Erik Gjems-Onstad
Encyclopedia
Erik-Ørn Gjems-Onstad, MBE
(22 February 1922 – 18 November 2011) was a Norwegian
resistance member
, officer, lawyer, politician and anti-immigration activist. When Nazi Germany
invaded
Norway in 1940, Gjems-Onstad travelled to England to join the Norwegian resistance movement. When in England, he became a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1
and received British military training. He was deployed to Norway in 1943, where he operated a radio transmitter, assisted with weapon smuggling, and plotted to assassinate Nazi collaborator Ivar Grande. Gjems-Onstad's work during the Second World War
led him to become one of Norway's highest decorated war heroes.
Gjems-Onstad joined the Norwegian Home Guard after the war, ultimately reaching the rank of colonel. He also completed education in law
, and worked as a judge and lawyer. When Anders Lange's Party
was founded in 1973, he became the party's Deputy Leader, as well as a Member of Parliament following the election the same year
. He became the party's group leader in parliament following Anders Lange
's death in 1974, but was expelled from the party in 1976, finishing the term as an independent
. In the 1980s, he worked as a defender for several anti-immigration activists, and from the late 1980s became involved in anti-immigration politics himself. He stood in elections for the Stop Immigration
party and the Fatherland Party
until the early 1990s, and was briefly active locally in the Conservative Party and the Pensioners' Party in the late 2000s.
as a son of jurist and civil servant Olaf Gjems-Onstad (1882–1945) and architect Ågot Urbye (1886–1959). He worked at sea from a young age, but finished
his secondary education in 1940.
When Nazi Germany
invaded
and occupied Norway
as a part of the Second World War on 9 April 1940, Gjems-Onstad travelled to England where he joined the Norwegian Independent Company 1
and took British military education. In 1943 it was decided to deploy him in Norway to reinforce the resistance subgroup Lark in Trøndelag
. This was necessary as Evald Hansen and Herluf Nygaard had been captured and tortured in December 1942 (Nygaard later escaped, Hansen died at Falstad
). Gjems-Onstad travelled via Shetland and arrived in March 1943, together with Odd Sørli
, Arthur Pevik and Nils Uhlin Hansen
. Gjems-Onstad operated a radio transmitter and assisted with weapon smuggling. Also, together with Odd Sørli and Ingebrigt Gausland he plotted to assassinate Nazi collaborator Ivar Grande. They delivered a box booby trap
ped with an egg hand grenade to his home, but Grande foiled the attempt with advice Norwegian Gestapo
agent Henry Rinnan (who was present at the time) on not to open such boxes.
In 1944 Gjems-Onstad was promoted to second lieutenant (fenrik). He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1941, and decorated with the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal in 1942, the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch
in 1944, the Defence Medal, War Medal 1939–1945
, 1939–45 Star and the Norwegian Defence Medal in 1945 and the Norwegian War Cross with Sword in 1947. In 1947 he played himself in the documentary film
Det grodde fram about the Norwegian resistance movement in Trondheim
.
Many years after the war, he complained that he for unexplained reasons had been kept away from public arrangements related to the Second World War. He said he had not been invited to a single such event. He was also in possession of a large archive of wartime material from the resistance movement in Trøndelag, but said he had not been approached with interest by any public institution.
from 1948 to 1949, and in 1949 he opened a lawyer's firm in Oslo. From 1957 he had access to work with Supreme Court cases. He was also a consultant or secretary for Norsk Gartnerforening, Bruktbilhandlerforeningen/Autoriserte Bruktbilhandleres handelsforbund and for the local branch of the Norwegian Bar Association
. In 1961 he left his lawyer's firm to work as a consultant in Den norske Creditbank
. From 1970 to 1972 he was the CEO of AS Vaterland, from where he was removed with a golden parachute
of . From 1972 to 1977 he operated a lawyer's firm in Oslo again, and from 1977 he moved his office to Hvalstad
and worked as a defender in Asker and Bærum District Court
. He retired as a defender in 1990, but remained a lawyer until 2001. During the 1980s he defended several anti-immigration activists, including Vivi Krogh
, Jan Ødegård and Arne Myrdal
.
He was a board member of the local Bar Association chapter from 1960 to 1964. He was also a board member of AS Vaterland from 1966 to 1972 and of Max Manus AS, the eponymous company belonging to former leading resistance member Max Manus
, from 1965 to 1969.
in 1939. He was also an active race walker
, representing the club SK Rye, with two sixth places in the Norwegian championships achieved between 1967 and 1969. He chaired the Norwegian Cycling Federation
from 1959 to 1965 and the Norwegian Walking Association from 1967 to 1973. He was a member of the Norwegian Olympic Committee
from 1959 to 1973 and a deputy board member of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports
from 1965 to 1967. He was an official for Norway at the Summer Olympics in 1960
and 1972
, and in 1993 he sat on the committee that organized the 1993 UCI Road World Championships
. In 1967 he initiated Styrkeprøven
, a yearly cyclosportive
from Trondheim
to Oslo
. He completed the race himself more than fifteen times.
. When the Anders Lange's Party
was founded in 1973, Gjems-Onstad joined and became vice chairman under Anders Lange
. In the 1973 parliamentary election
he won a seat in the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus
. He sat through one term, and was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Election Committee. During this term he set a new record for number of times speaking to the assembly—325 times in one year. After Anders Lange's death in 1974, he became leader of the party's parliamentary group until October 1976. Later that month, he was expelled from the party by a unanimously approved motion by Carl I. Hagen
. The reason given for the expulsion was that he had stated in an interview with Aftenposten
that he thought the party should be dissolved, and that he planned to vote for the Conservative Party in the 1977 election
. He finished the term as an independent
, and was not re-elected.
From 1988 to 1990 he chaired the regional chapter of Stop Immigration
. He was expelled from the organization together with Hege Søfteland
and Torfinn Hellandsvik. In 1991 he ran unsuccessfully in the local election
for the Fatherland Party
. He has later been active in Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring
. He expressed his outrage at the Lund Report
in 1996, considering it defamatory and demanding an apology, after it was revealed that he had been under surveillance by the Police Surveillance Agency (POT). He was involved in the Conservative Party in Asker
from 2005 to 2007, but in 2007 he joined the Pensioners Party
as their top ballot candidate for the municipal election
. As Gjems-Onstad called for a halt of immigration to Asker, he was instantly denounced by his own party. The party leader called for exclusion, but removal from the ballot is legally impossible. As the election was held the Pensioners Party did not win any seats, and the local party leadership expressed their delight.
In late 2008 he made news when having talks with the disturbed man who fired a gun towards a refugee centre. In 2009 he participated in a non-violent clash between anti-immigration activists and anti-racists
, alongside Arne Tumyr
and Øyvind Heian
. He was also involved in an heritage distribution controversy. In her will, millionaire Clara Westin declared that be given to anti-immigration activists, and that the distribution be decided by a board consisting of four people. One person backed out, and the other three were Gjems-Onstad, Norvald Aasen of Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring and Bjarne Pettersen. It surfaced that Gjems-Onstad wanted to distribute money to people such as Heian, Tore Tvedt
and the mother of child murder convict Ole Nicolai Kvisler. While the background for involving Kvisler was his anti-immigration views, the pressing issue was the matter of his court ruling. Having followed the case closely, as a former lawyer, Gjems-Onstad had disputed the court ruling and wanted the case reopened, as he believed there was not sufficient evidence to conclude that Kvisler had any more than a subsidiary role in the murder. Gjems-Onstad maintained that it was only the other convict, Joe Erling Jahr, who had committed the murder. The left-wing anti-racist organization SOS Rasisme
petitioned the Norwegian state to confiscate Gjems-Onstad's war decorations, but to no avail.
and Asia
. Later, he travelled extensively in Africa. He toured Angola
for a week in 1973, and was in Guinea-Bissau
in 1974. He later claimed that blacks and whites had lived peacefully together in these countries when he had visited them before their decolonisation—after which he considered the conditions to be grim—and that the standard of living among blacks had been higher there than in many other places in Africa. He came to regard it as a life's mission to work for Africa, and believed that the Norwegian government's policy in Africa contributed to destroy the continent through supporting "wars of liberation" and failed foreign aid.
Gjems-Onstad went to Rhodesia
in April 1979 after having been invited by the Rhodesian Department of Information. He admitted at the same time that he for years had shared information to the Rhodesian government about how he considered various institutions and individuals in Norway, which reportedly led to the admission of one newspaper to the country. The relationship had been initiated after Gjems-Onstad wrote a letter of sympathy to Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith
some years ahead. When in Salisbury
, he met with figures such as Smith, Foreign Minister P. K. van der Byl
and Head of the Military Peter Walls
. While he did not think democracy and human rights
was optimal in the country—he considered Botswana
to be one of the better countries—he considered rule of law
to be better than in countries the Norwegian government had supported financially, such as Idi Amin
's Uganda
.
He also travelled extensively throughout South Africa
, and said that conditions for blacks were better there than in other African countries. He supported the South African policy since the 1970s of gradually dismantling the apartheid system, which included the granting of independence to tribal homelands
. He was in the country in April 1976 for a conference that was to prepare the establishment of Transkei
. He later considered the homelands to be true democratic states governed by the rule of law, which he considered that many other African states were not. Gjems-Onstad strongly opposed the African National Congress
and the Norwegian government's support of the group, as he believed their agenda would lead to civil war and a government led by revolutionary socialists
—as had happened in other African countries. He later pointed to the development in former Rhodesia, Robert Mugabe
's Zimbabwe
. In January 1987 he was part of a group of eight Norwegians who toured South Africa and issued an "apology" to the South African government for the Norwegian government's policy towards the country.
.
He lived in Hvalstad
, Asker
, where he owned a nine decare small farm
. The property included three equal parts of garden
, forest
and arable land
. He regularly cut lumber
from the forest to build furniture for his home. At times, he held rabbits
, sheep, cows, calves
, piglets
and a fish pond
of brown trout
at his property. According to himself, he kept the livestock
largely in protest against tax
authorities, while also as a hobby.
Erik Gjems-Onstad died in November 2011 after a short illness at the Bærum
public hospital.
He released the book Krigskorset og St. Olavsmedaljen med ekegren in 1995, which gives an overview of all the holders of Norway's highest wartime decorations. The reasoning behind awarding the War Cross (Norway's highest decoration) was in the book also made public for the first time.
In 1984 he published the books Dagbok fra Tanzania - U-hjelp uten mening, a travel diary from Tanzania
discussing what he considered as failed foreign aid, and a travel diary from Israel
, Dagbok fra Israel- reiser og tanker. He wrote about alternative Norwegian policies towards South Africa
in the 1985 book Syd-Afrika i dag - boikott eller samarbeid. These books were published by Afrikainstituttet, of which he was board chairman from 1983 to 1990. In 1994, he chronicled the trials against Arne Myrdal
in Myrdal-sakene. Gjems-Onstad has in addition released his own periodical, called Nytt og kommentarer.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(22 February 1922 – 18 November 2011) was a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
resistance member
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
, officer, lawyer, politician and anti-immigration activist. When Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
Norway in 1940, Gjems-Onstad travelled to England to join the Norwegian resistance movement. When in England, he became a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1 was a British SOE group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. It was organized under the leadership of Captain Martin Linge...
and received British military training. He was deployed to Norway in 1943, where he operated a radio transmitter, assisted with weapon smuggling, and plotted to assassinate Nazi collaborator Ivar Grande. Gjems-Onstad's work during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
led him to become one of Norway's highest decorated war heroes.
Gjems-Onstad joined the Norwegian Home Guard after the war, ultimately reaching the rank of colonel. He also completed education in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, and worked as a judge and lawyer. When Anders Lange's Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
was founded in 1973, he became the party's Deputy Leader, as well as a Member of Parliament following the election the same year
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1973
-Results:¹A coalition of the Socialist People's Party , the Communist Party of Norway , and anti-European Economic Community individuals from the Labour Party. The coalition evolved into the Socialist Left Party in 1975....
. He became the party's group leader in parliament following Anders Lange
Anders Lange
Anders Sigurd Lange was a Norwegian politician and the eponymous founder of the political party Anders Lange's Party . He was a charismatic right-wing public speaker who objected to high taxes, state-regulations and public bureaucracy.Lange has been described as a man who went his own ways...
's death in 1974, but was expelled from the party in 1976, finishing the term as an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
. In the 1980s, he worked as a defender for several anti-immigration activists, and from the late 1980s became involved in anti-immigration politics himself. He stood in elections for the Stop Immigration
Stop Immigration
Stop Immigration was a political party in Norway, founded by Jack Erik Kjuus in 1987. The party was never particularly successful, and its only elected representative was in the Drammen city council, in both 1991 and 1995. The party was succeeded by the White Electoral Alliance in...
party and the Fatherland Party
Fatherland Party (Norway)
The Fatherland Party was a political party in Norway, which was founded by former local Progress Party politician Harald Trefall in 1990. Primarily based in Western Norway, the party supported nationalist positions such as opposition to immigration and the European Union...
until the early 1990s, and was briefly active locally in the Conservative Party and the Pensioners' Party in the late 2000s.
Early life and Second World War
Gjems-Onstad was born in KristianiaOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
as a son of jurist and civil servant Olaf Gjems-Onstad (1882–1945) and architect Ågot Urbye (1886–1959). He worked at sea from a young age, but finished
Examen artium
Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...
his secondary education in 1940.
When Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
and occupied Norway
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
as a part of the Second World War on 9 April 1940, Gjems-Onstad travelled to England where he joined the Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1 was a British SOE group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. It was organized under the leadership of Captain Martin Linge...
and took British military education. In 1943 it was decided to deploy him in Norway to reinforce the resistance subgroup Lark in Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
. This was necessary as Evald Hansen and Herluf Nygaard had been captured and tortured in December 1942 (Nygaard later escaped, Hansen died at Falstad
Falstad concentration camp
Falstad concentration camp was a prison camp in the village of Ekne in what was the municipality of Skogn in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway...
). Gjems-Onstad travelled via Shetland and arrived in March 1943, together with Odd Sørli
Odd Sørli
Odd Sørli is a Norwegian alpine skier. He was born in Copenhagen, and represended the club Oppdal IL. He competed at the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympics.-References:...
, Arthur Pevik and Nils Uhlin Hansen
Nils Uhlin Hansen
Nils Uhlin Hansen was a Norwegian long jumper and resistance member during World War II. He had a successful athletics career before the war; holding the Nordic record in the event...
. Gjems-Onstad operated a radio transmitter and assisted with weapon smuggling. Also, together with Odd Sørli and Ingebrigt Gausland he plotted to assassinate Nazi collaborator Ivar Grande. They delivered a box booby trap
Booby trap
A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is...
ped with an egg hand grenade to his home, but Grande foiled the attempt with advice Norwegian Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
agent Henry Rinnan (who was present at the time) on not to open such boxes.
In 1944 Gjems-Onstad was promoted to second lieutenant (fenrik). He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1941, and decorated with the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal in 1942, the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch
St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch
St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch is a Norwegian military award, which was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 6 February 1942. In Norway, the medal is considered as a separate award from the civilian St...
in 1944, the Defence Medal, War Medal 1939–1945
War Medal 1939–1945
The War Medal 1939–1945 was a British decoration awarded to those who had served in the Armed Forces or Merchant Navy full-time for at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945. In the Merchant Navy, the 28 days must have been served at sea...
, 1939–45 Star and the Norwegian Defence Medal in 1945 and the Norwegian War Cross with Sword in 1947. In 1947 he played himself in the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Det grodde fram about the Norwegian resistance movement in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
.
Many years after the war, he complained that he for unexplained reasons had been kept away from public arrangements related to the Second World War. He said he had not been invited to a single such event. He was also in possession of a large archive of wartime material from the resistance movement in Trøndelag, but said he had not been approached with interest by any public institution.
Professional career
Gjems-Onstad joined the Norwegian Home Guard after the war. From 1947 to 1959 he held the rank of captain there. He ultimately reached the rank of colonel. He also completed his education in law, graduating with the cand.jur. degree in 1948. He worked as a judge in southern BuskerudBuskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
from 1948 to 1949, and in 1949 he opened a lawyer's firm in Oslo. From 1957 he had access to work with Supreme Court cases. He was also a consultant or secretary for Norsk Gartnerforening, Bruktbilhandlerforeningen/Autoriserte Bruktbilhandleres handelsforbund and for the local branch of the Norwegian Bar Association
Norwegian Bar Association
The Norwegian Bar Association is an association of Norwegian lawyers. It was established in 1908 as , and assumed its current name from 1965. As of 2008 the association had about 7,000 members. Among its publications are the journals Norsk Retstidende and Rettens Gang....
. In 1961 he left his lawyer's firm to work as a consultant in Den norske Creditbank
Den norske Creditbank
Den norske Creditbank or DnC is a defunct Norwegian commercial bank created in 1857. In 1990 it merged with Bergen Bank to create Den norske Bank...
. From 1970 to 1972 he was the CEO of AS Vaterland, from where he was removed with a golden parachute
Golden parachute
A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated. Sometimes, certain conditions, typically a change in company ownership, must be met, but often the cause of termination is...
of . From 1972 to 1977 he operated a lawyer's firm in Oslo again, and from 1977 he moved his office to Hvalstad
Hvalstad
Hvalstad is a village and a small part of the Municipality Asker. Hvalstad has slightly more than 2000 inhabitants, a number that has doubled since the seventies. Hvalstad is located 20 kilometres from the centre of Oslo....
and worked as a defender in Asker and Bærum District Court
Asker and Bærum District Court
Asker and Bærum District Court is the district court serving Asker and Bærum in Norway. Cases may be appealed to Borgarting Court of Appeal. The court is located in Sandvika in Bærum. It has 13 professional judges, of which one is the chief judge, and 2 deputy judges. The administration has 20...
. He retired as a defender in 1990, but remained a lawyer until 2001. During the 1980s he defended several anti-immigration activists, including Vivi Krogh
Vivi Krogh
Vivi Krogh is a Norwegian former leader of the anti-immigration group Organisasjon mot skadelig innvandring i Norge. She was in 1981 convicted for anti-Islamic hate speech by the Norwegian Supreme Court under Norway's so-called "racism paragraph" , and received a suspended 60-day...
, Jan Ødegård and Arne Myrdal
Arne Myrdal
Arne Johannes Myrdal was a Norwegian local politician and later anti-immigration activist. He had a varied working career, including as a low-ranking military officer and unsuccessful businessman...
.
He was a board member of the local Bar Association chapter from 1960 to 1964. He was also a board member of AS Vaterland from 1966 to 1972 and of Max Manus AS, the eponymous company belonging to former leading resistance member Max Manus
Max Manus
Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II.Manus was born in Bergen to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother...
, from 1965 to 1969.
Sports official
Gjems-Onstad had an active career in sports. He became the Norwegian junior champion in cyclingCycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
in 1939. He was also an active race walker
Race walking
Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance athletic event. Although it is a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times...
, representing the club SK Rye, with two sixth places in the Norwegian championships achieved between 1967 and 1969. He chaired the Norwegian Cycling Federation
Norwegian Cycling Federation
The Norwegian Cycling Federation or NCF is the national governing body of cycle racing in Norway.The NCF is a member of the UCI and the UEC....
from 1959 to 1965 and the Norwegian Walking Association from 1967 to 1973. He was a member of the Norwegian Olympic Committee
Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports
The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports is the umbrella organization for sport in Norway. It is the largest volunteering organization in Norway, with more than 2 million members, and 12000 sports clubs, in 19 region confederatons and 56 national federations...
from 1959 to 1973 and a deputy board member of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports
Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports
The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports is the umbrella organization for sport in Norway. It is the largest volunteering organization in Norway, with more than 2 million members, and 12000 sports clubs, in 19 region confederatons and 56 national federations...
from 1965 to 1967. He was an official for Norway at the Summer Olympics in 1960
Norway at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Norway competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. 40 competitors, 39 men and 1 woman, took part in 39 events in 11 sports.-Athletics:Men's 100 metres*Carl Fredrik Bunæs* Heat — 10.80 s...
and 1972
Norway at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Norway was represented at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich by the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports. 112 competitors, 101 men and 11 women, took part in 70 events in 15 sports.-Medalists:...
, and in 1993 he sat on the committee that organized the 1993 UCI Road World Championships
1993 UCI Road World Championships
- Events summary :...
. In 1967 he initiated Styrkeprøven
Styrkeprøven
Styrkeprøven, also called Den Store Styrkeprøven , is a long bicycle cyclosportive which starts in Trondheim and finishes in Oslo, Norway...
, a yearly cyclosportive
Cyclosportive
A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually....
from Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. He completed the race himself more than fifteen times.
Politics and anti-immigration
From 1960 to 1964 he was a member of the school board in Oslo, representing the Conservative PartyConservative Party of Norway
The Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...
. When the Anders Lange's Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
was founded in 1973, Gjems-Onstad joined and became vice chairman under Anders Lange
Anders Lange
Anders Sigurd Lange was a Norwegian politician and the eponymous founder of the political party Anders Lange's Party . He was a charismatic right-wing public speaker who objected to high taxes, state-regulations and public bureaucracy.Lange has been described as a man who went his own ways...
. In the 1973 parliamentary election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1973
-Results:¹A coalition of the Socialist People's Party , the Communist Party of Norway , and anti-European Economic Community individuals from the Labour Party. The coalition evolved into the Socialist Left Party in 1975....
he won a seat in the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus
Akershus
- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...
. He sat through one term, and was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Election Committee. During this term he set a new record for number of times speaking to the assembly—325 times in one year. After Anders Lange's death in 1974, he became leader of the party's parliamentary group until October 1976. Later that month, he was expelled from the party by a unanimously approved motion by Carl I. Hagen
Carl I. Hagen
Carl Ivar Hagen is a Norwegian politician and former Vice President of the Norwegian Parliament. He was the chairman of the Progress Party from 1978 until 2006, when Siv Jensen replaced him as chairman of the party...
. The reason given for the expulsion was that he had stated in an interview with Aftenposten
Aftenposten
Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...
that he thought the party should be dissolved, and that he planned to vote for the Conservative Party in the 1977 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1977
-Results:...
. He finished the term as an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
, and was not re-elected.
From 1988 to 1990 he chaired the regional chapter of Stop Immigration
Stop Immigration
Stop Immigration was a political party in Norway, founded by Jack Erik Kjuus in 1987. The party was never particularly successful, and its only elected representative was in the Drammen city council, in both 1991 and 1995. The party was succeeded by the White Electoral Alliance in...
. He was expelled from the organization together with Hege Søfteland
Hege Søfteland
Hege Søfteland is a Norwegian nationalist politician and immigration opponent.A former member of the Conservative Party and Progress Party, she has since the late 1980s been present in numerous anti-immigration, far-right and nationalist parties...
and Torfinn Hellandsvik. In 1991 he ran unsuccessfully in the local election
Norwegian local elections, 1991
Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway in 1991. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently.-Municipal elections:...
for the Fatherland Party
Fatherland Party (Norway)
The Fatherland Party was a political party in Norway, which was founded by former local Progress Party politician Harald Trefall in 1990. Primarily based in Western Norway, the party supported nationalist positions such as opposition to immigration and the European Union...
. He has later been active in Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring
Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring
Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring is a far-right organisation in Norway which campaigns against immigration. The organisation was founded in 1987, and was initially led by Arne Myrdal who was later squeezed out due to his violent activism...
. He expressed his outrage at the Lund Report
Lund Report
The Lund Report The Lund Report The Lund Report (Official title: "Dokument nr. 15 (1995-96) - Rapport til Stortinget fra kommisjonen som ble nedsatt av Stortinget for å granske påstander om ulovlig overvåking av norske borgere", in English: "Document no...
in 1996, considering it defamatory and demanding an apology, after it was revealed that he had been under surveillance by the Police Surveillance Agency (POT). He was involved in the Conservative Party in Asker
Asker
Asker is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Viken traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Asker. The municipality is a suburb of Oslo, the national capital...
from 2005 to 2007, but in 2007 he joined the Pensioners Party
Pensioners Party (Norway)
The Pensioners' Party is a political party in Norway without parliamentary representation. It was founded in 1985 to work for the interests of pensioners. The party has never been elected to parliament, althouth former Arne Haukvik who was elected on the Centre Party list in 1993 joined the party...
as their top ballot candidate for the municipal election
Norwegian local elections, 2007
Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on September 10, 2007, with some areas polling on September 9 as well. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently...
. As Gjems-Onstad called for a halt of immigration to Asker, he was instantly denounced by his own party. The party leader called for exclusion, but removal from the ballot is legally impossible. As the election was held the Pensioners Party did not win any seats, and the local party leadership expressed their delight.
In late 2008 he made news when having talks with the disturbed man who fired a gun towards a refugee centre. In 2009 he participated in a non-violent clash between anti-immigration activists and anti-racists
Anti-racism
Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. In general, anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, however defined...
, alongside Arne Tumyr
Arne Tumyr
Arne Tumyr is a Norwegian former journalist, newspaper editor and politician.Tumyr grew up in Ask in Askøy, from where he moved in 1950. He took a baker's education in 1952, and started as a journalist apprentice in the newspaper Nordlands Framtid in Bodø in 1956...
and Øyvind Heian
Øyvind Heian
Øyvind Heian was a Norwegian politician and the parliamentary leader of Norwegian Patriots, which he founded in 2007 and whose main aim was to stop non-western immigration to Norway....
. He was also involved in an heritage distribution controversy. In her will, millionaire Clara Westin declared that be given to anti-immigration activists, and that the distribution be decided by a board consisting of four people. One person backed out, and the other three were Gjems-Onstad, Norvald Aasen of Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring and Bjarne Pettersen. It surfaced that Gjems-Onstad wanted to distribute money to people such as Heian, Tore Tvedt
Tore Tvedt
Tore Wilhelm Tvedt is the founder of the Norwegian far right organization Vigrid. He founded the organization in 1994, and was its leader until 2006....
and the mother of child murder convict Ole Nicolai Kvisler. While the background for involving Kvisler was his anti-immigration views, the pressing issue was the matter of his court ruling. Having followed the case closely, as a former lawyer, Gjems-Onstad had disputed the court ruling and wanted the case reopened, as he believed there was not sufficient evidence to conclude that Kvisler had any more than a subsidiary role in the murder. Gjems-Onstad maintained that it was only the other convict, Joe Erling Jahr, who had committed the murder. The left-wing anti-racist organization SOS Rasisme
SOS Rasisme
SOS Rasisme is a Norwegian activist organisation, whose stated goal is to reduce racism in society. It was founded in 1985, inspired by the French SOS Racisme...
petitioned the Norwegian state to confiscate Gjems-Onstad's war decorations, but to no avail.
Gjems-Onstad and Africa
When Gjems-Onstad worked at sea in his youth, he visited both AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Later, he travelled extensively in Africa. He toured Angola
Angola (Portugal)
Angola is the common name by which the Portuguese colony in southwestern Africa was known across different periods of time...
for a week in 1973, and was in Guinea-Bissau
Portuguese Guinea
Portuguese Guinea was the name for what is today Guinea-Bissau from 1446 to September 10, 1974.-History:...
in 1974. He later claimed that blacks and whites had lived peacefully together in these countries when he had visited them before their decolonisation—after which he considered the conditions to be grim—and that the standard of living among blacks had been higher there than in many other places in Africa. He came to regard it as a life's mission to work for Africa, and believed that the Norwegian government's policy in Africa contributed to destroy the continent through supporting "wars of liberation" and failed foreign aid.
Gjems-Onstad went to Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
in April 1979 after having been invited by the Rhodesian Department of Information. He admitted at the same time that he for years had shared information to the Rhodesian government about how he considered various institutions and individuals in Norway, which reportedly led to the admission of one newspaper to the country. The relationship had been initiated after Gjems-Onstad wrote a letter of sympathy to Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
some years ahead. When in Salisbury
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, he met with figures such as Smith, Foreign Minister P. K. van der Byl
P. K. van der Byl
Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl, ID was a South African-born Rhodesian politician who served as the country's Foreign Minister from 1974 to 1979 as a member of the Rhodesian Front...
and Head of the Military Peter Walls
Peter Walls
Lieutenant General George Peter Walls MBE GLM served as the Commander of the Combined Operations Headquarters of the Military of Rhodesia, and later Zimbabwe, from 1977 until his retirement on 29 July 1980 during the Rhodesian Bush War...
. While he did not think democracy and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
was optimal in the country—he considered Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
to be one of the better countries—he considered rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
to be better than in countries the Norwegian government had supported financially, such as Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
's Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
.
He also travelled extensively throughout South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and said that conditions for blacks were better there than in other African countries. He supported the South African policy since the 1970s of gradually dismantling the apartheid system, which included the granting of independence to tribal homelands
Bantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
. He was in the country in April 1976 for a conference that was to prepare the establishment of Transkei
Transkei
The Transkei , officially the Republic of Transkei , was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and nominal parliamentary democracy in the southeastern region of South Africa...
. He later considered the homelands to be true democratic states governed by the rule of law, which he considered that many other African states were not. Gjems-Onstad strongly opposed the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
and the Norwegian government's support of the group, as he believed their agenda would lead to civil war and a government led by revolutionary socialists
Revolutionary socialism
The term revolutionary socialism refers to Socialist tendencies that advocate the need for fundamental social change through revolution by mass movements of the working class, as a strategy to achieve a socialist society...
—as had happened in other African countries. He later pointed to the development in former Rhodesia, Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
's Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. In January 1987 he was part of a group of eight Norwegians who toured South Africa and issued an "apology" to the South African government for the Norwegian government's policy towards the country.
Personal life
Gjems-Onstad was married in 1949 to Borgny Pedersen (born 9 November 1921). They divorced in 1973. He was married for the second time to Inger Opseth (born 2 October 1937) in 1974. Gjems-Onstad had three children, including his son, jurist Ole Gjems-OnstadOle Gjems-Onstad
Ole Gjems-Onstad is a Norwegian jurist.He graduated from the University of Oslo with a cand.jur. degree in 1979, and took the dr.juris. degree in 1984. In 1985 he was appointed professor in tax law at the Norwegian School of Management...
.
He lived in Hvalstad
Hvalstad
Hvalstad is a village and a small part of the Municipality Asker. Hvalstad has slightly more than 2000 inhabitants, a number that has doubled since the seventies. Hvalstad is located 20 kilometres from the centre of Oslo....
, Asker
Asker
Asker is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Viken traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Asker. The municipality is a suburb of Oslo, the national capital...
, where he owned a nine decare small farm
Small farm
The definition of a small farm has varied over time and by country. Agricultural economists have analyzed the distinctions among farm sizes since the field's inception. Traditional agricultural economic theory considered small farms inefficient, a stance that began to be challenged in the 1950s...
. The property included three equal parts of garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
, forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
and arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
. He regularly cut lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
from the forest to build furniture for his home. At times, he held rabbits
European Rabbit
The European Rabbit or Common Rabbit is a species of rabbit native to south west Europe and north west Africa . It has been widely introduced elsewhere often with devastating effects on local biodiversity...
, sheep, cows, calves
Calf
Calves are the young of domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle, or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal.-Terminology:...
, piglets
Domestic pig
The domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...
and a fish pond
Fish pond
A fish pond, or fishpond, is a controlled pond, artificial lake, or reservoir that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, or is used for recreational fishing or for ornamental purposes...
of brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
at his property. According to himself, he kept the livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
largely in protest against tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
authorities, while also as a hobby.
Erik Gjems-Onstad died in November 2011 after a short illness at the Bærum
Bærum
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city....
public hospital.
Writings
Gjems-Onstad has authored several books. He wrote about the psychological warfare of the Norwegian resistance movement in Psykologisk krigføring i Norge - DURHAM - hemmelige operasjoner mot tysk okkupasjonsmakt 1943-45, released in 1984, and in Psykologisk krigføring i Norge under Annen Verdenskrig 1940 - 45, published in 1994. In 1990, he wrote about the resistance group Lark in LARK: Milorg i Trøndelag 1940-1945.He released the book Krigskorset og St. Olavsmedaljen med ekegren in 1995, which gives an overview of all the holders of Norway's highest wartime decorations. The reasoning behind awarding the War Cross (Norway's highest decoration) was in the book also made public for the first time.
In 1984 he published the books Dagbok fra Tanzania - U-hjelp uten mening, a travel diary from Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
discussing what he considered as failed foreign aid, and a travel diary from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Dagbok fra Israel- reiser og tanker. He wrote about alternative Norwegian policies towards South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in the 1985 book Syd-Afrika i dag - boikott eller samarbeid. These books were published by Afrikainstituttet, of which he was board chairman from 1983 to 1990. In 1994, he chronicled the trials against Arne Myrdal
Arne Myrdal
Arne Johannes Myrdal was a Norwegian local politician and later anti-immigration activist. He had a varied working career, including as a low-ranking military officer and unsuccessful businessman...
in Myrdal-sakene. Gjems-Onstad has in addition released his own periodical, called Nytt og kommentarer.