Rolf Wickstrøm (9 December 1912 in

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 ...

, Norway – 10 September 1941) 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 ...

labour activist and a victim of 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 ...

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 opposing ...

. Wickstrøm grew up in a working-class family. In 1935 he was hired as a welder on the rapidly expanding

Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk was a mechanical workshop focusing on design and construction of railcars. It was established by Hans Skabo in Drammen, Norway, in 1864; it became the first rail car factory in the country when it took delivery of the car ...

, the Skabo Rail Coach Factory. Dating from January 1940, he was labour representative and shop stewart at Skabo. He was arrested at

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 ...

in Oslo from 2 May to 26 May 1941. Wickstrøm was executed during the state of

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

which followed the so-called milk strike (''Melkestreiken''), together with the labour lawyer

Viggo Hansteen Harald Viggo Hansteen (13 September 1900 – 10 September 1941) was a Norwegian lawyer. He was executed during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. Biography Harald Viggo Hansteen was born in Oslo, Norway. As a student he was a part o ...

. The reason for the strike was that food supplies had become increasingly worse by September 1941. These two were the first labour representatives to be executed during the German occupation, and as such gained a great symbolic value for the continued resistance. Wickstrøm left behind his wife Signe (1913-1996) and son Tore (born 1938). After the war, Hansteen and Rolf Wickstrøm were buried in

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour ( no, Vår Frelsers gravlund) is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great ...

.''Speech by Viggo Hansteens and Rolf Wickstrøm 17 May 1995'' (Vår Frelsers gravlund i Oslo, 17. mai 1995)
/ref> Viggo Hansteen and Rolf Wickstrøm were honored by the naming of a section of road around Oslo which bears their names. In 1948, a memorial was erected in granite with bronze relief at the site of execution at

Årvoll Årvoll is a residential community situated in the Bjerke district of Oslo, Norway. It was here that anti-Nazi activists Viggo Hansteen and Rolf Wickstrøm – the first two Norwegians to be executed by the Nazis during the five-year German occ ...

in the Bjerke district of

. The memorial was directed by Norwegian sculptor

Nic Schiøll Nicolai Marius "Nic" Schiøll (10 October 1901 – 29 December 1984) was a Norwegian sculptor and painter. He was most known for his public works, ornamental sculptures and memorials. Biography Schiøll was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), N ...

(1901–1984). It bears the following:

References

Other sources

* Berntsen, Harald (1995) ''To liv - én skjebne: Viggo Hansteen og Rolf Wickstrøm'' (Oslo: Aschehoug) * 1912 births 1941 deaths Trade unionists from Oslo Norwegian people executed by Nazi Germany Norwegian civilians killed in World War II Deaths by firearm in Norway People executed by Germany by firing squad Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour {{Norway-activist-stub