Karl Leib was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

SS officer. Leib was son-in-law of the head if the SS-Hauptamt

Gottlob Berger Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of '' SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' (lieutenant general) and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsibl ...

, and served as a SS officer in that office 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 ...

. In 1940 he was appointed as head of the SS office ''Ergänzungstelle Norwest'' in

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. With the rank of ''SS-Sturmbannführer'' (Major), Leib was in charge of the Norwegian recruitment and propaganda office ''

Germanische Leitstelle During World War II, Germanische Leitstelle was a department of the SS-Hauptamt under the command of Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger. It oversaw the recruitment and propaganda offices for the Waffen SS in Oslo, Copenhagen, Brussels and The Hagu ...

'', at

Drammensveien Drammensveien is a street in Oslo, Norway, and a highway between the cities Oslo and Drammen. The highway is the heaviest trafficked road in Norway. The original road Drammensveien was built for transport from Oslo to the foundry Bærums Verk and ...

Oslo 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 ...

. His office also published '' Germansk Budstikke'' and '' SS-Heftet'', which was the Norwegian edition of '' SS-Leitheft''. The recruiting footwork was done by the Norwegian ''SS-Untersturmführer''s Felix Thoresen and Brun Evers from

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

. The latter was killed in 1944 at

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...

, fighting in

11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland (german: 11. SS-Freiwilligen Panzergrenadier-Division "Nordland") was a Waffen-SS division recruited from foreign volunteers and conscripts. It saw action, as part of Army Group North, i ...

. Before that Evers was said to have recruited the third company of the Norwegian skijegerbatallion, which became part of the

6th SS Mountain Division Nord The 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord" (german: 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord") was a German unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II, formed in February 1941 as ''SS Kampfgruppe Nord'' (SS Battle Group North). The division was the only Waffen-SS ...

. Leib had broad contacts in Norwegian society. He was versatile and popular among the volunteers. Much to his consternation he was arrested at the end of the war in 1945 and imprisoned at

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress ( no, Akershus Festning, ) or Akershus Castle ( no, Akershus slott ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress h ...

. In his defence note he portrayed himself as some sort of social welfare officer and his superior

Wilhelm Rediess Friedrich Wilhelm Rediess (10 October 1900 – 8 May 1945) was the SS and police leader during the German occupation of Norway during the Second World War. He was also the commander of all SS troops stationed in occupied Norway Norwa ...

as an evil influence, although some of Rediess' speeches must have been written at Leib's office. Leib received a rather light sentence, as did most of the German SS-officers in Norway. After serving his sentence, Leib emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

along with most of his family and was married, and had children. The location of his wife and children are unknown.

Literature

*Loock, Hans-Dietrich, ''Zur ’Großgermanischen Politik’ des Dritten Reiche'', ’’Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte’’, 1960/1, p. 55-63. *De Wever, Bruno, ''Rebellen an der Ostfront. Die flämischen Freiwilligen der Legion ’Flandern’ und der Waffen-SS'', ’’Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte’’, 1991/4, p. 593-596. *Eggen; Eystein, ''The boy from Gimle'', Oslo 1993 {{DEFAULTSORT:Leib, Karl Year of birth missing Year of death missing SS-Sturmbannführer Prisoners and detainees of Norway German people imprisoned abroad German emigrants to the United States