Heinrich Fehlis

The Holocaust

Heinrich Fehlis (November 1, 1906 – May 11, 1945) was an SS officer during World War II, most noted for his command of the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst in Norway during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany.

Born in Wulften am Harz, Germany, Fehlis was a newly educated attorney when he joined the SA in 1933 and shortly thereafter became a member of the Nazi party. He moved to the SS in 1935 and rose through their ranks. He was active in the Einsatzgruppen during Operation Weserübung. In November 1940 he succeeded Walter Stahlecker in the dual command of the SD and Sicherheitspolizei for Norway and Oslo, reporting to Reinhard Heydrich and Ernst Kaltenbrunner in Berlin and Josef Terboven in Norway.[1]

Fehlis and other German Gestapo troops tried to escape capture after Germany had capitulated, taking over a German military camp (Lager Franken) near Porsgrunn, Norway, impersonating one lieutenant "Gerstheuer" in the German Alpine Corps. Commanded by his superior in Sandefjord (Hauptmann Walter) to surrender, he asked for an hour to organize the surrender. During that time he found the means to first poison, then shoot himself.[2][3][4]

Notes

  1. ^ Fehlis's biographical information is described as a footnote, citing information from the SS Personalhauptamt in: Bohn, Robert (in German). Reichskommissariat Norwegen. Oldenbourg. pp. 74. ISBN 3486564889. 
  2. ^ Cohen, Maynar. A Stand Against Tyranny: Norway's Physicians and the Nazis. Wayne State University Press. pp. 273. ISBN 0814329349. "Heinrich Fehlis, head of the Gestapo in Norway, took refuge with seventy of his men in a German military base near Porsgrunn. When Milorg units demanded he be turned over, Fehlis first swallowed poison, then shot himself." 
  3. ^ "Fehlis affæren i Porsgrunn" (in Norwegian). Porsgrunn folkebibliotek. 1970-02-10. http://www.porsgrunn.folkebibl.no/krigen/fehlis.html. Retrieved 2008-02-19. 
  4. ^ "Saken Fehlis" (in Norwegian). Porsgrunn folkebibliotek. 1970-02-10. http://www.porsgrunn.folkebibl.no/krigen/klykken.html. Retrieved 2008-02-19.