Josef Larsson was a Norwegian metal worker and trade unionist, born in Sweden. From 1931 he was a secretary for the Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers

Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers

The Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers was a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions.It was founded in 1891...

. He was a board member of the Norwegian Labour Party

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

 from 1927 to 1930.

In 1941, after the so-called milk strike

Milk strike

The milk strike was a strike in Nazi occupied Oslo on 8 and 9 September 1941. It led to strong reprisals from the German occupiers, in the form of martial law, court-martial, mass arrests, two executions and several long-term jail sentences.-Start:...

 in 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...

, Larsson was sentenced to death in a German court-martial

Court-martial

A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

, but his conviction was changed to imprisonment for life.

He spent the rest of the war years

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...

in German jails.After the war he took up again the position as chairman of the Norwegian Union of Iron and Metalworkers, a post he held until 1958. Larsson died in 1987 at 94 years of age.