party newspaper from the Communist Party of Norway, Communist Party. It lent its name from a Hamar-based Arbeideren ( ...

''. In 1934 he was fired for not following the directions of the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

, the superior organ of the Communist Party of Norway. He was later registered as a docks worker. 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 the ...

, he was arrested by

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

on 13 September 1941 after the milk strike. He was sent to

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...

until 3 April 1942, when he was sent to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

. He remained here until the end of World War II. After the war he edited '' Nordlands Arbeiderblad'' from 1949 to 1952, and then worked as a journalist in ''

Friheten ''Friheten'' ( en, italic=yes, Freedom) is a Norwegian language biweekly newspaper, published by the Norwegian Communist Party (NKP). History and profile ''Friheten'' was Underground media in German-occupied Europe, founded illegally in 1941 dur ...

''. He died in 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentzen, Erling 1897 births 1962 deaths Writers from Oslo Norwegian newspaper editors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian expatriates in the Soviet Union Norwegian resistance members Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors International Lenin School alumni