2RHPZ
06-25-2004, 03:40 AM
The reporting from Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende on Icelanders' role in Nazi attrocitites on the eastern battlefront in Russia during 1941 and later has woken much interest in Iceland.
It is now confirmed that at least three Icelanders were members of the Waffen SS Viking in 1941.
Their names are Sölva K. Friðrikssonar (better known as 'Sölvi the Diver' in the Westman Islands) and Björn Sv. Björnssonar. The third man is known to be Geir Þorsteinsson, who was once managing director of the car dealership Ræsis, hf. These Icelanders are named in the book, "Hitlers Hemmelige Agenter," written by Norwegian historian Tore Pryser and published by Universitetsforlaginu in 2001. The book is undertitled, "The German Spy Service in Norway, 1939-1945." It confirms that Geir worked for the Nazi German spy agency "Meldekopf Suzanne" in Þrándheimi until the end of the war, "previously being a soldier of the highest vigilance in the eastern battlefront," as it says on page 124 of the book.
Berlingske Tidende has also detailed a new book from German historian Hannes Heer, in which he solidly concludes that the Old Norse stormtrooper unit, Waffen SS Viking, had murdered approximately 600 Jews in the city of Ternopol in the Ukraine and all of 3,000 Jews in Zloczow in 1941. Heer is controversial in his homeland but Danish experts say his information is credible.
According to Heer, unit volunteers were exchanged from among the Nordic countries. Most of them were Danish; Norwegians, Swedes and Icelanders were also in the unit. There were many in the Waffen SS Viking, very young and strongly endorsing the Nazi ideology, having proven themselves through their rough and merciless techniques and various crimes.
Corroborating Information
Among those Berlingske interviews is Danish historian Therkel Stræde, one of the best Dansih specialists on the history of Nazis in Denmark. He has previosly discussed the crimes of Waffen SS Viking and corroborrated accounts with information in the writings of Heer, saying they are correct. With Heer comes, among other things, confirmation of the Waffen SS having done many horrors in Zloczow; to begin with, having used axes, broadswords, hand grenades and rifles to take the lives of Jews. It was not until the 295th infantry unit of footsoldiers came onto the scene was the bloodbath stopped, when its superior found enough about the progress of the Waffen-unit. Heer cites, among other things, telegrams from the Fourth Infantry to German Command on July 3, 1941 saying Waffen SS Viking left their campgrounds and refused to co-operate with other divisions. "In the meanwhile some from the unit are off hunting for Jews," as it says in the telegram.
Seven-Year Gap
It has become know in the Icelandic mass media that Björn Sv. Björnsson and Sölvi K. Friðriksson were members of the Waffen SS. Sölvi was actually one of both Totenkopf or Hauskúpusveitum SS and worked as, among other duties, a warden in the notorious Neuengamme concentration camp, where torture and murder was their daily bread.
What is interesting about Geir Þorsteinsson comes from his 1982 "Æviskrám samtíðarmanna" (contemporary biographical dictionary), in which there is an unmittigated seven-year gap in his career starting from 1941, when it is said he completed the first half of an examination in engineering from NTH in Þrándheimi, until 1948, when he took a test in building engineering with the University of Iceland.
Tore Pryser writes that at the end of the war, after Geir fought in the eastern front, he found a position as a scientific assistant in NTH in Þrándheimi. Geir belonged to the spy ring Meldekopf Suzanne and gave reports to Sonderfuher Jaspersen about what he knew about the goings-on of the Norwegian resistance movement.
Here back home in Iceland, Geir became the managing director of the car dealership Ræsis, hf. in 1954. He later held various postions of trust in Bílgrinasambandsins (The Icelandic Federation for Motor Trade and Repairs), and was their head from 1975-1978.
It is now confirmed that at least three Icelanders were members of the Waffen SS Viking in 1941.
Their names are Sölva K. Friðrikssonar (better known as 'Sölvi the Diver' in the Westman Islands) and Björn Sv. Björnssonar. The third man is known to be Geir Þorsteinsson, who was once managing director of the car dealership Ræsis, hf. These Icelanders are named in the book, "Hitlers Hemmelige Agenter," written by Norwegian historian Tore Pryser and published by Universitetsforlaginu in 2001. The book is undertitled, "The German Spy Service in Norway, 1939-1945." It confirms that Geir worked for the Nazi German spy agency "Meldekopf Suzanne" in Þrándheimi until the end of the war, "previously being a soldier of the highest vigilance in the eastern battlefront," as it says on page 124 of the book.
Berlingske Tidende has also detailed a new book from German historian Hannes Heer, in which he solidly concludes that the Old Norse stormtrooper unit, Waffen SS Viking, had murdered approximately 600 Jews in the city of Ternopol in the Ukraine and all of 3,000 Jews in Zloczow in 1941. Heer is controversial in his homeland but Danish experts say his information is credible.
According to Heer, unit volunteers were exchanged from among the Nordic countries. Most of them were Danish; Norwegians, Swedes and Icelanders were also in the unit. There were many in the Waffen SS Viking, very young and strongly endorsing the Nazi ideology, having proven themselves through their rough and merciless techniques and various crimes.
Corroborating Information
Among those Berlingske interviews is Danish historian Therkel Stræde, one of the best Dansih specialists on the history of Nazis in Denmark. He has previosly discussed the crimes of Waffen SS Viking and corroborrated accounts with information in the writings of Heer, saying they are correct. With Heer comes, among other things, confirmation of the Waffen SS having done many horrors in Zloczow; to begin with, having used axes, broadswords, hand grenades and rifles to take the lives of Jews. It was not until the 295th infantry unit of footsoldiers came onto the scene was the bloodbath stopped, when its superior found enough about the progress of the Waffen-unit. Heer cites, among other things, telegrams from the Fourth Infantry to German Command on July 3, 1941 saying Waffen SS Viking left their campgrounds and refused to co-operate with other divisions. "In the meanwhile some from the unit are off hunting for Jews," as it says in the telegram.
Seven-Year Gap
It has become know in the Icelandic mass media that Björn Sv. Björnsson and Sölvi K. Friðriksson were members of the Waffen SS. Sölvi was actually one of both Totenkopf or Hauskúpusveitum SS and worked as, among other duties, a warden in the notorious Neuengamme concentration camp, where torture and murder was their daily bread.
What is interesting about Geir Þorsteinsson comes from his 1982 "Æviskrám samtíðarmanna" (contemporary biographical dictionary), in which there is an unmittigated seven-year gap in his career starting from 1941, when it is said he completed the first half of an examination in engineering from NTH in Þrándheimi, until 1948, when he took a test in building engineering with the University of Iceland.
Tore Pryser writes that at the end of the war, after Geir fought in the eastern front, he found a position as a scientific assistant in NTH in Þrándheimi. Geir belonged to the spy ring Meldekopf Suzanne and gave reports to Sonderfuher Jaspersen about what he knew about the goings-on of the Norwegian resistance movement.
Here back home in Iceland, Geir became the managing director of the car dealership Ræsis, hf. in 1954. He later held various postions of trust in Bílgrinasambandsins (The Icelandic Federation for Motor Trade and Repairs), and was their head from 1975-1978.