1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. I mentioned on a 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: recent behind the scenes that we were going to get 5 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: to a Norway topic but it wouldn't be great, And 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: here we are today. Yep. Did you learn about vidcn 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: Quizzling growing up? I really don't think so. I don't 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: recall hearing about him ever in class. I literally learned 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: about him from an Elvis Costello song, which is actually 10 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: how I've learned about the names of a lot of 11 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: history people, because if you listen to a lot of 12 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: Elvis Costello, he references a lot of history, and specifically 13 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: a lot of World War II history, which is pretty interesting. 14 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: And it's an older song, it's from like the seventies, 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: but I remember hearing it and being like, I don't 16 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: know what that word even means. I'm going to look 17 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: it up. And that's how I learned about Vidcan Quizzling. Ye, 18 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: so we are going to talk about him today. I'm 19 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: sure for people in Europe they probably learned about it, 20 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: but we didn't really in the States, at least not 21 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: by the seventies eighties time period when Tracy and I 22 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: would have been taking history classes. So I imagine probably 23 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,559 Speaker 1: people younger than us haven't heard a ton about him either. 24 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: He is one of those cases of someone who forever 25 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: to the end of his life claimed that he was 26 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: doing what he was doing for the good of his country, 27 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: but pretty obviously was doing a lot of bad things 28 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: for his country. So that's what we're going to unpick 29 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: today during World War Two. So Vidken Abraham Lawretz Johnson 30 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: Quizzling was born July eighteenth, eighteen eighty seven in Fidisdal, Norway, 31 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: in the County of Telemark. His father, Jon Lawretz Quizzling, 32 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: was a biologist and a Lutheran minister, and his mother, 33 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: Anna Caroline Bang was from a pretty wealthy family. Also 34 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: was much younger than her husband. She had been one 35 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: of Jan's students when he was teaching in Grimstad, which 36 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: is where she grew up and was a teenager. They 37 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: did not marry until sixteen years later. Though Vidcn was 38 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: the oldest of four children, he had a sister and 39 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: two brothers. The family moved around pretty frequently as Jan's 40 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: parish appointments changed friends of Vidkn in the early years 41 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: described him as incredibly smart, a little shy, and very 42 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: much an idealist. Vidcn was particularly close to his brother Jurgen, 43 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: and they remained very close for their whole lives. In 44 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: nineteen oh five, at the age of eighteen, Quizlly enrolled 45 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: in the Norwegian War College in Oslo. He scored higher 46 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: than any of his two hundred and forty nine classmates 47 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: on the entrance exams, which had a reputation for being 48 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: just incredibly difficult. His academic achievement followed on his impressive 49 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: exam scores. He graduated from the War College in nineteen 50 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: oh six and moved on to the Norwegian Military Academy, 51 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: and he graduated from there in nineteen eleven with the 52 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: highest grades of anyone to ever attend the institution in 53 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: its nearly one hundred year history at that point. Because 54 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: of this, he was invited to meet the King of 55 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: Norway Hawk in the seventh thanks to his high scores. 56 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: In nineteen eleven, Quisling joined the Norwegian Army in a 57 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: general staff position that meant he was destined for administrative work. 58 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: In his time with the military, which lasted almost two decades, 59 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: he served in a variety of diplomatic and humanitarian roles. 60 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: Norway's neutral stance in World War One was something that 61 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: Quisling was very unhappy about. He served as a military 62 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: attache at the Norwegian legation in Petrograd from March nineteen 63 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: eighteen to December nineteen eighteen, after which he became the 64 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: Norwegian military's expert on Russia. He had been studying Russian 65 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: for five years before he was sent there, and then 66 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: following his work in Petrograd, Quisling was assigned to Helsinki 67 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: as an attache, where he worked until nineteen twenty one. 68 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty two, he was sent to Ukraine to 69 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 1: work with the League of Nations on relief efforts in 70 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: the region. Quisling was the head of the office in Kharkiv. 71 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: Near the end of the humanitarian mission, Quisling got married 72 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: to Alexandra Andreevna Voronina and brought her back to Norway. 73 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: Alexandra was only seventeen and their relationship. The nature of 74 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: this relationship it seems a little bit odd. Quisling's colleagues 75 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: were totally befuddled because this did not seem to be 76 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: much of a match. There's some insinuation in the reactions 77 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: of the men that he worked alongside in Kharkiv that 78 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: Alexandra might have been a sex worker. But in Norway, 79 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: friends and family believed, you know, once they'd spent time 80 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: with this couple, that there was no sort of sexual 81 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 1: relationship between the two of them. It seems like Quizzling 82 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: might have married her in an attempts to rescue her, 83 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: and that's something that is reflected in a novella that 84 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: he wrote around the same time about an older foreigner 85 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: in a city taking a teenage girl under his wing. 86 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: This sort of arrangement was actually not that unusual. A 87 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: number of foreigners who were on aid missions married young 88 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: women and girls to get them passports that would enable 89 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: them to leave. Yeah, he was not the only one 90 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: that did this, although this was an especially odd version 91 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: of it to most people's eyes. After just a few 92 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: months back in Norway, Quizzling was once again sent to 93 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: Ukraine on an extension of that relief mission, and Alexandra 94 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 1: traveled with him. They returned to Kharkiv in February of 95 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty three. That summer, he met Maria Varsilneva, puzzaged 96 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: Nikova and they fell deeply in love. Maria was a 97 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: twenty three year old Ukrainian woman, and it seems that 98 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: she must have known about Quisling's marital status, but the 99 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: way events unfold from there is kind of confusing. It 100 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: has never really been sorted out by historians with any 101 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: sort of certainty. Vidkin and Maria had a wedding ceremony 102 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: in Kharkov while Alexandra was traveling. There's no paper to 103 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: confirm this as a legal marriage, and there's no documentation 104 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: of a divorce from Alexandra. But from nineteen twenty three 105 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: on vid and Maria lived as a couple, and Alexandra 106 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: lived and traveled with them as well. They told people 107 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: she was their daughter. This was all obviously sort of 108 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: confusing to the people who knew them, and some of 109 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: Quisling's family was just absolutely scandalized. There were rumors that 110 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: all three of them might have some kind of romantic triangle, 111 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: but that's really not reflected in any of Vidkn's writings. 112 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: Maria traveled wherever Quisling did, and Alexandra eventually left to 113 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: live with an ant and ultimately moved to the United States. Yeah, 114 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: she kind of stepped out of their lives. Eventually, in 115 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty nine, Quisling returned to Norway permanently after twelve 116 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: years of almost continuous travel and living abroad. At that 117 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: point he had been in Moscow for a while. Maria 118 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: was with him, and they had brought a significant art collection, 119 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: more than two hundred pieces back from Moscow. That art 120 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: collection is going to come up again later. They settled 121 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: into a flat and Vincn was planning actually to start 122 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: a career as an art dealer, kind of on the side. 123 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: Not long after they arrived in Oslo, though, Quisling was 124 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: called to his father's deathbed, and Yon died on February 125 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: twenty ninth. Throughout the years that he lived outside of Norway, 126 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: Quisling worked on a political and philosophical ideology concept that 127 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: he called universism. The term universism is not one that 128 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: Quisling invented. He was using a word that had been 129 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: coined by Dutch religion historian and Chinese culture scholar Johannes 130 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: Yakubus Maria de Grout in his nineteen twelve book Religion 131 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: in China. Universism the Key to the Study of Daoism 132 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: and Confucianism Dgrut defines Universism as an umbrella for Daoism, Confucianism, 133 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: and Buddhism, writing in the book, quote Universism, as I 134 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 1: will henceforth call it, is the one religion of China. 135 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: As these three religions are its three integrant parts, every 136 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: Chinese can feel himself equally at home in each without 137 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: being offended or shocked by conflicting and mutually exclusive dogmatic principles. 138 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: It seems that the main takeaway that Quisling had from 139 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: Dugruz's text was this idea of uniting multiple ideas under 140 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: one label. His idea, which he laid out in a 141 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: seven hundred page book that he published in nineteen twenty nine, 142 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: was to create a new global religion that combined physics 143 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: and spirituality. He included a lot of world religions in 144 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: his book, but in ways that they all square up 145 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: into versions of Christianity, rather than retaining their own unique philosophies. 146 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: He envisioned Universism almost as a philosophical pyramid scheme where 147 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 1: a consciousness would be passed from individuals to their families 148 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: and then to their countries, etc. This almost sounds sort 149 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: of nice in terms of unity but rest assured it 150 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: was not. Quisling's rhetoric is laced through with anti Semitism 151 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: and the belief that the Nordic race, which is a 152 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: concept that is now obsolete, should lead this unification because 153 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: of its inherent superiority. In companion with his philosophy was 154 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: Quisling's plan for what he called Norsk Action, a campaign 155 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: based on the way the Soviet Communist Party worked, which 156 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: was an interesting choice because he was anti Communist, but 157 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: he had been struck by the efficiency and organization of 158 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,840 Speaker 1: the Communist Party while he was in Moscow. He envisioned 159 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: a government that was run a lot like a military 160 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: int of its structure. Coming up, we're going to talk 161 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: about Quisling's break with his job with the Norwegian government, 162 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: but first we will pause for a sponsor break. Several 163 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: years after returning to Norway for good, Quisling was in 164 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: a high level government position, but then in nineteen thirty 165 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: three he abruptly quit that job. This was precipitated by 166 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: a break with his political party at the time, the 167 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: Agrarian Party. Quisling had not really been a member of 168 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: that party before May of nineteen thirty one, when he 169 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: was appointed Defense Minister by Prime Minister Peter Coolstad, who 170 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: was an Agrarian. This had been kind of an odd appointment, 171 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,839 Speaker 1: as he had not been aligned with Colstad either prior 172 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: to that job, but he had been recommended to the 173 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: Prime minister by the Prime Minister's advisors, and once he 174 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: was in that position, Quisling saw what he thought was 175 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: an opportunity to gain some power. He wanted to be 176 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: the Agrarian Party leader, but the Agrarian Party did not 177 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: want that, so he left both the party and his job. 178 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: He described this break a little bit differently later, and 179 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: we'll talk about that as we get further into the episode. 180 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 1: Later in nineteen thirty three, Quisling founded his own political party, 181 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: the Nazunal Somling that's the National Union. This group wanted, 182 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: among other things, to end communism and put a stop 183 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: to trade unions. He was the de facto leader of 184 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: this new party, which promoted the ideas of Norway becoming 185 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 1: economically independent, Christian nationalism, a corporatist mode of government, and 186 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: paternalism on the part of the government. And while Quizzling 187 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: clearly believed that this was all the best way to 188 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,959 Speaker 1: cover Norway, the rest of the country really did not agree. 189 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: In the nineteen thirty three election, Quisling's party only got 190 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,559 Speaker 1: two point two percent of the vote. He kept trying 191 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 1: to support for universism and the nazunaal Simling, but this 192 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: was just fruitless. In Norway's nineteen thirty six election, the 193 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: National Union only got one point eight percent of the vote, 194 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: and that kept it from holding any kind of power. 195 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: Quisling told a friend, quote, A great many of our 196 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: erstwhile supporters must have deserted us. So just for a 197 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:27,839 Speaker 1: quick broad strokes explainer there to contextualize. Norway's parliament, known 198 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,839 Speaker 1: as the Starting, uses proportional representation, meaning that the number 199 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: of representatives in parliament is based on the proportion of 200 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: votes that any given party gets through what is sometimes 201 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: called an open list system. At least it's an open 202 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: list in theory. So at an election, a voter chooses 203 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: their party ballot from among all the party options, which 204 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: are far more numerous than we have here in the US, 205 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: and then on that ballot they select the order of 206 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: the candidates based on their preferences. They are also able 207 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,719 Speaker 1: to strike candidates they don't feel should be elected at all. 208 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,840 Speaker 1: So kind of a vote of no confidence, then if 209 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: that party wins enough votes, a proportional number of their 210 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: candidates are placed in Parliament based on how they were ranked. 211 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: So if your party got enough votes to get four representatives, 212 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: the top four people that got the most votes would 213 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,200 Speaker 1: be those representatives. This isn't necessarily how it tends to 214 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,840 Speaker 1: work in practice, because parties do set their own order 215 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: on the ballot and it tends not to shuffle around 216 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: per my understanding. So sometimes it's also labeled as a 217 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:34,319 Speaker 1: closed list system, but generally the prime minister is chosen 218 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: from the party that holds the largest amount of support 219 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: from voters, though there are instances and this has happened 220 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: in relatively recent years, where coalitions form to support prime 221 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,959 Speaker 1: minister candidates who don't represent the most voted for party. 222 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: As of this recording, which is in August of twenty 223 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:55,239 Speaker 1: twenty four, there are currently nine different parties with representation 224 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: in the Storting, and the next election will be next 225 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 1: year in twenty twenty five. There is a lot more 226 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: complexity to this whole system, but we're explaining all of 227 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: this just to say VIDCM Quizzling's party didn't even have 228 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 1: enough votes to have even one representative in the starting 229 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: Quizzling at this point had spent a lot of money 230 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: trying to gain political power. He had inherited money from 231 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: his grandparents on his mother's side, but that money was 232 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: running out as he and Maria maintained a lifestyle that 233 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: included a full staff at their apartment. He had tried 234 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: to make money as a writer, but that had not 235 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: yielded the income that he had hoped for. He tried 236 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: to sell off pieces from his art collection to keep 237 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: things going, but ran into trouble when a lot of them, 238 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: which he had acquired while in Russia, turned out to 239 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: be fakes. He had thought, for example, that he had 240 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: original goyas, Sisans, Rembrandts, and Van Dykes, and these all 241 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: turned out to be largely worthless. There was a painting 242 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: in his collection that was both a real original and 243 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: quite valuable that it was the Franz Hals painting the 244 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: Dutch Family. Then its legitimacy was debunked and Quizzling sold 245 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: that painting, known at that point as a copy, for 246 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: four thousand dollars. This seemed like a minor win for Quizzling, 247 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: you know, selling a copy for four thousand dollars, but 248 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: then he learned that this painting had made its way 249 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: to the United States, where once it was assessed, it 250 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 1: was determined to be the real deal and valued at 251 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars. Quisling's brother, Arna, who worked with 252 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: Vidco on art sales, believed that they had been duped 253 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: by a ring of art swindlers and tried to get 254 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: some legal retribution. They were forced to drop the case 255 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: with no real proof. Yeah, they thought that because they 256 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: had sold that four thousand dollars painting to someone who 257 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: knew that it was a copy, and then that person 258 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: had in turn sold it. I think it went through 259 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: two more sales, and they thought this was all a 260 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: ring of people that was working together to tell people 261 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: their paintings were fake, buy them on the cheap, and 262 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: then sort them through this system. They had to actually 263 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: get them re evaluated at their true value. So although 264 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: Quisling already had a lot of notable and potentially problematic 265 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 1: accomplishments on his resume that would have given him notoriety, 266 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: it was his association that he cemented in the late 267 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties that sort of labeled Quisling's image forever as 268 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: a trader As war loomed in a conflict riddled Europe, 269 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: Quisling began writing and delivering anti Semitic lectures. He condemned 270 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: Hitler's Night of one Thousand Knives, but he otherwise supported 271 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: the German chancellor. He sent Hitler a note on Hitler's 272 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: fiftieth birthday that year, thanking him for quote saving Europe 273 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: from Jews and Bolshevism. In December of that year, as 274 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: part of a tour of Germany, he met with Adolf Hitler, 275 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: and during that meeting, Quizzling made it clear that he 276 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: would support an occupation of Norway if Germany made that 277 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: manch This was all very important to Germany because Norway 278 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: was strategically important due to its coastline along the North 279 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: Sea and the Norwegian Sea that gave access to the 280 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: Atlantic Ocean, and when Quisling met with Hitler, he warned 281 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,959 Speaker 1: him that Britain also wanted to move into Norway and 282 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:23,119 Speaker 1: that hastened Hitler's plans to invade Norway and Denmark with 283 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: Operation Vesubunk. Germany also promised to give funds to Qwisling's 284 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: political party. While the Norwegian was visiting the country, Nazi 285 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: general Niklaus von Falkenhurst began the German assault on Norway 286 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: and Denmark just a few months later. On April ninth 287 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: of nineteen forty, Quisling took advantage of this situation by 288 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: proclaiming himself the leader of Norway. This is something he 289 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: did over the radio after he bluffed his way into 290 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,479 Speaker 1: a broadcast center, making it the first coup de'ttaw By radio, 291 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 1: he told the people of his country that they should 292 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: welcome the Germans who were invading. He made this announcement twice, 293 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: although the second one, which came a couple of hours 294 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: after the first, was more forceful, and he assured that 295 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 1: there would be quote serious consequences for anyone who resisted 296 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,360 Speaker 1: the Germans and the new government. Less than a week 297 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: after Quizzling proclaimed himself to be ruler of the country, 298 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: he was forced out of that self proclaimed leadership role. 299 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: That did not mean he was gone at all, though, 300 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: because he wasn't overthrown by a resistance group. His effort 301 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:33,639 Speaker 1: just didn't do what the Nazis had wanted, and so 302 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: they made him step down on April fifteenth. German forces 303 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: led by Kurt Brauer had wanted King hakon the seventh 304 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: same one who had invited Quizzling to visit him in 305 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: his youth to acknowledge the Quizzling government and seed power, 306 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: but the King and government leaders had refused, citing the 307 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: fact that no one had faith in Quizzling as a leader. 308 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: This is really understandable. He just kind of gotten in 309 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: the radio and said I'm in charge now. H And 310 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: also like that had just been shown in the two 311 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: elections in the nineteen thirties when almost no one voted 312 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: for his party. Yeah. So at that point Germany pivoted. 313 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,880 Speaker 1: Since their plan to install Quisling had tanked, they decided 314 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 1: to just build a new ruling body for Norway from scratch. 315 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 1: Hakon and Parliament continued to resist for a couple of months, 316 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: but then on June nineteenth, nineteen forty, Norway fell to 317 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: the Germans and the King went into exile in London, 318 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,920 Speaker 1: as did Prime Minister Johann Nygaardswold. As part of Germany's 319 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: new government in Norway, Hitler had tapped a man named 320 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: Joseph Terboven to be administrator of Norway on April twenty fourth, 321 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: well before the King had left the country, and one 322 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: of Terboven's acts was to make all of the political 323 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 1: parties of Norway illegal, with the exception of Quisling's National Union. 324 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: Quisling was made head of the Cabinet, reporting directly to Terboven. 325 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,679 Speaker 1: Quisling's name immediately became associated with treason as all of 326 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: this was playing out. In an article in the Times 327 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: of London titled Quizzling is as Quizzling Does is published 328 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: in North America in various newspapers as well. This association 329 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: is laid out quote to journalists and other writers weary 330 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: of racking their brains or raking the well thumbed pages 331 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: of roget in search of alternatives. The word quizzling is 332 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 1: a gift from the gods. If they had been ordered 333 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 1: to invent a new word for trader, and given carte 334 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: blanche with the alphabet, they could hardly have hit upon 335 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: a more brilliant combination of letters. Orally, it contrives to 336 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: suggest something at once slippery and torturous. Visually, it has 337 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,560 Speaker 1: a supreme merit of beginning with a Q, which, with 338 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 1: one August exception, has long seemed to the British mind 339 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: to be a crooked, uncertain and slightly disreputable letter. Quizzling 340 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 1: then be it. We welcome the word as sincerely as 341 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: we detest the quality which it connotes. Hitler had overestimated 342 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: Quisling's popularity in Norway, thinking that he would have enough 343 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: support to pull off his coup d'ettar, And though Quizzling 344 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: had failed in that mission and was to some degree 345 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: disgraced by that failure, the Furer still thought that he 346 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: might be valuable, and that is why, two years into 347 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:24,160 Speaker 1: German occupation, Quizzling was made Minister President of a puppet 348 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: government still serving under Treboven the Right Commissioner. Let's put 349 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: Quizzling at his highest role as a Nazi collaborator, and 350 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: he quickly began to use the power he had, although 351 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: he was still always subject to German oversight. In the 352 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen forty two, he attempted to start a 353 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,639 Speaker 1: program very similar to that of the Hitler Youth for 354 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: the National Union and made it mandatory for all Norwegian children. 355 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: Was an effort that galvanized resistance against him. There were 356 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: mass resignations in the clergy and education sectors. Yeah, all 357 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: of those teachers and religious leaders were like, we are 358 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: not going to make kids do this. By May of 359 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two, Quizzling had kind of already dropped like 360 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: a stone when it came to German leadership's faith in him. 361 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: That was not long after he had become a minister. 362 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: President Hitler suspended all peace negotiations between Norway and Germany, 363 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: and he essentially issued kind of like an unofficial restraining 364 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: order on Quizzling, who was no longer allowed to directly 365 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: contact the furor vincom. Quizzling next tried to once again 366 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 1: get in Germany and Hitler's good graces by creating a 367 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: volunteer military force that would bolster Germany's numbers. Fifteen thousand 368 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:44,479 Speaker 1: Norwegians volunteered. Six thousand of those men were deployed as 369 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: members of the SS. In our next segment, we're going 370 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,400 Speaker 1: to talk about Quizzling's part in some of the horrors 371 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: of the Nazi regime. And before we get into that 372 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: dark subject, let's take a quick break to hear from 373 00:22:55,359 --> 00:23:07,680 Speaker 1: our sponsors. As part of his work to once again 374 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,400 Speaker 1: become one of Hitler's favorites, Quisling was not just complacent 375 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: in Nazi atrocities. He was actively involved. He personally sent 376 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: hundreds of Jewish Norwegians to concentration camps. There had only 377 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: been a little more than two thousand Jewish people in 378 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: Norway in nineteen forty two when Quisling became Minister President. 379 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 1: Sixteen percent of those were people who had fled Germany 380 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: and Poland looking for refuge. He first reinstituted a struck 381 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,639 Speaker 1: portion of the Norwegian constitution it had been gotten rid 382 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 1: of in the eighteen fifties, which forbade Jewish immigration into 383 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,159 Speaker 1: the country. He also started instituting laws that called for 384 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: the registration of all Jews, the arrest of all Jewish men, 385 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: and the seizure of all property owned by Jews. These 386 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: were followed by orders to arrest Jewish women and children 387 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: as well. By the end of November, the deportation of 388 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:07,199 Speaker 1: arrested Jews began. They were shipped first to Oslo and 389 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: then to Germany, ultimately landing in Auschwitz, where they were 390 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,919 Speaker 1: killed in the gas chambers right after arriving. The number 391 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 1: of dead, which was seven hundred and thirty eight, would 392 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: have been much larger had it not been for warnings 393 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: that had made their way through the underground resistance starting 394 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: with the Norwegian police, that enabled almost half the country's 395 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: Jewish population to escape to Sweden. Thirty four men who 396 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: were shipped from Norway to Auschwitz survived. In nineteen forty three, 397 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,120 Speaker 1: the United States Attorney General prepared a message for Quisling, 398 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: which was given to the Royal Norwegian Information Service, and 399 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: it was read on a radio broadcast that was aired 400 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: throughout Norway and in some surrounding countries. The text of 401 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: that message was also published in US papers, and it 402 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: read quote to a modern judas, when for the love 403 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: of a man attempts to sell the dignity of his 404 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: own people vidcom quizzling, he sells nothing but his own soul. 405 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 1: For a brief moment he wields the sword, but it 406 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: is a lonely, meaningless gesture vidcom quizzling, and the command 407 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: meets only the silence of a contemptuous world. Borrowed armor 408 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,959 Speaker 1: is a deadly thing vidcom quizzling. It is no firmer 409 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 1: than the source from which it came. It falls apart 410 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 1: and leaves him who has worn it against his own 411 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 1: people naked alone, unready for the wrath of men whose 412 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: freedom and dignity are beyond price. The source from which 413 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,440 Speaker 1: you borrowed strength is waning vidcom quizzling. Already there are 414 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: cracks in the armor, and the contempt of the world, 415 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: the wrath of men is unabated. You are ruling Vidcom 416 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: quizzling past the hour. You are living Vidcom quizzling on 417 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: borrowed time. You have spent Vidcom quizzling the last of 418 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: the thirty pieces of silver. In the late stages of 419 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: World War Two, Quizling seems to be just ceaselessly maneuvering 420 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,679 Speaker 1: to regain Hitler's favor, but he did not seem to 421 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: realize that the German Nazi movement was kind of done 422 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,160 Speaker 1: with him. He tried to force members of the paramilitary 423 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: group Herden into military service, and that caused both outrage 424 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: and a huge exodus of group members who really had 425 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: no interest in serving under German command. He also tried 426 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: to negotiate a treaty deal with Hitler in January of 427 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, hoping that in exchange for Norway's support, 428 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,160 Speaker 1: he could secure an end to German occupation for his country, 429 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:41,440 Speaker 1: and that did not work. Instead, Nazi forces started executing 430 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: any Norwegian citizens who were even perceived as resisting. After 431 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 1: German authorities gunned down a group of Norwegian resistance fighters 432 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 1: and trendom Forest. Quizzling visited the site. There's a photo 433 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: of him standing in his suit and hat as he 434 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,720 Speaker 1: looks over the mass grave where the bodies of the 435 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: killed Norwegians were dumped. When Terboven asked Quizzling to sign 436 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: an order that would make these executions an authorized act 437 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: of the Quisling government, Vidcan Quizzling refused. That really sealed 438 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: his fate with Terboven, who was outraged and with the 439 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: Nazi Party. Norway was liberated from German occupation in May 440 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,640 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five. King Hawk on the seventh and Prime 441 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: Minister Johann Ninguardswold returned from their exile, and Quisling, who 442 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: did turn himself in, was arrested and charged with a 443 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 1: lengthy list of crimes treason, of course, both military and civil, 444 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: but also embezzlement, sixteen counts of murder, aiding a foreign government, 445 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:48,120 Speaker 1: and receiving stolen property. Part of the case against him 446 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,359 Speaker 1: included the accusation that he had received forty thousand dollars 447 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 1: from Germany in exchange for betraying his country. When the 448 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,960 Speaker 1: trial began on August twentieth, nineteen forty five. It was 449 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:03,200 Speaker 1: covered by news outlets around the world, carefully noting Quisling's 450 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: behavior and demeanor throughout. Quizling is often noted in reports 451 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 1: as looking pale and being evasive in his answers. Maria 452 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 1: wanted to be in the courtroom for the proceedings, but 453 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 1: she was not allowed. Quizzling pleaded not guilty on all 454 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: the charges against him, claiming always that his actions were 455 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: in service to what he thought was the best course 456 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: for Norway. The judge in the case, Eric Solom, was 457 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 1: very clearly biased against Quisling and tended to behave in 458 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,159 Speaker 1: a way that really tested the limits of propriety in 459 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: his role. He often interrupted Quisling when he tried to speak, 460 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: and the two men got into a couple of really 461 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: odd exchanges where they were generally quite combative with one another. 462 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: Whether it would have been possible to find another judge 463 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: who would not have been biased in this case is 464 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: kind of a matter of debate. Quisling also hurt his 465 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: own case by saying things in court that were demonstrably untrue, 466 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: specifically things about meeting certain people at certain times and 467 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,520 Speaker 1: claiming to not know that the National Union was benefiting 468 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 1: financially from the relationship with Germany. Alfred Rosenberg, the high 469 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,960 Speaker 1: ranking Nazi official who's credited with connecting Quizzling with Hitler, 470 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: provided information that was used in the trial against Quisling. 471 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: He verified the authenticity of a lot of documents which 472 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: were used in the Quizzling trial, beginning with ones that 473 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: tied Vidcan Quizzling to Germany's plan to invade Norway. A 474 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: document read aloud in court stated that Quisling had given 475 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: detailed information about the Norwegian coastline to Grand Admiral Eric Raider, 476 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: head of the German Navy, as well as two other 477 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: German military officers, Field Marshal Wilhelm Kaitel and Colonel General 478 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: Alfred Yodel. When Quisling was asked about his treason in 479 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: the context of his former position in the Royal Norwegian Army, 480 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: the defendant stated, quote, certainly, I had certain obligations, but 481 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,959 Speaker 1: I resigned as an offer in nineteen thirty three in 482 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: protest against the defense policy of the government. Neither in 483 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: peace nor in war could I serve as an officer 484 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: under such a defense policy. The failure of that policy, 485 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: in Quisling's view, was that no one wanted to bolster 486 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 1: the country's military forces enough. When questioned about the coup attempt, 487 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,479 Speaker 1: Quisling was adamant that he had never planned one, and 488 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: claimed the whole thing quote must have arisen from either 489 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: some misunderstanding or from the wrongful use of my name, 490 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,440 Speaker 1: even though he had broadcast his takeover of the country 491 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: on the radio twice. When he was charged with the 492 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: murder of Norwegian resistance leader Vigohanstein Vidcan, Quizzling is said 493 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: to have sobbed as he claimed his innocence. He told 494 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: the prosecutor aneas Schucht, I never asked the Germans to 495 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: kill Hanstein, only to remove him. He was making things 496 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: difficult for me. Quisling also claimed not to have known 497 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: what was happening in the concentration camps. During questioning about them, 498 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: he stated, quote, it may sound strange, but in spite 499 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: of thousands of appeals to me from people in jail, 500 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: I never had a single report of torture. If I had, 501 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: I would have done something. After he made that statement, 502 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: the prosecution asked him if he had ever listened to 503 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: radio broadcasts from London, and Quizzling never replied, yeah, that 504 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: was obviously Germaine because those broadcasts were being very forthright 505 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: about the things that were going on in concentration camps. 506 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,320 Speaker 1: On the third day of the trial, Quisling had an outburst. 507 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: Newspaper reports described him as hysterical. After questioning regarding whether 508 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: he intended for Norway to become part of the German Reich. 509 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: A letter had been presented to the court which was 510 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: written from Quizzling to Hitler, noting that he had not 511 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 1: received money he had been promised for doing his part 512 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 1: in the occupation and discussing ways that Norway might roll 513 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: up under Germany. Quisling claimed someone else had written that letter. 514 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 1: When presented with a second document, a memorandum again written 515 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,680 Speaker 1: by Quizzling, about Norway adopting the German flag and currency, 516 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:10,040 Speaker 1: he stated that he had done so to protect Norway. 517 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: When the prosecutor noted then that Quizzling acknowledged that the 518 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: document was one he had written. In response, the defendant 519 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 1: shouted quote, I did it to save my country. The 520 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: last four years had been a nightmare for me because 521 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: I had to fight both sides. At that point, the judge, 522 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,920 Speaker 1: Eric Solom, who we mentioned did not like Quizzling, told 523 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: the defendant to calm down. Many witnesses were called to testify. 524 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: There were people going back to before the Second World 525 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:42,239 Speaker 1: War describing Quizzling as working against the Norwegian government. One 526 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: of the most damning testimonies came from doctor Leo Eiitinger, 527 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 1: who was one of the Jewish men sent to Auschwitz 528 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: after being arrested under Quisling's orders. He described the process 529 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: people faced from arrest to arrival at the concentration camp, 530 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 1: and how they were sorted into groups of people healthy 531 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: enough to work and survive for at least a little while, 532 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 1: and those deemed useless who were immediately sent to the 533 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: gas chambers. He described the horrors of the camps, and 534 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: he placed the glame for so many squarely on Quizzling. 535 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: Witnesses from the German forces, including the Gestapo, stated that 536 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: they had been told that what they did in Norway 537 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: was that the direction of Quisling's government. Maria had wanted 538 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:28,080 Speaker 1: to testify on her husband's behalf, but Vidcan forbade it. 539 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: The character witnesses that were called to help Quisling's case 540 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: were mostly people from his life before he became entangled 541 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: with the Nazi war effort. They spoke about how he 542 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 1: had been a smart and kind person in his youth, 543 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: impossible to reconcile with all the crimes that he was 544 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: accused of. There was an undercurrent suggesting that there might 545 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: be some sort of psychological mechanism in play that had 546 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: caused his change in personality in thinking. At the end 547 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:59,400 Speaker 1: of the trial, Quisling, who had been ill during his incarceration, 548 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 1: had to give his own defense speech. He talked about 549 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 1: his childhood and how he had felt called to serve 550 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 1: his country as a young man. But as his story 551 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: progressed through his life, his presentation faltered. He started to 552 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,359 Speaker 1: repeat himself, and to ramble, and to appear to have 553 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: become confused. He spoke for an hour without ever getting 554 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: to any events related to the charges he was facing. 555 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:28,000 Speaker 1: He was laying the groundwork to explain why he came 556 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: to the decisions he did, and he appeared very sincere. 557 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 1: He spoke for four straight hours, and he concluded by 558 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,240 Speaker 1: saying that if he was treasonous, he hoped that quote 559 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:42,879 Speaker 1: a good many of Norway's sons would also be treasonous, 560 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:47,359 Speaker 1: but not imprisoned as he had been. Quisling was found 561 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:50,840 Speaker 1: guilty and was sentenced to death. He was also ordered 562 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 1: to pay more than one million kroner for legal costs. 563 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:57,600 Speaker 1: Quisling was executed by firing squad at two forty am 564 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 1: on October twenty fourth, nineteen forty at Akershu's Fortress, Norway. 565 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,880 Speaker 1: He insisted to the very end that he was innocent. 566 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: He had written to his brother during his final day's quote, 567 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,720 Speaker 1: there must be some deeper meaning to this. In fact, 568 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,360 Speaker 1: I am dying a murdyr's death. There was at least 569 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 1: one attempt to shift the perception of Quisling's image in 570 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,600 Speaker 1: the years after his death, and that was a book 571 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: by Ralph Hewans titled Quizzling Prophet Without Honor, which was 572 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 1: published in nineteen sixty five. That effort did not go 573 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 1: over well. That book was really panned, with review titles 574 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,280 Speaker 1: like whitewashing a puppet, an Attempt that Fails, and praise 575 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:42,800 Speaker 1: for Quizzling called false history no doubt. Inspired by Quisling's 576 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,360 Speaker 1: name in the news because of the biography, a report 577 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,600 Speaker 1: about his widow, Maria ran in papers across Europe and 578 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: North America, noting that she lived in the apartment the 579 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,759 Speaker 1: two had first shared in nineteen twenty nine alone with 580 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:01,359 Speaker 1: little contact with the outside world her name reportedly called 581 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: her Missus Treason. Maria Quisling died in nineteen eighty and 582 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: at that time her husband's personal letters, notes, and manuscripts 583 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,399 Speaker 1: were left to the University of Oslo. Quisling's mansion, which 584 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:20,680 Speaker 1: he called Gimla, became home of Norway's Holocaust Museum. Yucky 585 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: parts of history, uh huh, but important And like I said, 586 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: we don't tend to get that story very much in 587 00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:30,320 Speaker 1: the US, so at least we didn't when we were 588 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,440 Speaker 1: coming up through school. So if they're teaching it now, bravo. 589 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: If they're not, now we all know. I'm picking a 590 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: fun listener mail because it's about Olympic sports. Okay, we 591 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,239 Speaker 1: need lighter stuff now. This is from our listener, Cameron, 592 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 1: who writes, Dear Holly and Tracy, I've been listening to 593 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 1: your show for years and have wanted to write in, 594 00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 1: but never found a good reason until today. I'm a 595 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,160 Speaker 1: little behind and listening, but I just caught your episode 596 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,239 Speaker 1: about defunct Olympic sports. I know you couldn't possibly have 597 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,319 Speaker 1: covered all of them, but I wanted to mention one 598 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,759 Speaker 1: of my favorites, ski ballet. This sport was popular in 599 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,840 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies and eighties, but stopped being an Olympic 600 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 1: sport in two thousand. The sport involves singles or sometimes pairs, 601 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: performing dance like movements while on skis, sometimes just on 602 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,080 Speaker 1: a flat field of snow like an ice rink, and 603 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 1: sometimes actually traveling downhill. But the best part was the outfits. 604 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,800 Speaker 1: As it was popular in the seventies and eighties, videos 605 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:30,040 Speaker 1: can be found online of bright, often neon, puffy outfits, 606 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:34,600 Speaker 1: often bedazzled or tasseled, probably taking their cues from figure skating. 607 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,320 Speaker 1: Perms and mullets can be appreciated in these videos as well. 608 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,839 Speaker 1: Hang on to that perm thought, everybody. Just a little 609 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:46,720 Speaker 1: foreshadowing for future episodes as pet tax, I've included photos 610 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:49,600 Speaker 1: of my two rag doll cats, Aria and Luna, as 611 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,760 Speaker 1: well as our hound dog Cusco, who have all listened 612 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,320 Speaker 1: to many episodes of your show. We all love listening 613 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,960 Speaker 1: to both of you and appreciate your thorough research as 614 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,879 Speaker 1: well as you're entertaining and delightful personnel. Cusco doesn't bark 615 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:03,720 Speaker 1: at you as much as he barks at our Google 616 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:07,720 Speaker 1: Home assistant, so he especially thinks you're great. All the best, 617 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 1: Cameron Okay, I'm obsessed with these pet names. Rest of all, Cuzco. 618 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 1: I don't know if you've named it after the historical 619 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:18,719 Speaker 1: one or the Disney character, but now I have Tom 620 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:20,960 Speaker 1: Jones singing in my head about Cusco, and that's never 621 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:24,719 Speaker 1: a bad thing. Cameron, thank you so much. I have 622 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:29,600 Speaker 1: seen and do remember ski Ballet because I am a 623 00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:32,399 Speaker 1: child that would have been watching the Olympics during those years, 624 00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:38,640 Speaker 1: and I always loved, loved, loved those outfits. I think 625 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:42,799 Speaker 1: we should bring back those styles of streetwear today. You 626 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,319 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you could do so 627 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:49,160 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also 628 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever 629 00:38:53,480 --> 00:39:01,040 Speaker 1: it is you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you 630 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:04,200 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For 631 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,719 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 632 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:10,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.