Harald Andreas Gerotti Slåttelid (20 January 1895 – 1 March 1943) was a Norwegian trade unionist, newspaper editor and communist resistance member. He was born in Os, Hordaland, to a father from Volda and a mother from Fana. He worked in

Odda Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in southeastern Hordaland c ...

, and married Sigrid Johansen from

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 ...

here in 1918. They had three children. He was a member of the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centr ...

from 1909, and was organized in a union from 1911. He had a modest technical education. He chaired the local trade union from 1922, and was a board member of the Norwegian Union of Electricians from 1922 to 1923. From 1923 to 1930 he was a member of the supervisory council of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. He was a member of the executive committee of Odda

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

for many years. In 1923 he joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

. He edited the newspaper ''

Hardanger Arbeiderblad ''Hardanger Arbeiderblad'' was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Odda in Hordaland county. ''Hardanger Arbeiderblad'' was started in 1919 as ''Hardanger Social-Demokrat''. Its name was changed in 1923, the same year as a faction of the Labour ...

'', and chaired the Communist Party in Odda from 1926. He continued his work for the Communist Party during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, when the party was illegal. He was arrested by the Nazis on 26 May 1942, and imprisoned in Møllergata 19 and

Grini detention 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 Söderm ...

. At his trial, on 27 February 19434, he was sentenced to death, and then placed in the death cell "" at Grini. On 1 March 1943 he was executed at

Trandumskogen Trandumskogen is a forest located in Ullensaker, Akershus county, Norway. It was the site of one of the first discoveries in May 1945 of Nazi Germany, German mass graves in Norway. The German executioner Oskar Hans was the officer in command of t ...

. A press release from 1 March, signed and titled "" appeared in the newspapers. Seventeen persons had been sentenced to death and executed, and Slåttelid's name was included on the list. In 1945 a total of 194 bodies were found in mass graves in the woods of Trandum, 173 Norwegians, six British and fifteen Soviet citizens. His son Ørnulf (sometimes given as Ørnulv) Slåttelid, born 1919, became the illegal leader of the Young Communist League after Arne Gauslaa in 1942. He was arrested by the Nazis in the same year, and committed suicide in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaattelid, Harald 1895 births 1943 deaths People from Odda People from Os, Hordaland Norwegian trade unionists Norwegian newspaper editors Hordaland politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian resistance members Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Norwegian civilians killed in World War II Executed Norwegian people People executed by Germany by firing squad Grini concentration camp prisoners