Karsten Sølvberg

Karsten Ludvig Sølvberg (born 19 January 1905) was a Norwegian communist, trade unionist and agent during the Second World War.

Before the Second World War he was a trade unionist and member of the Communist Party. He was a telegraph clerk by occupation.[1] His union was Norsk Telegrafforbund, and he edited the union's magazine Telegrafmannen.[2]

During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, the Nazis merged his union with others to form the Forbundet for Offentlige Yrker. Sølvberg was a union secretary.[3] He was initially a member of the resistance movement, and was arrested in October 1942 by account of "illegal activity".[1] He was incarcerated at Møllergata 19 from 27 October 42, and also at Victoria Terrasse. He was released on 16 April 1943.[4] He had then been subject to torture. He was pressured to denounce his communist adherence, and to become a Nazi agent with the codename S 71.[1] He is best known for unveiling the Communist Party organizational centres in 1942, which had been established in secrecy in Vikersund and Hemsedal. Sølvberg supposedly escorted Gestapo officers to both hideouts.[1] The underground Communist Party leaders Arne Gauslaa and Ottar Lie were surprised there; Gauslaa and another person were shot to death while Lie was arrested and tortured.[5] His agent practice was unveiled when Georg Angerer defected to Sweden.[3]

After the war Sølvberg was not reinstated in his job, nor in his trade union post.[6] He was however acquitted of treason by Oslo City Court in 1949, when tried as a part of legal purge in Norway after World War II.[1]

References
  1. Pryser, Tore (2001). Hitlers hemmelige agenter. Tysk etterretning i Norge 1939–1945 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 215. ISBN 8215000754.
  2. "Norsk Telegrafforbund". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 25 November 1929. p. 2.
  3. Pryser, Tore (1988). Klassen og nasjonen 1935-1946. Volume four of Arbeiderbevegelsens historie i Norge (in Norwegian). Oslo: Tiden. p. 440. ISBN 82-10-02754-9.
  4. Ottosen, Kristian, ed. (2004). Nordmenn i fangenskap 1940–1945 (in Norwegian) (2nd ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 664. ISBN 82-15-00288-9.
  5. Pryser, 1988: p. 375
  6. Pryser, 2001: p. 441
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