Hans Gabrielsen
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Hans Julius Gabrielsen (8 January 1891–10 March 1965) was a Norwegian jurist and politician for the Liberal Party. He is best known as County Governor of Finnmark and County Governor of Oppland, as well as Consultative Councillor of State for Finnmark Affairs in 1945. Gabrielsen played a central role in organizing the civilian side of Norwegian war effort in Northern Norway during the 1940 Norwegian Campaign. After the end of that campaign he led the Norwegian attempts at retaining some of their armed forces outside German control, before being arrested by the Germans and placed in concentration camp. After the war Gabrielsen became a cabinet member and led the early reconstruction efforts in the northernmost parts of Norway.


Pre-war life


Early life and career

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 ...
as a son of district stipendiary magistrate Nils Harald Berg Gabrielsen (1856–1934) and Ragnhild Stenersen (1857–1938). He grew up in Hadeland, and graduated with the
cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...
degree in 1914. He worked as a deputy judge in Nes på Romerike from 1914 to 1915, and as an attorney in Tana from 1915 to 1921. Here he married Sara Andersen (born 16 March 1896) in 1918. Gabrielsen was a secretary in the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...
for one year, before being appointed district stipendiary magistrate in
Vardø ( fi, Vuoreija, fkv, Vuorea, se, Várggát) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county in the extreme northeastern part of Norway. Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway, more to the east than Saint Petersburg or Istanbul. The administra ...
. In 1928 he became the County Governor of Finnmark.


Finnmark County Governor

While County Governor of Finnmark Gabrielsen was a member of the Finnmark Commission ( no, Finnmarksnevnden) from 1931, coordinating official Norwegian policy towards the national minorities in Finnmark. In 1928 Gabrielsen and the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian (Bokmål): ''Det kongelige utenriksdepartement''; Norwegian (Nynorsk): ''Det kongelege utanriksdepartement'') is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June ...
opposed replacing the earth
goahti A goahti (Northern Sámi), goahte (Lule Sámi), gåhte (Pite Sámi), gåhtie (Ume Sámi) or gåetie (Southern Sámi), (also ''gábma''), (Norwegian: ''gamme'', Finnish: ''kota'', Swedish: ''kåta''), is a Sami hut or tent of three types of cov ...
used by the border garrison at
Svanvik Svanvik is a locality situated in Orust Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. Its population in 2010 was 293. It is situated on Sweden's fourth largest island, Orust Orust () is an island in western Sweden, and Sweden's third largest is ...
near
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
with regular
barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
, to avoid a military build-up that might challenge the friendly relations Norway had with Finland. Gabrielsen instead argued for spending the funds on building more police and customs posts at the border instead. At the time the earthen goahti at Svanvik was considered the largest in the world. Gabrielsen wanted the military moved further away from the border in order to maintain friendly relations with Finland. Gabrielsen was generally positive towards Finland, in a period when many Norwegian officials viewed the young country's national ambitions with suspicion. Gabrielsen wanted more trade and tourist traffic with Finland. Still, he cooperated with the bishop of the
Diocese of Hålogaland The Diocese of Hålogaland ( no, Hålogaland bispedømme, historically: ) was a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covered the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within all of Northern Norway (including Nordland, Troms, and F ...
,
Eivind Berggrav Eivind Josef Berggrav (25 October 1884 – 14 January 1959) was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop. As primate of the Church of Norway (Norwegian: ''Preses i Bispemøtet i Den norske kirke''), Berggrav became known for his unyielding resistance ag ...
, in carrying out surveillance of Finnish and Kven people in the region. In 1932 Gabrielsen even went so far as to suggest a strict regulation of Finnish priests' access to use churches in the Norwegian border areas. During the same year Gabrielsen was part of a group of officials that intervened after
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
workers in
Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...
broke out in demonstrations and elected a company board dominated by communists. The officials reorganized the slate production in Alta, starting the new company ''Alta Skiferlag''. The slate workers were then forced to deliver their products to the company.


The Second World War


Norwegian Campaign

In 1940, the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
reached Norway with the German invasion on 9 April. German forces conquered Southern Norway during the first three weeks of the Norwegian Campaign, and the last Norwegian stronghold was
Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...
, of which Finnmark is the northernmost part. After the German invasion Gabrielsen discussed the situation with the Norwegian commanding general in Northern Norway, General Carl Gustav Fleischer.Haga 1998: 32–33 Fleischer had been on an inspection journey of Finnmark, and had arrived in Vadsø in evening of 8 April 1940. Due to a violent blizzard Fleischer could not leave Vadsø when the invasion came the next day and had to spend the night in Vadsø. Gabrielsen then invited Fleischer and his chief of staff, Major
Odd Lindbäck-Larsen Odd Lindbäck-Larsen (21 April 1897 – 18 August 1975) was a Norwegian military officer and war historian. He participated in the Norwegian Campaign in Northern Norway during the Second World War as the chief-of-staff, under general Fleisc ...
to stay at the County Governor's mansion. The result of the discussions was an agreement that the best course of action was for Fleischer to declare Northern Norway a theatre of war. Fleischer thus assumed all power in the region and ordered a total military and civilian mobilization. At first Gabrielsen was given the task of handling most of the civilian authority in Finnmark while the area was a theatre of war. However, after the sudden death of the County Governor of Troms a few days later he relocated to
Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...
and assumed the entire civilian administration for all of Northern Norway. Together with General Fleischer Gabrielsen set Northern Norway on a war footing to support the fighting on the Narvik front. As part of his work for the war effort Gabrielsen went through great efforts to obtain the supplies needed for the coming months. While the Norwegian Armed Forces had enough to make it through the summer, the civilian population at first had small stocks of essential goods. Gabrielsen and other officials soon solved the supply problems through contracts with foreign suppliers. Goods also came in from captured German supply ships, and from the
British military The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...
. The cooperative effort between Gabrielsen and Fleischer continued until the Nygaardsvold's Cabinet and the overall commanding general in Norway, Otto Ruge, escaped the German advance in Southern Norway and came to the north in May. The cabinet sent Gabrielsen back to Finnmark and assumed power themselves over civilian and many aspects of the military matters. Gabrielsen's and Fleischer's governance of Northern Norway had been highly popular with the local population, who felt that their views were finally being heard by those in control. Due to this popularity of the improvised administration what was viewed as essentially as a switch back to central rule was not well received by the North Norwegian population, who wanted a voice in the government. When King Haakon VII and the Norwegian cabinet arrived in Tromsø on the former
royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...
''Heimdal'' on 1 May 1940, having transferred from the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
cruiser HMS ''Glasgow'' in the
Gisundet Gisundet is a strait in Senja Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The long strait separates the island of Senja from the mainland. The strait flows into the Malangen fjord in the north and into the Finnfjorden (and later the So ...
narrows by
Malangen Malangen ( sme, Málatvuotna or fkv, Malankivuono) is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until its dissolution in 1964. The old municipality surrounded the Malangen fjord and today that area ...
, it was Gabrielsen who arranged their accommodation. Gabrielsen felt that it would not be safe for the King and cabinet ministers to stay in Tromsø proper, instead organizing housing for them in the surrounding areas. King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olav were located to
Øverbygd Øverbygd is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1925 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in what is now the eastern part of Målselv Municipality, stretching from the border with Sweden in ...
in the Målselv valley, taking the prime minister, Johan Nygaardsvold with them. Nygaardsvold brought along
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Sverre Støstad Sverre Kornelius Eilertsen Støstad (13 May 1887 – 7 December 1959) was the 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 ...
in order to maintain contact with his cabinet and avoid becoming isolated. Nygaardsvold moved to Tromsø on 18 May in order to gather the cabinet in one location. The Norwegian forces in mainland Norway capitulated on 10 June 1940.


Occupation

After the Norwegian capitulation Gabrielsen continued as County Governor of Finnmark, and from October 1940 to June 1941 he was also the acting County Governor of Troms.


The border guard

When the Norwegian government evacuated to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in June 1940 they had given Gabrielsen the task of administrating the as yet unoccupied parts of Northern Norway. In this respect Gabrielsen commanded the troops still guarding the border against the
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in accordance with the capitulation agreement. The border units were under the military command of Colonel Wilhelm Faye. The arrangement had been organized by General Otto Ruge, who during the capitulation negations with the Germans demanded that the Norwegians should either be allowed to retain military forces on the eastern border, or that the Germans should immediately occupy all of Finnmark. This demand originated in a fear of a possible Soviet occupation of Eastern Finnmark, as had happened in Poland in 1939. As the Norwegian military refused to serve under direct German command, any potential orders from the Germans had to go through county governor Gabrielsen. The arrangement was supposed to last until the Germans could deploy forces to Eastern Finnmark, and was not cleared with the exiled Norwegian government, being secret for anyone but Gabrielsen. Gabrielsen and General Ruge ordered Gabrielsen's military chief-of-staff, Major Odd Lindbäck-Larsen, to use the two battalions and one artillery battery at his disposal in preparation for a rebuilding of the Norwegian Armed Forces. Lindbäck-Larsen was to start training officers, using the border guard task as a cover. The 1,600-1,700 strong border guard was however dissolved by the German occupying authorities in July 1940. The plan for the establishment of a new Norwegian elite army in Finnmark, outside German control, was supposed to include several thousands of soldiers. As part of Ruge's plan Gabrielsen and Lindbäck-Larsen had placed Norwegian liaison officers on strategic points from Saltdalen in the south to
Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...
in the north-east. The hope had been that a new Norwegian volunteer army would be allowed by the Germans to remain on border guard duties in Finnmark for the duration of the conflict. After the Germans took over the border guard duties in early July 1940 Gabrielsen was given command over four armed Norwegian guard posts at the coast of Eastern Finnmark. These guard posts were set up on the secret orders of the German officer in charge of Eastern Finnmark, SS- Obersturmführer Willy Laqua, in accordance with the capitulation agreement. None of the Norwegian officers and soldiers on border guard duties were informed of the fact that they were under German overall command.


Arrest and imprisonment

On 17 June 1941 he was arrested by the Nazi authorities. He was incarcerated until April 1942 at Møllergata 19, and from 24 April 1942 to the war's end on 8 May 1945 he was imprisoned at Grini concentration camp. In the summer of 1942 both Gabrielsen and Lindbäck-Larsen were part of the so-called Forest Gang ( no, Skogsgjengen) at Grini, which spent the summer days cutting down trees near the camp. The forestry work allowed easy access to food hidden in the woods by sympathizers, and messages could be smuggled in and out with little difficulty, making the Forest Gang the most popular assignment at Grini. During his time at Grini Gabrielsen also took part in secret debating meetings organized by journalists amongst the prisoners, where various aspects of the organizing of post-war Norway was discussed. Amongst the issues Gabrielsen discussed with fellow Grini inmates was the post-war reconstruction of Finnmark, most of the county having been laid waste during the German retreat in Northern Norway in 1944—1945. One important question with regards to the future reconstruction was whether or not the devastated areas should be rebuilt like they were organized before the war, or if they should be reformed with the future development in mind. With only the single exception of Finnkongkjeila in
Gamvik ( sme, Gáŋgaviika) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mehamn. The other main villages in Gamvik include Gamvik and Skjånes. Gamvik is known as one of the poo ...
the reconstruction ended up following the old pre-war population patterns.


Post-war life

After Norway's liberation, Gabrielsen became a member of
Gerhardsen's First Cabinet Gerhardsen's First Cabinet, often called the Unification Cabinet ( no, Samlingsregjeringen), was a Norwegian government appointed to serve under Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen between 25 June and 5 November 1945, in the aftermath of the Second W ...
, the unification cabinet with members from many political parties—Gabrielsen represented the Liberal Party. He served in the
Ministry of Provisioning and Reconstruction The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Provisioning and Reconstruction ( no, Forsynings- og gjenreisningsdepartementet) was a Norwegian ministry that existed from 1939 to 1950. It was established on 1 October 1939 as the Ministry of Provisioning, though h ...
as Consultative Councillor of State for Finnmark Affairs. The northernmost part of Norway had been completely devastated during Germany's
withdrawal Withdrawal means "an act of taking out" and may refer to: * Anchoresis (withdrawal from the world for religious or ethical reasons) * ''Coitus interruptus'' (the withdrawal method) * Drug withdrawal * Social withdrawal * Taking of money from a ban ...
, where they employed the
scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...
tactic. Gabrielsen cooperated with chief engineer Harald Hofseth in organizing the reconstruction effort.Hauglid 1986: 7 After serving as Consultative Councillor of State, Gabrielsen returned as County Governor. He became County Governor of Oppland in 1948, and remained there until his retirement in 1961. He was chairman of the board of Opplandskraft from 1952 and in
Vinmonopolet Vinmonopolet ( en, The Wine Monopoly), symbolized by Ⓥ and Colloquialism, colloquially shortened to Polet, is a government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the Alcohol monopoly, only company allowed to sell beverages containing an Alcohol b ...
from 1958 to 1962, and a board member of ''Utbyggingsfondet for Nord-Norge'' from 1952 to 1960. He was decorated as a Commander With Star of the
Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...
. Gabrielsen died in March 1965 in
Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
.


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrielsen, Hans Julius 1891 births 1965 deaths Judges from Oslo Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Liberal Party (Norway) politicians County governors of Norway Government ministers of Norway 20th-century Norwegian lawyers