Nazi "King of Norway" Who Blew Himself Up with Dynamite and Whose Daughter Later Strangled Her Child

In this detailed exploration, I delve into the grim history of Josef Terboven, the notorious Nazi official who ruled Norway with an iron fist during World War II. This article is inspired by the comprehensive video created by World History CZ, a channel dedicated to uncovering the complexities of historical events. I aim to provide a thorough and engaging account of Terboven's rise to power, his brutal regime in Norway, and the tragic aftermath involving his family. Join me as we uncover one of history’s darker chapters, where tyranny, war crimes, and personal tragedy intersected in the occupied land of Norway.

⚔️ The Strategic Importance of Denmark and Norway in Nazi Germany’s War Plans

On April 9, 1940, under the secret operation code-named "Walesübung," Nazi Germany launched a swift and brutal invasion of Denmark and Norway. Strategically, Denmark served as a crucial staging ground for operations in Norway. The Nazis aimed to secure naval bases in Norway to threaten the British Royal Navy in the North Sea and to safeguard vital iron ore shipments from neutral Sweden. This iron ore was essential for Germany's war industry, making Norway’s control a high priority.

The Danish invasion was rapid, lasting less than six hours, marking the shortest military campaign of the war for Germany. Norway, however, resisted much longer, surrendering after two months on June 10, 1940. Following the defeat, King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government fled to London, establishing a government-in-exile. Meanwhile, Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian politician collaborating with the Nazis, proclaimed himself Prime Minister back in occupied Norway. However, it was not Quisling who wielded the real power in the country.

👑 Josef Terboven: The Ruthless Nazi Ruler of Norway

The true authority in Nazi-occupied Norway was Josef Terboven. Born on May 23, 1898, in Essen, then part of the German Empire, Terboven came from a Catholic family. He volunteered for military service in World War I, serving initially in the field artillery before transferring to the fledgling air force. For his service, he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and ended the war as a lieutenant.

After the war, Terboven studied law and political science at universities in Munich and Freiburg. However, due to the death of his father in the winter of 1920-1921, he likely had to abandon his studies for financial reasons. His political career began in earnest when he joined the Nazi Party in November 1923, receiving the membership number 252647. That same month, he participated in the infamous Munich Beer Hall Putsch, Adolf Hitler’s failed coup attempt.

Initially working in banking, Terboven was dismissed in 1925 during company layoffs. This setback propelled him into full-time Nazi activism. He managed a small Nazi newspaper and book distribution in Essen, founded the local Nazi Party branch, and joined the SA, the party’s paramilitary wing, becoming its leader in Essen. By 1928, he had risen to become the Gauleiter (regional party leader) of the Essen district.

Terboven’s political ascent continued when he was elected as a Nazi deputy to the Reichstag in September 1930. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and the Nazi regime began consolidating power. Terboven married Ilse Stahl, secretary and mistress of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, on June 28, 1934, with both Goebbels and Hitler attending the ceremony. During this period, Terboven was involved in preparations for the "Night of the Long Knives," a brutal purge of the SA leadership by the SS in June-July 1934.

📜 Terboven’s Role as Reichskommissar of Norway

By February 1935, Terboven was appointed Oberpräsident (supreme administrative official) of the Prussian Rhine Province, uniting the highest Nazi Party and governmental offices in his jurisdiction. Known for his single-mindedness and ruthlessness, he earned a reputation as a petty and harsh ruler.

When World War II erupted on September 1, 1939, with Germany's invasion of Poland, Terboven’s role expanded dramatically. The invasion of Norway began on April 9, 1940, and on April 25, even before Norway’s formal surrender on June 10, Terboven was appointed Reichskommissar for Norway. This position granted him supreme authority over the civilian administration of occupied Norway, operating independently but with full trust from Hitler.

Terboven moved his seat of power to the official residence of Crown Prince Olav in Kaugum and used the Norwegian Parliament building in Oslo as his headquarters. Despite lacking formal qualifications for this role, his loyalty to Hitler and his unyielding nature made him the Führer’s chosen man. He regarded himself as an autonomous viceroy, wielding near-absolute power and often disregarding directives unless they came directly from Hitler.

🛑 Suppressing Norwegian Resistance and Political Control

Initially, Norway was governed by a seven-member Administrative Council, set up by the Norwegian Supreme Court after the royal family and cabinet fled. However, on September 25, 1940, Terboven dissolved this council and established a 13-member provisional state council, composed entirely of his personal appointees who operated under his strict supervision.

Terboven issued a proclamation dethroning King Haakon VII and outlawing the government-in-exile. The Norwegian Parliament (Storting) was dissolved, and all political parties except Quisling’s National Unity Party (Nasjonal Samling) were banned. Although Terboven considered Quisling largely ineffective, Hitler insisted that Quisling retain a political role. Consequently, on February 1, 1942, Terboven authorized the creation of Quisling’s puppet government, with Quisling as Minister-President. In reality, Terboven remained the supreme dictator of Norway, ruling as if he were king.

His leadership style was obstinate and fanatical, convinced that any means justified the ends. This earned him many enemies, both among Norwegians and even within the German ranks. His harshness and arrogance alienated much of the Norwegian population, fueling resistance rather than quelling it.

⛓️ Establishment of Concentration Camps and War Crimes in Norway

As Reichskommissar, Terboven was responsible for the severe oppression of the Norwegian people. He established several concentration camps across Norway, including Falstad near Levanger and Bredtvet in Oslo. One of the most infamous camps was located in the village of Beisfjord, which primarily held Yugoslav (mainly Serbian) and later Soviet prisoners of war.

Approximately 900 Yugoslav prisoners were interned in Beisfjord, including 88 youths aged 14 to 18. On the night of July 17, 1942, 287 prisoners were executed after camp guards suspected a typhus outbreak. Whether the disease was present was never properly investigated. Fearing the spread of typhus to guards and locals, Terboven ordered the killing of the prisoners. They were taken in groups of twenty to freshly dug trenches and shot with machine guns from nearby barracks roofs and guard towers. Survivors were finished off with handguns. Some prisoners barricaded themselves inside a hospital building; guards set it on fire and avoided entering due to infection fears. Escapees were shot on sight.

By the time the camp was evacuated in October 1942, about 83% of the more than 700 Yugoslav prisoners had died. The remaining prisoners were transferred elsewhere. This massacre represents one of the darkest episodes of Nazi atrocities in Norway.

🔥 Brutal Reprisals Against Norwegian Resistance Movements

Resistance against the Nazi occupation grew steadily, with sabotage and assassination attempts targeting German forces. Terboven responded with ruthless repression. On September 17, 1940, he decreed that Norwegians violating his orders would be subject to special SS and police tribunals, which conducted summary trials without proper defense or public oversight. Approximately 150 people were sentenced to death by these tribunals, with many more receiving long prison terms.

One of the most brutal retaliations occurred on April 26, 1942, after Gestapo agents discovered two resistance members hiding in the small fishing village of Telavåg. A firefight ensued, killing two Gestapo officers. Enraged, Terboven personally led a swift and brutal crackdown on April 30. Under the watchful eyes of the villagers, all homes were destroyed, all boats were sunk or confiscated, and all livestock was taken. All men were either executed or deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany. Of the 72 deported, 31 died in captivity. Women and children were imprisoned for two years. An additional 18 Norwegian prisoners unrelated to Telavåg, held at the Trandum internment camp, were also executed in reprisal. This atrocity is often compared to the massacres at Lidice in Czechoslovakia and Oradour-sur-Glane in France, though on a smaller scale.

Another incident on September 6, 1942, involved the shooting of two German police officers, prompting Terboven to declare martial law in Trondheim from October 5 to 12. He enforced a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., banned newspapers, public gatherings, and railway transport. Ten prominent citizens were executed and their property confiscated. Terboven also established an ad hoc extrajudicial tribunal that sentenced and executed 24 additional men within three days.

✡️ Persecution of Jews in Occupied Norway

Although the Jewish population in Norway was relatively small, Terboven pursued them relentlessly. At the time of the German invasion, about 2,100 Jews lived in Norway, including around 350 refugees primarily from Germany and Austria who had sought asylum during the 1930s.

Between 1940 and 1945, approximately 770 Jews were deported from Norway, most of whom were murdered in Auschwitz. Only 34 Norwegian Jews survived the war, all of them men. Terboven’s policies contributed significantly to this tragic outcome, demonstrating the ruthless implementation of Nazi racial persecution even in occupied territories with small Jewish communities.

🪖 Conflicts within the German Occupation Forces

Terboven commanded about 6,000 men in Norway, including 800 members of the secret police. However, he had no authority over the 40,000-strong regular German army stationed there, which was under the command of Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. Unlike Terboven’s harsh and petty approach, Falkenhorst encouraged his troops to treat Norwegians with respect and civility to avoid antagonizing the population.

Terboven’s relationships with other German officials were complex. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, expressed frustration in his diaries over Terboven’s "harassing tactics" toward Norwegians, which only fueled hostility toward the Germans. While Terboven’s rapport with the army commander Falkenhorst was tense, he maintained a close working relationship with Wilhelm Rediess, the Higher SS and Police Leader in Norway.

🔥 The Scorched Earth Policy and Final Days of the War in Norway

By October 1944, as the Red Army advanced into northern Norway’s Finnmark region, Terboven implemented a scorched earth policy. This brutal strategy forced the evacuation of 50,000 Norwegians and resulted in widespread destruction, including the burning of 10,000 homes, 4,700 farms, and hundreds of schools, churches, shops, and industrial buildings. The devastation left a lasting scar on the region.

As Germany’s defeat became inevitable, Terboven aspired to turn Norway into a fortress for Nazi Germany’s last stand. However, after Hitler’s suicide on April 30, 1945, his successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, summoned Terboven to Flensburg on May 3 and ordered him to cooperate in ending hostilities.

When Terboven expressed a desire to continue fighting, Dönitz removed him from his position as Reichskommissar on May 7 and transferred his powers to General Franz Böhme. The very next day, on May 8, 1945, just half an hour before the German surrender took effect in Norway, Terboven took his own life by detonating explosives in his bunker. He was 64 years old.

👪 The Tragic Aftermath: Terboven’s Family

Terboven’s wife Ilse and their daughter Inge survived the war and lived in West Germany. Tragically, Inge’s life was marked by mental illness and violence. In 1964, she strangled her two-year-old daughter in an act of punishment against her husband. Psychiatric evaluations concluded that Inge was not of sound mind at the time, and she was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for intentional murder. Ilse Terboven passed away in 1972.

⚖️ Reflecting on Terboven’s Legacy

Josef Terboven’s tenure as the Nazi Reichskommissar in Norway is remembered as a period of oppression marked by cruelty, injustice, and devastating human suffering. His role in establishing concentration camps, ordering mass executions, and suppressing resistance movements left an indelible mark on Norway’s history.

Terboven’s story also serves as a somber reminder of the devastating consequences of authoritarianism and fanaticism. His ruthless pursuit of Nazi ideology and absolute power came at the expense of countless innocent lives and the fabric of Norwegian society.

Learning about figures like Terboven deepens our understanding of history and underscores the importance of vigilance against tyranny in all its forms.

🔔 Final Thoughts

This article draws from the rich historical research presented by the World History CZ channel, which provides valuable insights into the complexities of World War II history. Understanding the dark chapters of the past, such as the reign of Josef Terboven in Norway, helps us honor the victims and learn from the mistakes of history.

If you found this exploration informative, I encourage you to delve deeper into World History CZ’s content for more fascinating historical narratives.