Sophus Magdalon Buck Kahrs (28 March 1918 – 18 November 1986) was a Norwegian commander in the German SS during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Following the war, he was convicted for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

SS career

Kahrs was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in 1918 into a family of German origins. He joined the Nasjonal Samling in 1934. And around the same time he also joined the party's paramilitary wing, the Hird, and from 1936 the NS Battle Organization. After the outbreak of World War II, he volunteered for service in the

Norwegian Legion Norwegian Legion ( no, Norske Legion, german: Freiwilligen-Legion Norwegen) was a Norwegian collaborationist formation of the Waffen-SS during World War II. It was formed in German-occupied Norway on 29 June 1941, in support of the war aims of ...

of the Waffen-SS. In the summer of 1944 made acting battalion commander of the SS Ski Jäger Battalion "Norwegen". In 2013 Norwegian daily

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

's then correspondent in Germany said that "The Norwegian company commander failed—and fled the combat zone, while many were killed or captured". Kahrs disappeared early in the battle—later reappearing uninjured in the rear echelons, where he in his own report put himself in a positive light; thus avoiding court martial. Later he was put in charge of Vidkun Quisling's bodyguard detail, known as the ''

Førergarde The ''Førergarde'' ('leader guard' in Norwegian) was the personal guard of Vidkun Quisling, the leader of the Quisling regime, puppet Norwegian government during World War II. The ''Førergarde'' was founded in April 1942. At first, it numbered ...

''.

Criminal conviction

After the war, Kahrs was arrested and charged with treason. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years of hard labour. He escaped on 3 July 1947, along with three other inmates, from Espeland concentration camp. They soon joined up with three other former SS members and sailed on the boat ''Solbris'' to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was joined by his wife and son. He found work as an electrician, and later as a foreman at an American car company, until his death on 18 November 1986. His son returned to Bergen in 2005, a year later, he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahrs, Sophus 1918 births 1986 deaths Escapees from Norwegian detention Military personnel from Bergen Members of Nasjonal Samling Nazis who fled to Argentina Norwegian escapees Norwegian exiles Norwegian expatriates in Argentina Norwegian people of German descent Norwegian Waffen-SS personnel People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway SS-Sturmbannführer Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class