Norwegian Collaborators at ARKIVET
Norwegian Employees at ARKIVET
Sipo needed prison guards, drivers, secretaries, interpreters, cleaners, and other office and service staff. Overall, there were approximately as many Norwegians as German citizens earning a living at ARKIVET from 1942 to 1945. The Norwegian helpers were recruited for service with Sipo in various ways: through coercion, by chance, ideological conviction, economic motives, or sheer opportunism.
Ole Wehus, one of the most well-known Norwegians associated with ARKIVET during World War II, stated during the treason trial: “I am 100% sure that everyone who was employed at ARKIVET must have known what was going on, as they could not avoid seeing the prisoners after they had been treated.” Norwegian employees also knew what was happening and participated in the abuse and torture of prisoners. One was sentenced to death after the war, while another received life imprisonment.
The Informants
Sipo recruited a number of Norwegian informants. These were men and women who voluntarily reported resistance activities to the Germans. The motivation for becoming an informant varied. Some were recruited while in captivity themselves, either to avoid punishment or to protect family members. In other cases, it is clear that the motivation was to gain certain advantages or scarce goods, such as cigarettes or alcohol.
There were also informants who willingly offered their services to the Germans because they were political allies. A few so-called V-people (from the German word for connection or trust) worked intermittently as informants for German and Norwegian police and received payment for this. At ARKIVET, contact with informants was led by officers from Section IV. The total number of informants connected to Sipo in Kristiansand was around one hundred, of which approximately thirty were relatively active.
Ole Wehus: The Brutal Informant
Ole Wehus (1909-1947) has been referred to as the most notorious and dangerous informant in Southern Norway. Wehus was not employed at ARKIVET as an interpreter but as a caseworker because he was a member of the State Police. The Norwegian State Police (Stapo) was established in 1941 and was to be directly at the disposal of the German police in Norway. Almost all employees of Stapo were members of the National Gathering.
The Stapo department in Kristiansand was led from Stavanger and was established in April 1942, with Wehus as one of three officials. For two periods, Wehus was fully assigned to Sipo, with ARKIVET as his workplace: from October 1943 to May 1944 and from October 1944 to December of the same year. During this time, he actively participated in Sipo’s efforts to crush the resistance movement in Southern Norway.
In the final months of the war, he served in Oslo. Wehus was involved in the torture of over a hundred Norwegian prisoners during arrests and house searches, as well as during enhanced interrogations at ARKIVET. The Agder Court of Appeals sentenced him to life imprisonment, but the Supreme Court overturned the sentence to death. Particular emphasis was placed on the fact that Wehus, with his excellent memory, extensive local knowledge, and skills in German, had made a significant contribution to the enemy’s war efforts in the Agder counties.
Ole Wehus was executed at Akershus Fortress on March 10, 1947.
The Greatest Threat to Norwegians in Agder During the War
The brutality exhibited by Wehus at ARKIVET has been explained in various and sometimes contradictory ways. Some have viewed Wehus as a former bullying victim who, during the war, had his chance to get back at others. Others have described him as intelligent and cynical. Without a doubt, he was a convinced National Socialist and relied on a German victory. Wehus was not alone in holding such attitudes and beliefs. However, he developed into the greatest threat to other Norwegians in Agder during the war.