Sigurd Emil Roll (14 October 1893 – 24 June 1944) 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 ...

diplomat and former sprinter who was executed during the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany 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 ...

. He had a brother William Roll (diplomat).

Early life and family

Roll was born in

Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

to Wilhelm Jørgen Roll (born 1864 in

Asker, Norway Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken county, ...

) and Sofia Jensen (born 1868 in Asker, Norway). Roll was married in 1918, and had four children. His son Finn joined the

Devil's Brigade The 1st Special Service Force was an elite American–Canadian commando unit in World War II, under the command of the United States Fifth Army. The unit was organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana ...

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 ...

Olympic athlete

As an athlete he became Norwegian champion in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

event in 1917.Norwegian championships, men's 400 metres
– Norwegian Athletics Association He broke the Norwegian record this year, clocking in 50.9 seconds. He improved his own record to 50.7 seconds in 1920, but lost it to Einar Mangset the following season. He also won silver medals in the 400 metres in 1918 and 1920, as well as medals in the 100 and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

.Norwegian championships, men's 200 metres
– Norwegian Athletics Association He represented the sports club

Kristiania IF Oslo Idrettslag is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Oslo, with sections for swimming, speed skating, figure skating and athletics. History It was founded on 3 September 1893 as Kristiania Idrætsforening, partly on the ruins of the clubs ''Dovre ...

Diplomatic and resistance fighter

Roll later served as a US

vice consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

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 ...

. During the

Roll resigned his post and joined the Norwegian underground. He was captured by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

and imprisoned in a concentration camp for a period. After his release, he allegedly helped Norwegians escape from concentration camps.

Death

On June 24, 1944, Roll was arrested in his office and executed at Holmenkollen Kapell (Oslo) as a part of

Operation Blumenpflücken Operation Blumenpflücken ( en, Operation Flower Picking) was a counter- resistance operation in occupied Norway, planned and carried out by the Gestapo/Sicherheitspolizei in 1944 and early 1945. It was planned by Ernst Weiner, and was a part of t ...

, an attempt to discredit the

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, ...

. SS

Hauptsturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a ...

and

Sicherheitspolizei The ''Sicherheitspolizei'' ( en, Security Police), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the ...

officer Ernst Weiner was personally responsible for the murder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roll, Sigurd 1893 births 1944 deaths Norwegian male sprinters Norwegian civilians killed in World War II Track and field athletes from Chicago Norwegian diplomats Norwegian people executed by Nazi Germany American people executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany occupation forces Executed people from Illinois