Ørnulf Egge (26 May 1910 – 31 July 1978) was a Norwegian politician for the Workers' Youth League and

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and resistance member 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 ...

Early political career

He was born in

Kristiania 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 ...

, and was a son of writer Peter Egge. He became a central board member in the Workers' Youth League in 1934, and belonged to the left wing. This became clear especially after 1937, although Egge managed to win support for the Workers' Youth League to still work for

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

. After the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

and

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 the ...

in 1940, Egge joined the Trade Opposition of 1940, a grouping that wanted non-resistance against the German invaders in order to secure good conditions for workers and trade unions. The Trade Opposition was declared underminers by the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions ...

in July 1940, and in August/September when it became clear that the Fascist party

Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such a ...

would be a cooperating partner with the Germans, Egge backed out together with Edvard Bull, Jr. and others. Shortly thereafter, the Workers' Youth League was prohibited by the Nazi authorities. In 1941 Egge and others from the Workers' Youth League came into contact with the Communist Party, which had gone underground. In May 1942 Egge became the leader of the youth work in the Communist Party. In May 1943 he was sent to their secret headquarters encampment in

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre ...

, to work as organizational secretary. He was also a member of the central committee. On 13 June 1944 the headquarters were attacked by 800 Nazi personnel. What was called

Operation Almenrausch Operation Almenrausch was a counter- resistance operation in occupied Norway, planned and carried out by the Wehrmacht and the Nazi-controlled Norwegian Statspolitiet on 13 June 1944. It was named after the Almenrausch, an "Alpine Rose" growing ...

was a blow to the Communist Party's organization, but Egge survived and fled. He operated out of Oslo until the end of World War II. At the same time the communist sabotages began to fade, because the movement lacked weapons and had been weakened by Operation Almenrausch and other arrests.

Post-war career

On 15 June 1940, Egge gave his support to

Johan Nygaardsvold Johan Nygaardsvold (; 6 September 1879 – 13 March 1952) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party who served as the 21st prime minister of Norway from 1935 to 1945. From June 1940 until May 1945, he oversaw the Norwegian Government-in-ex ...

to continue as

Prime Minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

. He also negotiated to cooperate more closely with the Labour Party; this goal was not achieved.Pryser, 1988: p. 552 Egge was the political secretary of the Communist Party from 1945 to 1946. He was excluded in 1950, during the purge against

Peder Furubotn Peder Furubotn (29 August 1890 – 28 November 1975) was a Norwegian cabinetmaker, politician for the Communist Party and resistance member during World War II. Early and personal life Furubotn was born in Brekke, Sogn og Fjordane, the son o ...

and his supporters. He died in 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egge, Oernulf 1910 births 1978 deaths Politicians from Oslo Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian resistance members