Milk strike
Encyclopedia
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 arrest
s, two executions and several long-term jail sentences.
Akers mekaniske verksted and the industry site Christiania Spigerverk
, as a spontaneous protest against the milk rationing
announced on 8 September 1941. The workers lost their daily quota of milk, which had been given to them until then. The protests spread to other companies. On 9 September the number of strikers was estimated to 20-25,000, at around fifty industry sites.
Josef Terboven
declared martial law
in Oslo and the neighboring municipality Aker
. Two union leaders, Viggo Hansteen
and Rolf Wickstrøm
, were sentenced to death by a court-martial
, and immediately executed by an SS Sonderkommando led by Oscar Hans
. Later Ludvik Buland
, Harry Vestli
and Josef Larsson
were also sentenced to death, but their convictions were changed to imprisonment for life in German jails. Both Buland and Vestli later died in German prisons. Albert Raaen
was arrested.
The mass arrests had direct consequences for the leadership of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
. Until then the Confederation had had a certain degree of independence with Buland as deputy chairman and Hansteen with a leading role. In May 1941 Håkon Meyer had proposed that in a reorganization of the Confederation, Hansteen would continue his job as legal consultant. After the milk strike the Confederation underwent "Nazification", with members of the Fascist party Nasjonal Samling installed as leaders. Erling Olsen
became acting chairman on 10 September, and continued as deputy chairman when Odd Fossum
was installed as chairman on 11 September. Kåre Rein
was installed as secretary. I. B. Aase continued in his position as treasurer.
New, comissarian leaders of the unions were installed as well. These were Birger Aamodt in the Union of Iron and Metalworkers
, Thorvald Apeland in the Union of Food, Beverage and Allied Workers, Michael Berg in the Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices, Nils Bunæs in the Union of General Workers
, Petter Holen in the Union of Railway Workers
, Rolf H. Jahrmann in the Union of Forestry and Land Workers
, Håkon Meyer in the Union of Municipal Employees
, Trygve Rokling in the Transport Workers' Union, Aksel Schultz in the Norsk Murerforbund and Karsten Werner in the Norsk Centralforening for Boktrykkere. Borger Haugar led the Union of Clothing Workers
. The comissarian leaders were hastily hired, so Haugar and Bunæs were removed after a short time and replaced with "more competent people".
Furthermore, on 11 September, rector of the University of Oslo
, Didrik Arup Seip
, was dismissed from his position and arrested. Also other University staff, including the professors Anton Wilhelm Brøgger
and Otto Lous Mohr
, were arrested. On 12 September former Chief of Police in Oslo Kristian Welhaven
, and the future Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen
were arrested. Also journalists and newspaper editors, including Olaf Gjerløw
and Fredrik Ramm
were arrested. In total around 300 people were arrested during the martial law period, which lasted until 16 September.
A crackdown on certain parts of Norwegian society, especially left-wingers in the trade unions, was in some ways imminent after Operation Barbarossa
. The incidents signalled a harder regime from the German occupants. The executions of Hansteen and Wickstrøm became a lasting symbol for the Norwegian resistance.
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...
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...
on 8 and 9 September 1941. It led to strong reprisals from the German occupiers, in the form of martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
, 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...
, mass arrest
Mass arrest
A mass arrest occurs when the police apprehend large numbers of suspects at once. This sometimes occurs at illegal protests. Some mass arrests are also used in an effort combat gang activity. This is sometimes controversial, and lawsuits sometimes result...
s, two executions and several long-term jail sentences.
Start
The strike started among workers at the shipyardShipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
Akers mekaniske verksted and the industry site Christiania Spigerverk
Christiania Spigerverk
Christiania Spigerverk is a steel company which was founded in Oslo in 1853, and developed into one of the largest industrial companies in Norway. In 1972 Christiania Spigerverk fusioned with Elkem. It was sold to Norsk Jernverk in 1985, and again split out as a separate company in 1993....
, as a spontaneous protest against the milk rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
announced on 8 September 1941. The workers lost their daily quota of milk, which had been given to them until then. The protests spread to other companies. On 9 September the number of strikers was estimated to 20-25,000, at around fifty industry sites.
German reaction
On 10 September the German ReichskommissarReichskommissariat Norwegen
The Reichskommissariat Norwegen, literally "Reich Commissariat of Norway", was the civilian occupation regime set up by Nazi Germany in German-occupied Norway during World War II. Its full title in German was the Reichskommissariat für die besetzten norwegischen Gebiete...
Josef Terboven
Josef Terboven
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven was a Nazi leader, best known as the Reichskommissar during the German occupation of Norway.-Early life:...
declared martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
in Oslo and the neighboring municipality Aker
Aker, Norway
Aker is a former municipality in Akershus, which lends its name to a municipality and a county in Norway. The name originally belonged to a farm which was located near the current Old Aker Church...
. Two union leaders, Viggo Hansteen
Viggo Hansteen
Harald Viggo Hansteen was a Norwegian lawyer who was executed by the Nazis during the five-year Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. -Biography:...
and Rolf Wickstrøm
Rolf Wickstrøm
Rolf Wickstrøm was a Norwegian labour activist and a victim of the German occupation of Norway during World War II.-Biography:...
, were sentenced to death by a 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...
, and immediately executed by an SS Sonderkommando led by Oscar Hans
Oscar Hans
Oscar Hans was a German executioner, leader of an SS Sonderkommando during the occupation of Norway. He led the execution of more than 300 persons during the war years. His first job was the executions of Viggo Hansteen and Rolf Wickstrøm in September 1941, following the court-martial after the...
. Later Ludvik Buland
Ludvik Buland
Ludvik Buland was a Norwegian trade unionist. He chaired the Norwegian Union of Railway Workers, but was imprisoned and died during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany.-Early life and career:...
, Harry Vestli
Harry Vestli
Harry August Vestli was a Norwegian trade unionist who was imprisoned and died during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany....
and Josef Larsson
Josef Larsson
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...
were also sentenced to death, but their convictions were changed to imprisonment for life in German jails. Both Buland and Vestli later died in German prisons. Albert Raaen
Albert Raaen
Albert Bernhard Raaen was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party.He took non-commissioned officer training in 1908, commerce school in 1910 and an evening school for socialists in 1913–1914...
was arrested.
The mass arrests had direct consequences for the leadership of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions 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 affiliated to the LO have more than 850,000 members of a Norwegian population of 4.8 million...
. Until then the Confederation had had a certain degree of independence with Buland as deputy chairman and Hansteen with a leading role. In May 1941 Håkon Meyer had proposed that in a reorganization of the Confederation, Hansteen would continue his job as legal consultant. After the milk strike the Confederation underwent "Nazification", with members of the Fascist party Nasjonal Samling installed as leaders. Erling Olsen
Erling Olsen (trade unionist)
Erling Olsen was a Norwegian trade unionist.He was a trade unionist before the war, a secretary in Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees. He was also a member of Mot Dag for some time.From 1940 Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany...
became acting chairman on 10 September, and continued as deputy chairman when Odd Fossum
Odd Fossum
Odd Fossum was a Norwegian shop assistant, and leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 1941 to 1945, under Nazi regime during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. He was also the leader of NS Faggruppeorganisasjon from 12 October 1940 to September 1944, when he was...
was installed as chairman on 11 September. Kåre Rein
Kåre Rein
Kåre Trygve Rein was a Norwegian trade unionist.He was a trade unionist before the war, a secretary in the Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices. He was also a member of the Norwegian Labour Party, but together with people like Håkon Meyer he joined Fagopposisjonen av 1940 in 1940 and the...
was installed as secretary. I. B. Aase continued in his position as treasurer.
New, comissarian leaders of the unions were installed as well. These were Birger Aamodt in the 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...
, Thorvald Apeland in the Union of Food, Beverage and Allied Workers, Michael Berg in the Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices, Nils Bunæs in the Union of General Workers
Norwegian Union of General Workers
-External links:* official site....
, Petter Holen in the Union of Railway Workers
Norwegian Union of Railway Workers
The Norwegian Union of Railway Workers is a trade union in Norway. It was formed on 20 November 1892, and mainly organizes workers in Norges Statsbaner—with the exception of locomotive drivers— and the Norwegian National Rail Administration, including related companies such as...
, Rolf H. Jahrmann in the Union of Forestry and Land Workers
Norwegian Union of Forestry and Land Workers
The Norwegian Union of Forestry and Land Workers was a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions.It was founded in 1927 after the Julussa Conflict, and experienced the Randsfjord Conflict from 1930 to 1935...
, Håkon Meyer in the Union of Municipal Employees
Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees
The Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees was a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions.It was founded in 1920, and its chairman the first fifteen years was Gunnar Sethil.It had 240,000 members in 2000...
, Trygve Rokling in the Transport Workers' Union, Aksel Schultz in the Norsk Murerforbund and Karsten Werner in the Norsk Centralforening for Boktrykkere. Borger Haugar led the Union of Clothing Workers
Norwegian Union of Clothing Workers
The Norwegian Union of Clothing Workers was a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions.It was founded in 1892 as Norsk Skredderforbund, and changed its name to Norsk Bekledningsarbeiderforbund. In 1969 it was merged with Norsk...
. The comissarian leaders were hastily hired, so Haugar and Bunæs were removed after a short time and replaced with "more competent people".
Furthermore, on 11 September, rector of the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
, Didrik Arup Seip
Didrik Arup Seip
Didrik Arup Seip was Professor of North Germanic languages at the University of Oslo.He earned his doctorate in 1916 and was appointed professor the same year, retiring in 1954. Together with Herman Jæger, he edited and published the collected works of Henrik Wergeland in 23 volumes...
, was dismissed from his position and arrested. Also other University staff, including the professors Anton Wilhelm Brøgger
Anton Wilhelm Brøgger (archaeologist)
Anton Wilhelm Brøgger was a Norwegian archaeologist.-Personal life:He was born in Stockholm as a son of professor of geology Waldemar Christofer Brøgger and Antonie Scheel Siewers . He was a grandson of the book printer Anton Wilhelm Brøgger.In September 1909 he married Inger Ursin...
and Otto Lous Mohr
Otto Lous Mohr
Otto Lous Mohr was a Norwegian medical doctor.He was a professor of anatomy at the University of Oslo from 1919 to 1952, and served as rector from 1946 to 1952....
, were arrested. On 12 September former Chief of Police in Oslo Kristian Welhaven
Kristian Welhaven
Kristian Welhaven was a Norwegian police officer. He was chief of police of Oslo for 27 years, from 1927 to 1954. He was a leading force in establishing an organized Norwegian intelligence service before World War II, and in re-establishing it after the war...
, and the future Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen
Einar Gerhardsen
was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was Prime Minister for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism...
were arrested. Also journalists and newspaper editors, including Olaf Gjerløw
Olaf Gjerløw
Jens Olaf Gjerløw was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was editor for the newspaper Morgenbladet from 1920 until his death in 1949, except for a period in German prisons during World War II.-Personal life:...
and Fredrik Ramm
Fredrik Ramm
Fredrik Ramm was a Norwegian journalist. After participating in Roald Amundsen's North Pole expedition he became news editor in Morgenbladet from 1928. He knew Ronald Fangen well, and as him he participated in the Oxford Group. In 1941 he was sentenced to a so-called Zuchthaus by the Germans...
were arrested. In total around 300 people were arrested during the martial law period, which lasted until 16 September.
A crackdown on certain parts of Norwegian society, especially left-wingers in the trade unions, was in some ways imminent after Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. The incidents signalled a harder regime from the German occupants. The executions of Hansteen and Wickstrøm became a lasting symbol for the Norwegian resistance.