Knut Rød was acquitted from his Holocaust crimes and got to rejoin Norway's police force after the war, because he was useful for spying on communists, plain and simple.

The justification of Rød's acquittal essentially hinged on him being a double agent for the resistance. No evidence was ever found for his claim that he had done anything to warn Jews of impending arrest, and apparently no real specifics about Rød's aid to the resistance was provided either; and the rest of his defense amounted to "he was just doing his job and following orders, he would've put himself and the resistance in danger by refusing to participate in the arrests and deportations"... Some defence, huh!

And somehow, the sixty-year-old anti-communist who told me about Knut Rød got it in his head that Rød "just didn't know" what was going to happen with the deported Jews... Uh-huh, sure, whatever you say.

Anyways, the question in the title.

  • batsforpeace [any, any]
    ·
    6 months ago

    was looking at natopedia a bit about it..

    Several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens were tried and convicted for crimes committed in Scandinavia during the Second World War.

    A total of 40 people—including Vidkun Quisling, the self-proclaimed and Nazi-supported Prime Minister of Norway during the occupation—were executed after capital punishment was reinstated in Norway. Thirty-seven of those executed were executed under Norwegian law, while the other three were executed under Allied military law.

    but lol no suprise here, they also added a paragraph that the nazi collaborators were judged too harshly:

    A great deal of sensitivity continues to surround this subject in Norwegian society.[7] In later years, studies and inquiries have shown that justice was administered unevenly and—by today's standards—harshly.[citation needed]

    For example, the volunteers who joined the Waffen-SS and served on the Eastern Front were tried only for treason, never for war crimes.[8] Some[who?] believe that those who sided with Nasjonal Samling were often publicly shamed and ostracised well beyond the punishment their crimes merited, such as fines or a prison sentence. The prosecution of individuals who served with the German Red Cross has also been questioned[who?]. Among those convicted was Hanna Kvanmo, who later rose to prominence as a socialist politician.