Erling Sandberg (3 August 1879 – 30 June 1956) 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 ...

banker and politician. He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He was an office manager in the Bank of Norway from 1918 to 1919 and deputy chairman from 1919 to 1920. He became chief executive officer of the bank Christiania Bank og Kredittkasse in 1920, and from 1930 he chaired the Norwegian Bankers' Association. He was also known for raising his godson

Harald Damsleth Harald Damsleth (August 16, 1906 – March 1, 1971) was a Norwegian cartoonist, illustrator and ad-man. He is best known for his posters for Nasjonal Samling (NS) during World War II. Early life and work Born in Bremen, Harald Damsleth had a Norwe ...

, a later Nazi artist. Sandberg still held his offices in 1940, when 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 ...

started. On 25 September 1940, when

Josef Terboven Josef Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Essen and the ''Reichskommissar'' for Norway during the German occupation. Early life Terboven was born in Es ...

assumed full power in the country, Sandberg was named as Minister of Finance. The Norwegian Fascist party

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian 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 and a group of supporters such ...

had some influence in naming the cabinet ministers, but Sandberg was one of the non-political cabinet members (together with Sigurd Johannessen and Øystein Ravner) as demanded by ''

Reichskommissariat Norwegen The Reichskommissariat Norwegen was the civilian occupation regime set up by Nazi Germany in German-occupied Norway during World War II. Its full title in German was the Reichskommissariat für die besetzten norwegischen Gebiete ("Reich Commiss ...

''. Sandberg was persuaded to join the cabinet, and later supported in daily affairs, by ''Reichskommissariat'' since he wanted to limit the cabinet's financial spendings, especially that of the Ministry of the Interior. At the same time Sandberg was not a member of Nasjonal Samling, and was not chosen when Quisling formed his cabinet on 1 February 1942. Instead he became a high-ranking servant in the Ministry of Finance and Customs. He left on a sick leave on 11 March 1943, and lost the position on 15 September. In 1945, when the Nazis lost the war, Sandberg formally ceased to be bank director and banking association chairman. In reality he had not been active in the latter position since 1940. He was arrested after the war's end, as the victors wanted a legal purge of those involved with the Nazi rule. According to Kjell Fjørtoft he was

abused Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

during the summer, by being ordered to carry heavy corpses from a room at

Rikshospitalet Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet is one of the four main campuses of Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway. It was an independent hospital, ''Rigshospitalet'', later spelled ''Rikshospitalet'' ("The National Hospital"), from 1826 to 200 ...

and put them in coffins. In the actual trial, he was in the court of appeal sentenced to one year of prison for collaboration ("having supported the enemy"), but he was ultimately acquitted in the

Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian Bokmål: ''(Norges) Høyesterett''; Norwegian Nynorsk: ''(Noregs) Høgsterett''; lit. ‘Highest Court’) was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandberg, Erling 1879 births 1956 deaths Norwegian bankers Government ministers of Norway Norwegian people of World War II Norwegian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Norway People acquitted of treason