Josef Terboven
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Norway and World War II |
| Key events |
|---|
| Norwegian Campaign · Weserübung Elverum Authorization Midtskogen · Vinjesvingen |
| People |
| Haakon VII · Nygaardsvold · CJ Hambro CG Fleischer · Otto Ruge · Max Manus Jens Chr. Hauge · Gunnar Sønsteby |
| Quisling · Jonas Lie · Henry Rinnan Josef Terboven · Wilhelm Rediess von Falkenhorst |
| Organizations |
| Milorg · XU · Linge · Nortraship |
| Nasjonal Samling |
| Reichskommissar Josef Terboven |
|
|---|---|
 picture taken during WWII
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| Born | May 23, 1898 Essen, Westphalia, German Empire |
| Died | May 8, 1945 Oslo, Norway |
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (May 23, 1898 - May 8, 1945) was a Nazi leader most known for being the civilian administrator (commissioner) during the German military occupation of Norway.
Terboven was born in Essen, the son of minor landed gentry. He served for the German field artillery and nascent air force in World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross. He was discharged as a lieutenant. He studied law and political science for a few years at the universities of Munich and Freiburg, where he first got involved in politics.
Dropping out of college in 1923, Terboven joined the NSDAP as member number 25247 and participated in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. When the NSDAP was subsequently outlawed, he found work as an apprentice at a bank for a few years before being laid off in 1925.
This set the stage for an active career in the Nazi party. Terboven helped establish the party in Essen and became Gauleiter there in 1928. He was part of the Sturmabteilung from 1925. On June 29, 1934, Terboven married Ilse Stahl, Joseph Goebbels' former secretary and mistress. Adolf Hitler was the guest of honor at the wedding. Terboven was made Oberpräsident der Rheinprovinz in 1935 and earned a reputation as a petty and ruthless ruler of the area.
He was made Reichskommissar (Commissar) of Norway on April 24, 1940, even before the military invasion was completed on 7 June 1940. He moved into the Norwegian crown prince's residence at Skaugum in September 1940 and made Stortinget (Norwegian parliament)'s buildings his headquarters.
Although the Nazi authorities instituted a puppet Norwegian regime through the Quisling cabinet, Terboven ruled Norway as if he were dictator. Terboven did not have authority over the 400,000 regular German Army forces stationed in Norway, but did command a force of 6,000, of which 800 were part of the secret police. His aspiration was to set up Fortress Norway (Festung Norwegen) that would be the last stand for the Nazi regime. He also planned to set up a concentration camp in Norway, all plans that came to nothing.
Terboven was hated by the Norwegian populace and earned little respect among his fellow German countrymen. Joseph Goebbels' himself had even remarked anger in his diary towards what he called Terboven's "bullying tactics" against the Norwegians. When the war was lost Terboven committed suicide on May 8, 1945 by detonating 50 kilograms of dynamite in his bunker hideout on the Skaugum compound. Terboven blew himself up in the company of the body of the commander of the SS in Norway, General Wilhelm Rediess, who had shot himself earlier the same day.
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