Arne Hassing - Church Resistance to Nazism in Norway, 1940-1945

NEW DIRECTIONS IN SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

Terje Leiren and Christine Ingebritsen, Series Editors

NEW DIRECTIONS IN SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES

This series offers interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the Nordic region of Scandinavia and the Baltic States and their cultural connections in North America. By redefining the boundaries of Scandinavian studies to include the Baltic States and Scandinavian America, the series presents books that focus on the study of the culture, history, literature, and politics of the North.

Small States in International Relations, edited by Christine Ingebritsen, Iver B. Neumann, Sieglinde Gstohl, and Jessica Beyer

Danish Cookbooks: Domesticity and National Identity, 16161901, by Carol Gold

Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia: Fiction, Film, and Social Change, by Andrew Nestingen

Selected Plays of Marcus Thrane, translated and introduced by Terje I. Leiren

Munchs Ibsen: A Painters Visions of a Playwright, by Joan Templeton

Knut Hamsun: The Dark Side of Literary Brilliance, by Monika agar

Nordic Exposures: Scandinavian Identities in Classical Hollywood Cinema, by Arne Lunde

Icons of Danish Modernity: Georg Brandes and Asta Nielsen, by Julie K. Allen

Danish Folktales, Legends, and Other Stories, by Timothy R. Tangherlini

Church Resistance to Nazism in Norway, 19401945, by Arne Hassing

ARNE HASSING

SEATTLE AND LONDON

This publication is supported by a grant from
the Scandinavian Studies Publication Fund.

2014 by the University of Washington Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hassing, Arne.
Church resistance to Nazism in Norway, 19401945 / Arne Hassing.
1st [edition].
pages cm. (New directions in Scandinavian studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-295-99454-3 (paperback : alk. paper)
1. Lutheran ChurchNorwayHistory20th century.
2. Anti-Nazi movementNorway. 3. Norske kirkeHistory
20th century. 4. NorwayChurch history20th century. I. Title.
BX8037.H37 2014 940.53'481dc23
2013019968

The paper used in this publication is acid-free and meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.481984.

PART II. INVASION,
ACCOMMODATION, COLLABORATION

During World War II, Allied propaganda and the free press celebrated Christian resistance to Nazism in German-occupied Norway. A few observers also understood its larger importance. The great Swiss theologian and leader of the German church resistance, Karl Barth, wrote in 1943 that the scope and significance of the church struggles in Holland and Norway were greater than those of the one in Germany. After the war, Norwegian church resistance changed Lutheran political ethics and became a case study in civil resistance.

In spite of its significance, the sources that non-Norwegian authors draw on to write about the church resistance are still limited to wartime books, the occasional postwar article, and books that deal with church resistance as part of a broader subject. A typical example is the excellent comparative study of European civilian resistance by French scholar Jacques Semelin. In that book, the church is central to his presentation of the particularly active Norwegian resistance. Yet his account is based on translations of one article (Skodvin 1969) and one book (Gjelsvik 1979), neither primarily about the church resistance. Compared to the extensive English-language literature produced on the German church struggle, the neglect of Norwayand the Netherlandsis puzzling. Perhaps it is simply the great powers ignoring small nations in scholarship as in politics.

Norwegian scholars, however, have written extensively on the topic. The first books appeared in 1945, written by participants, and their books have special merit as both primary and secondary sources. The

After 1945, shorter surveys of the churchs resistance continued to be published. Einar Molland wrote on Kirkens kamp (the Churchs Struggle) for the official three-volume history of the war, Norges krig (Norways War), published in 1950. In 1971, Carl F. Wislff wrote a chapter on the resistance for the third volume of Norsk kirkehistorie (Norwegian Church History). Both were overviews by historians who had participated in the events, but, as single chapters they were inherently limited.

The scholar who has done most to give the topic a high profile is Torleiv Austad, Professor of Theology Emeritus at the Norwegian School of Theology. He engaged in groundbreaking research for his dissertation, published as Kirkens grunn: Analyse av en kirkelig bekjennelse fra okkupasjonstiden 194045 (The Foundation of the Church: Analysis of a Confession from the Occupation Era, 194045) in 1974, and thereafter he has published shorter surveys and many articles on the history and theology of the churchs resistance. His book, Kirkelig Motstand: Dokumenter fra den norske kirkekamp under okkupasjonen 194045 med innledninger og kommentarer (Church Resistance: Documents from the Norwegian Church Struggle during the Occupation 194045 with Introductions and Commentary), introduces, reprints, and analyzes the main documents of the churchs resistance, and as such it is the most systematic analysis to date, particularly on the theological dimension. His book and mine are intended to be read as companion, complementary volumes, and, to facilitate cross-referencing between the two, whenever possible this book cites documents printed in Austads book, rather than referring to documents in archival collections. At almost every point, the Norwegian language reader will find additional details in Austads book.

Ragnar Norrmans Swedish book, Quislingkyrkan: Nasjonal Samlings kyrkopolitik 19401945 (The Quisling Church: Nasjonal Samlings Church Politics 19401945), is another detailed study, this time of the Quisling Church and its collaboration with the German and Norwegian Nazi authorities. Our two books are complementary as well, insofar as we examine opposite sides of the struggle. Together with Austads book, Norrmans and mine offer three perspectives and approaches that form a comprehensive account of church collaboration and resistance during the German occupation.

A recent and more popular book is Pl Bergs Kirke i krig: Den norske kirke under 2. verdenskrig 194045 (Church in War: The Church of Norway During the Second World War, 194045). It is exceptional in displaying the most extensive collection of photographs in a single volume.