Hjalmar Steenstrup (11 October 1890 – 18 December 1945) 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 ...

insurance agent, and

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

pioneer and intelligence agent during

World War II 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 ...

Personal life

Steenstrup was born in

Modum Modum is a municipality in Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area has a long tr ...

as a son of curate Hjalmar Steenstrup (1847–1915) and his wife Fredrikke Brun (1861–1905). He was a descendant of

Paul Steenstrup Poul Steenstrup (10 December 1772 – 9 October 1864) was a Norwegian industrialist and politician. He was the founder of the Kongsberg Arms Factory (''Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk'') and served as a representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assem ...

and Peter Steenstrup, and a nephew of Johan Brun and brother-in-law of Gunnar Isachsen. He married Eva Glatved Martens (1896–1976) in August 1916 in

Alversund Alversund is a village in Alver municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland of the Lindås peninsula, along the shore of the Alverstraumen strait. The village sits between the villages of Alverstraumen (acr ...

Career

Steenstrup worked for and later managed the insurance company ''Det norske gjensidige Skogbrandforsikringsselskab''. He was co-founder and manager of the insurance association Samtrygd Gjensidig Norsk Forsikringsforening. He issued the book ''

Hvem er hvem? ''Hvem er hvem?'' ( en, Who is Who?) was a Norwegian book series, presenting facts about notable persons from Norway. The first edition was issued in 1912, and the 14th edition came in 1994. In the 2008 edition, edited by Knut Olav Åmås, one thou ...

'' (lit. "Who is Who?") for 1930, 1934 and 1938, and wrote journal articles on insurance matters as well as on language politics. He had been a co-founder of Riksmålsvernet in 1919.

World War II

During the

German occupation of Norway 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 ...

, Steenstrup was a central courier travelling between Norway and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He carried money from Government representative

Anders Frihagen Anders Rasmus Frihagen (28 January 1892 - 5 April 1979) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was Minister of Trade 1939–1940, government representative in Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden a ...

at the

Norwegian legation in Stockholm The Norwegian Legation in Stockholm played a significant role during the Second World War. Until 9 April 1940 the legation consisted of four persons, and at the end of the war about 1,100 persons were connected to the legation. Refugee cases were ...

to the underground movement in Norway. He was in contact with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

already in the Summer 1940, and in contact with

Malcolm Munthe Major Malcolm Grane Ludovic Martin Munthe MC (30 January 1910 – 24 November 1995) was a British soldier, writer, and curator, and son of the Swedish doctor and writer Axel Munthe and his English second wife Hilda Pennington-Mellor. Early li ...

at the British legation in Stockholm. He was given the task of finding a suitable military leader to coordinate the emerging military resistance in Norway, which resulted in the recruitment of

Ole Berg Ole Berg (7 October 1890 – 23 September 1968) was a Norwegian military officer. He participated in the defence during the German invasion of Norway in 1940. He built up the Norwegian police forces in Sweden from 1943 to 1945. He served a ...

. Under the cover name "Cato" he coordinated

's transport of refugees from Norway to Sweden, and was also involved in intelligence. He was arrested in July 1941, and held at the prison

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This is ...

until September 1943. After a period at the

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 ...

he was transported to the

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 ...

in Germany in November 1943, and stayed there the rest of the war. In Sachsenhausen, he was selected as "postmaster", distributing post, a position which gave him a good overview of other prisoners. By 1945, he could bring collected material on the fate of many prisoners to Sweden. He continued the registration work for the Norwegian Legation in Stockholm, and later for the Government in Oslo. He was selected to represent the Norwegian concentration camp prisoners during the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

. He participated at preparations for the Nuremberg Trials in Germany in December 1945. On the return from Germany to Oslo he died in a plane crash, the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steenstrup, Hjalmar 1890 births 1945 deaths People from Modum Norwegian non-fiction writers Riksmål-language writers Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Norway 20th-century non-fiction writers