Controversy
The prosecution of individuals who had served with the German Red Cross was questioned, among them Hanna Kvanmo, who later rose to fame as a socialist politician. Finally, although a number of Norwegians had served in the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front, these were only charged and tried for treason, never for war crimes
In total, 28,750 individuals were arrested as part of the purge; they were subject to various kinds of penalties, including fines, prison sentences, and in a small number of cases, death.
Altogether, prosecutors called for the death penalty in 200 cases of treason; of these, 30 were condemned, and 25 were carried out. From the beginning the practice was controversial, in part because the government instituted the death penalty before the parliament had convened after the war.
During the summer of 1945, there was a fierce debate reported in Norwegian newspapers about the prosecution and punishment of war criminals and traitors. Many spoke openly of retaliation, but others argued that death penalty was a "drawback for a civilized community". As tensions hardened, those fighting against the death penalty for humanitarian reasons were stigmatized as "the silk front". Those who favored harsh penalties were known as "the ice front". The editorial pages of Norwegian newspapers (Dagbladet being one of the most prominent) demanded harsh penalties reminiscent of a witch-hunt. In later years, studies and inquiries have shown that justice was administered unevenly and – by today's standards – harshly. Those who had sided with Nasjonal Samling were often publicly shamed beyond the fines they paid and time they served.
To this day, there is great sensitivity on this subject in Norwegian society.
Read more about this topic: Legal Purge In Norway After World War II
Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“Ours was a highly activist administration, with a lot of controversy involved ... but I’m not sure that it would be inconsistent with my own political nature to do it differently if I had it to do all over again.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)