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The Feldmann case ( no, Feldmannsaken) was a controversial criminal case in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
in which two
border guide A border guide ( no, grenselos, sv, gränslots) was a person that helped refugees from Norway escape over the Norway–Sweden border during the Second World War. There were probably over a thousand Norwegian border guides active during the Second ...
s admitted to killing an elderly Jewish couple during their escape from the
Holocaust in Norway The German occupation of Norway began on 9 April 1940. In 1942, there were at least 2,173 Jews in Norway. At least 775 of them were arrested, detained and/or deported. More than half of the Norwegians who died in camps in Germany were Jews. 742 ...
, and stealing their money. A jury acquitted the two of culpability for the killing, accepting their explanation that the couple endangered not just the mission but the viability of the escape route to Sweden.


Prelude

On October 22, 1942, a train on the
Østfold Line The Østfold Line ( no, Østfoldbanen) is a railway line which runs from Oslo through the western parts of Follo and Østfold to Kornsjø in Norway. It continues through Sweden as the Norway/Vänern Line. The northern half is double track and ...
bound for
Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish muni ...
included ten refugees bound for Sweden, of whom nine were Jewish. Also traveling were two border guides, Karsten Løvestad and Harry Pedersen, both of whom may have been wanted by the occupying authorities. Between Skjeberg and Døle stations (both are now closed for passenger traffic), Norwegian police came through the cars inspecting identification cards. Hermann Feldmann and Willy Schermann (two of the Jewish refugees) and Karsten Løvestad (one of the guides) were asked by Arne Hvam, a committed Norwegian Nazi policeman, to step outside. Accounts differ as to whether Hvam at that point had asked the conductor to notify the police in Halden that he had apprehended refugees. However, Løvestad, who was carrying a forged passport, shot Hvam on the train. The three then jumped off the speeding train near Besseberg. Feldmann broke an arm in the fall, and Schermann sustained some gashes. The three tried for some time to evade capture, but were eventually caught in one of the largest police campaigns in the history of the war. Feldmann, Schermann and the other Jewish refugees were murdered in Auschwitz in August 1943; Karsten Løvestad was also shot in September 1943 after appearing before a tribunal without the benefit of a defense. The Nazi authorities made propaganda out of this incident. Newspaper headlines made it out to be a cold-blooded murder of a faithful public servant at the hands of the Jews. Hvam's funeral was attended by the top echelon of both the German and Norwegian Nazi authorities. Well-plated editorials called for decisive action against Jews.


Rakel and Jacob Feldmann

Hermann Feldmann's foster parents were Rakel and Jacob Feldmann. Unnerved by the publicity this incident had caused, they had decided to make their own break for the Swedish border. They showed up at the farm of the Løvestad family in
Trøgstad Trøgstad is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjønhaug. The municipality is divided into the parishes of Skjønhaug, Havnås and Båstad. The parish of ''Trygstad'' was ...
on October 23, asking for refuge and help to find their way across the border. As the area was still subject to search and surveillance by police forces, the Løvestad family was under significant pressure and risk of discovery. The couple stayed hidden in the area for a few days, until October 27 when two border guides—Peder Pedersen and Håkon Løvestad—offered to take them across the border. The couple borrowed clothing and footwear for a two-day hike. But when the company of four arrived at Skrikerudtjernet, the guides clubbed the Jewish couple to death, stole their money, and sank the bodies in the lake with weights. Løvestad fled to Sweden wearing Feldmann's gold watch, and Pedersen returned to his home after this and resumed guiding refugees across the border, including several Jews.


Trial and verdict

The Feldmanns' bodies eventually floated to the surface and were discovered, and investigations led to the prosecution of Peder Pedersen and Håkon Løvestad. The matter came to trial in 1947. Although the two accused did not deny that they had killed the couple and taken their money, they claimed they had no real choice in the matter: the Feldmanns were old, overweight, and incapable of the long walk to the border. They were bound to be discovered where they were, and their arrest and detention would bring down the underground railroad, endangering many more lives than theirs. The two were acquitted of killing the couple but were convicted for embezzling their money, which amounted to NOK 12,000; and their possessions. During the debate surrounding the verdict,
Oskar Hasselknippe Oskar Hasselknippe (18 January 1911 – 4 July 2001) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He is known for his work in the Norwegian resistance movement and as editor of ''Verdens Gang'' during its swift ascent among Norwegian newspapers. Early life ...
, the editor of ''
Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...
'', a leading Norwegian newspaper, challenged
Leo Eitinger Leo Eitinger (12 December 1912 – 15 October 1996) was a Norwegian psychiatrist, author and educator. He was a Holocaust survivor who studied the late-onset psychological trauma experienced by people who went through separation and psychologi ...
's criticism of the verdict, pointing out that in war, difficult decisions sometimes have to be made. He implied that Eitinger would not understand this, asking Eitinger where he had been during the war. To which Eitinger replied: "In Auschwitz!"


Coverage in other media

In 1987,
Bente Erichsen Bente Erichsen (born 7 January 1949) is a Norwegian culture director and the current (and inaugural) Director of the Nobel Peace Center. A former journalist and commercials producer, Erichsen started her career as feature film producer in 1979. B ...
directed a Norwegian movie with a fictionalized account of the case, called ''
Over grensen ''Over grensen'' (Over the Border) or ''Feldmann-saken'' (The Feldman Case) is a Norwegian drama film that premiered on February 19, 1987. Bjørn Sundquist won the Amanda Award for the best male lead for his performance in the film. Plot The fil ...
'' or ''Feldmann saken'', based on the work of dramatized non-fiction by
Sigurd Senje Sigurd Senje (15 September 1919 – 24 September 1993) was a Norwegian non-fiction writer, novelist and children's writer from Oslo. His writings focused on nature descriptions, local history and World War II. Senje lectured in secondary schoo ...
titled ''Ekko fra Skriktjenn''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feldmann Case The Holocaust in Norway Trials in Norway