The Pelle group (Norwegian: Pelle-gruppen) was a
Norwegian resistance
The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:
*Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...
group that conducted acts of sabotage against 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 th ...
in
Østlandet
Eastern Norway ( nb, Østlandet, nn, Austlandet) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Vestfold og Telemark, Viken, Oslo and Innlandet.
Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region o ...
during the autumn of 1944.
''
Aftenposten
( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...
'' called the group's 23 November 1944 ship sabotage "the largest Norwegian sabotage attack during World War Two", which included the blowing up of 6 ships and one
crane at two
[ ship yards.] The attack possibly significantly decreased the number of soldiers from the retreating Lapland Army who were made available at the Battle of the Ardennes
The Battle of the Ardennes took place during the First World War fought on the frontiers of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg from 21 to 23 August 1914. The German armies defeated the French and forced their retreat. The battle was part of ...
, according to Lars Borgersrud.[
16 operations have been attributed to the group. 7 of its members were executed in 1945.
The leader was Ragnar "Pelle" Sollie,][I skyggen av tungtvannet - Pelle-gruppa gjennomførte en av krigens dristigste sabotasjeaksjoner på to verft på Aker brygge. – Dette anslaget hadde større praktisk betydning for utfallet av krigen enn tungtvannsaksjonen.]
[In the shadow of the heavy water - the Pelle Group pulled off one of the war's most daring sabotage attacks at two shipyards at Aker Brygge. - This attack had greater practical significance for the outcome of the war, than the attack on the heavy water production facility] the only one in the group who was a member of Communist Party of Norway.[NRK Gulls side om Ragnar Sollie og Pellegruppa](_blank)
/ref>
A 2015 ''Klassekampen
''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...
'' article said that the group—alongside the Osvald Group
The Osvald Group was a Norwegian organisation that was the most active World War II resistance group in Norway from 1941 to the summer of 1944. Numbering more than 200 members, it committed at least 110 acts of sabotage against Nazi occupying fo ...
—were "not «communist» but they were led by" the communists Ragnar Sollie and n the case of the Osvald Group,Asbjørn «Osvald» Sunde".
History
In the summer of 1944 the group attacked a mechanics
Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to object ...
factory at Fetsund
Fetsund forms the center of the municipality Lillestrøm Viken, Norway. The name comes from the local geography, ''Fet'' means "where water meets grass". As for the ''-sund'' part, it simply means 'strait, inlet'. Accordingly, Fetsund is located a ...
; one member was killed when dynamite ignited ahead of schedule.[
The group's finances were provided by robbing an office that was responsible for paying salaries to company employees—'']Oslo Sporveier
AS Oslo Sporveier is a defunct municipal owned company responsible for public transport in Oslo, Norway. It was created in 1924 to take over the city's two private tram companies. In 1927 its started with bus transport, including from 1940 to 19 ...
s lønnskontor''. The take was Norwegian kroner
The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian Crown (currency), crown in English. ...
125 000.
23 November 1944 attack
The 23 November 1944 sabotage attack resulted in the blowing up of 6 ships, one crane, two drydock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
s—at two[ ship yards (''Nylands Verksted'' and Akers Mekaniske Verksted'').
The explosions were preceded by two tons of dynamite being smuggled from ]Sollihøgda
Sollihøgda is a village in Hole municipality, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. It is situated near the border with the municipality of Bærum, in the county of Akershus, 28 km from Oslo.
European route E16 passes through the village. So ...
into Oslo, after the dynamite was stolen by Leif Kjemperud and others. (Responsibility for the smuggling, was had by a subdivision of the Pelle Group—the Ullevål Hageby
Ullevål Hageby is a residential area and garden city in borough Nordre Aker of Oslo, Norway. All housing in the area is part of the housing cooperative ''Oslo Havebyselskap''. The area borders on Ullevål University Hospital to the east, Blinde ...
Gang. Sverre Kokkin and others bicycled, with dynamite, from Hønefoss
__NOTOC__
Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008 ...
to Oslo. Dynamite was also transported to Oslo by lorry, hidden in potato sack
A burlap sack or gunny sack, also known as a gunny shoe, hessian sack or tow sack, is an inexpensive bag, traditionally made of fibres which are also known as "tow," such as hessian fabric (burlap) formed from jute, hemp or other natural fibres ...
s.
"When the lorry
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...
was stopped at check point, they only saw potatoes. During transfer and reloading, one of the sacks opened" and dynamite spilled onto the sidewalk, and the driver did not know what he had been a part of.[) The dynamite was stored at Kampen, Oslo by a different subdivision of the group.] Shipyard employees smuggled the dynamite into their workplace, where it was stored under one of the "boats".
At the shipyard, workers and foremen brought the explosives onto the ship, in pockets,[ lunch boxes and tool boxes.]
The six ships destroyed included one war ship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster an ...
—"Bolivar",[ and M/S Troma (owned by a Norwegian firm).][ "... var i nærheten da aksjonen ble utført. - Det var derimot de fem skipsbyggerne Ellef Baastad, Osvald Kristiansen, Gunnar Andersen, Johan Grønholdt og Erik Marcussen, alle opplært av Ragnar 'Pelle' Sollie. ... Etter krigen byttet tre av de fem navn."]
The workers at the shipyards who smuggled the dynamite, were able to escape to Sweden.[
Of five shipwrights who participated after being trained by Sollie, three changed their name after the war.] (The five shipwrights were Ellef Baastad, Osvald Kristiansen, Gunnar Andersen, Johan Grønholdt and Erik Marcussen.[)
]
After the 23 November 1944 attack
During late winter[ of 1945, a woman who had an affair with one of the group's members reported to authorities that the man had a gunshot wound to the stomach. The man and his brother were arrested by the Gestapo. The brothers "were not able to take the torture. Within an hour and a half, Gestapo were on their way to our home", said Sverre Kokkin.][
11 of its members were sentenced to death in February 1945, but only six were executed. Five survived until the end of the war. However, three other members were executed in March 1945. Several members were executed at the ]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 ...
[ and their bodies thrown into the ]Oslofjord
The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...
.
Organization
The group had about 100 saboteurs.[ Subdivisions of the group included the ]Ullevål Hageby
Ullevål Hageby is a residential area and garden city in borough Nordre Aker of Oslo, Norway. All housing in the area is part of the housing cooperative ''Oslo Havebyselskap''. The area borders on Ullevål University Hospital to the east, Blinde ...
Gang and the Losby Gang.
After the war
Recognition
No member has ever received medals for their actions during World War II, from Norway's government. In 2013 one of the two members who is still alive, Sverre Kokkin said that if he gets a medal, it probably will be post mortem.
In a 2013 article on NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...
, Øystein Rakkenes and Morten Conradi (directors of a 2013 film about the Pelle Group) said "... why ax Manus has been credited for the big ship sabotage action (''skipssabotasjeaksjonen '') in 1944 at the port of Oslo
''Oslo Port Authority'' ( no, Oslo Havn KF) is a kommunalt foretak (municipal enterprise), and accountable to the Municipality of Oslo. For many years, Oslo Havn KF was known as ''Oslo havnevesen (OHV)'' but was renamed on June 8, 2004, to its cu ...
?"[Uverdig behandling av hvem, Moland? Hjemmefrontmuseets leder bommer fullstendig på målet i sin kritikk av vår film om Pellegruppa. Det er ikke Max Manus som har blitt uverdig behandlet.]
/ref> The directors also said "It was first when the members of Pelle Group—Sverre Kokkin and Leif Kjemperud—protested in 2010, that the monument f Max Manusat last was moved to ''Akershus festning
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 ...
''"— rom_the_site_of_the_1944_ship_sabotage_at_present_day_Aker_Brygge.html" ;"title="Aker_Brygge.html" ;"title="rom the site of the 1944 ship sabotage at present day Aker Brygge">rom the site of the 1944 ship sabotage at present day Aker Brygge">Aker_Brygge.html" ;"title="rom the site of the 1944 ship sabotage at present day Aker Brygge">rom the site of the 1944 ship sabotage at present day Aker Brygge
Later in 2013 Ronald Bye—a former Party Secretary of the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party—wrote in Norwegian daily Aftenposten
( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...
that "It is not about the content of an obituary, a lunch with the defence minister who presented a tray
A tray is a shallow platform designed for the carrying of items. It can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, paperboard, wood, melamine, and molded pulp. Trays range in cost from inexpensive molded pulp tray ...
as a gift, and that now (November 22) there will be unveiled a monument to commemorate the Pelle Group. It is about the 'retouching' of the group's members in regards to an official recognition for the efforts on behalf of the Resistance. The reason; the members were stigmatized and many of them were put under surveillance as communists—in lee of the hunt for fifth columnist
A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas
Harris Mylonas is Associate Professor of Political Science and Internat ...
s during the Cold War... But my point is to front the criticism of the bad treatment that the Pelle Group officially got from Norwegian authorities. For example this was expressed by not being granted honors such as '' Den norsk deltakermedaljen'', '' War Cross'', '' Forsvarsmedaljen'', '' Forsvarets hederskors'', and '' Haakon VIIs 70-årsmedalje''. - These are honours that—with a generous hand—has been awarded to others who participated in the Resistance fight during the war."
A 30 October 2013 Dagsavisen
''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...
article quoted from a speech (honoring the group) by the former minister of defence: "Who chose to follow the narrow path of courage ... And here were people from the entire political spectrum. Still, the cold relationship between East and West came to make life difficult for some. We know that some in the Pelle Group were inflicted with unreasonably great strain. In the clear light of hindsight, this is something that we today can confirm."[ "Som valgte å følge motets smale sti ... Og her var mennesker fra hele det politisk spekter. Likevel kom det kalde forholdet mellom øst og vest til å gjøre livet vanskeligere for noen. Vi vet at flere i Pelle-gruppen ble påført urimelig stor belastning. Det er noe vi i dag i ettertidens klare lys kan fastslå."]
In 2015 Lars Borgersrud said that "Norwegian war history has focused on sabotage attacks performed and planned from England" ..They were trained by professional soldiers, by the British. The saboteurs of the Pelle Group and the Osvald Group
The Osvald Group was a Norwegian organisation that was the most active World War II resistance group in Norway from 1941 to the summer of 1944. Numbering more than 200 members, it committed at least 110 acts of sabotage against Nazi occupying fo ...
, were ordinary people who had no access to weapons and equipment, other than what they were able to get their hands on. Their effort can not be evaluated in the same manner. ..To compare with those who operated in Norway, independently from 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 ...
, becomes difficult. Usually this was workers who sabotaged their own firms".
Monument in Oslo
In 2010, the city council of Oslo passed a resolution to build a monument to honor the Pelle group.
In December 2011, 3 members of the Pelle group criticized the council's Finance committee for not allocating the "originally proposed Norwegian kroner
The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian Crown (currency), crown in English. ...
1.75 million" in the proposed budget for 2012.
In 2013 Aftenposten
( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...
said that three years ago Max Manus
Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar (9 December 1914 – 20 September 1996) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II, specialising in sabotage in occupied Norway. After the war he wrote several books about his adventu ...
was honored with a monument at Aker Brygge
Aker Brygge is a neighbourhood in central Oslo, Norway. Since the 1980s and 1990s it has been a popular area for shopping, dining, and entertainment, as well as a high-end residential area. It was previously an industrial area.
Location
Aker B ...
, and that the "Placement led to protest, since it was the Pelle Group that performed the sabotage of ships here. The monument was therefore moved to below 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 ...
, where Max Manus led the sabotage attack on teamshipDonau
Donau may refer to:
*Danube (German: ''Donau''), Europe's second-longest river
*Donau (horse) (1907–1913), American thoroughbred racehorse
* SS ''Donau'', the name of several steamships
*, a modern German replenishment ship
*RC Donau, an Austrian ...
. - But the commotion regarding the placement, put the Pelle Group on the map. The city council decided that the Pelle Group also would receive a monument, and that it was to be placed at Aker Brygge."
It was financed by a Norwegian firm—''Samlerhuset Samlerhuset Norge (Collector's House) is a Norwegian distributor of collectibles, mainly coins and medals, but also stamps, banknotes and philatelic numismatic covers (PNC). Samlerhuset is located in Oppegård, Norway. The company, with the full na ...
''.
=After completion
=
On 22 November 2013 the monument was unveiled, after a ceremony in the city hall of Oslo with crown prince Haakon and Oslo's mayor sitting alongside Reidar Formo and Sverre Kokkin (the two last surviving member of the Pelle Group).
The names of 63 persons are listed on the monument, including saboteurs of the group and facilitator
A facilitator is a person who helps a group of people to work together better, understand their common objectives, and plan how to achieve these objectives, during meetings or discussions. In doing so, the facilitator remains "neutral", meaning t ...
s.
Klassekampen has highlighted tireless effort, regarding the monument, by Erling Folkvord
Erling Folkvord (born 15 June 1949) is a Norwegian politician for the Red party, and a former member of the Parliament of Norway. A revolutionary socialist, he was one of the leading members of the Workers' Communist Party and the Red Electora ...
, historian Lars Borgersrud, Morten Conradi and Øystein Rakkenes, and mentioning Gunnar Sønsteby as an ally to the project.
A description of the monument says that it "... shows two young men running with banner and rifle; and a woman carrying a handbag with illegal newspapers".
Members
The group had only one who was a member of ''Norges Kommunistiske Parti
The Communist Party of Norway ( no, Norges Kommunistiske Parti, NKP) is a communist party in Norway.
The NKP was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. It was Stalinist from its establishment and, as such, supported the ...
'' — Ragnar Sollie
Ragnar ( non, Ragnarr ) is a masculine Germanic name, Germanic given name, composed of the Old Norse elements ''ragin-'' "counsel" and ''hari-'' "army".
Origin and variations
The Proto-Germanic forms of the compounds are "ragina" (counsel) an ...
.
Leif Kjemperud was also a member of Osvald Group
The Osvald Group was a Norwegian organisation that was the most active World War II resistance group in Norway from 1941 to the summer of 1944. Numbering more than 200 members, it committed at least 110 acts of sabotage against Nazi occupying fo ...
.
Ludvig Hansen was the group's youngest, around 18 years old.[
]
Hageby Gang
Members of the Hageby Gang, also known as the Ullevål Hageby
Ullevål Hageby is a residential area and garden city in borough Nordre Aker of Oslo, Norway. All housing in the area is part of the housing cooperative ''Oslo Havebyselskap''. The area borders on Ullevål University Hospital to the east, Blinde ...
Gang[ included
Sverre Kokkin]
Reidar Formoe was the designated executioner of group members who were wounded and supposedly would not be able to escape the scene of attack.
See also
* Leif Kjemperud
References
{{Reflist
External links
Om Pelle-gruppen i krigslex
Dødsdømt - med livet i behold
- om en av de som slapp unna dødsdommen
«Pelle» slår til
- mest om aksjonen på Nyland- og Akers-mek.
Norwegian resistance movement
Acts of sabotage