Einar Hærland (3 January 1909 – 12 June 1944) was a Norwegian military officer 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 th ...

. He was born in

Solum The solum (plural, sola) in soil science consists of the surface and subsoil layers that have undergone the same soil forming conditions. The base of the solum is the relatively unweathered parent material. Solum and soils are not synonymous. So ...

to Ole Hærland and his wife Marie, née Knudsen. Einar Hærland married, had two children, and settled in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

with his family Hærland embarked on a military career and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

following the battles in Northern Norway during the Norwegian Campaign. When the fighting subsided and Germany occupied Norway, he was employed by the police while also engaging in illegal resistance work. When the Nazi police leader Gunnar Lindvig was assassinated by the Norwegian resistance in May 1944, Hærland was executed by

Sicherheitspolizei The often abbreviated as SiPo, is a German term meaning "security police". In the Nazi Germany, Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agency, security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of ...

officer Ernst Weiner as a

reprisal A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extremel ...

. His execution marked the beginning of a broader retaliation operation called

Operation Blumenpflücken Operation Blumenpflücken () was a counter-Norwegian resistance movement, resistance operation in occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, occupied Norway, planned and carried out by the Gestapo/Sicherheitspolizei in 1944 and early 1945. It was planne ...

. Hærland is buried at

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen (station), Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a cremator ...

. Comedian Anne-Kat Hærland is Einar Hærland's granddaughter.

References

1909 births 1944 deaths Executed Norwegian people Executed military personnel Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II Norwegian police officers killed in the line of duty Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Burials at Vestre gravlund Deaths by firearm in Norway Norwegian people executed by Nazi Germany {{Norway-mil-bio-stub People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm