Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.09.2017, Qupperneq 14

The
Icelandic
Executioner
The Nazi informant
authorities saved

Words: Elías Þórsson
Photo: Archival
In June 1945, large crowds of Danes
and Icelanders celebrated as Esjan,
the first ship to arrive from Iceland
since WWII ended docked in Den-
mark. Finally, the numerous Ice-
landers who had been marooned
under the iron heel of the Nazi
war machine could return home.
Among the returnees was the
27-year-old Ólafur Pétursson. He
had lived in Denmark and Norway
during the war and now wanted to
return to Iceland. As it happened,
the ship’s departure was delayed,
and before it could leave port, the
British troops in the area received
a message from Norway—Ólafur
was to be arrested and extradited;
he had been a spy for the Germans
under the Norwegian resistance.
“Villainous and
revolting”
The prosecutor in Ólafur’s case de-
manded the death penalty and in
1947 his trial began. He had been
responsible for getting dozens of
resistance fighters and sympathis-
ers sent to concentration camps,
where many died. He escaped the
death penalty and was instead
sentenced to 20 years of forced la-
bour. The court verdict wrote that
not only had he broken the law, but
that he had acted in a manner that
was “villainous and revolting,” and
that his crime had been the “worst
of its kind.” Several instances of
arrests made due to information
Ólafur had provided to the Gestapo
were mentioned, including the ar-
rest of 22 Norwegians who had in
1942 attempted to flee to England.
Of the 22, 19 had been executed.
The fight to get
him released
But while the Norwegian courts
were trying a man they believed to
be among the worst Nazi inform-
ants in the war, the full force of the
Icelandic diplomatic machine, un-
der the auspices of Foreign Minister
Bjarni Benediktsson, (grandfather
to the current Prime Minister by
the same name) was fighting for
his release. In the end, following
numerous letters to Oslo and Lon-
don, Ólafur was released. Following
his release to Iceland, Ólafur was a
free man, and he had served just
72 days of his 20 year sentence. In
the Norwegian media and parlia-
ment there was shock and confu-
sion over the determined Icelan-
dic effort to get the man called the
Icelandic executioner released.
A history of violence
But Ólafur’s career of political vio-
lence didn’t end with him returning
to Iceland. He joined Heimdallur,
the youth arm of the Independ-
ence Party, where he supposedly
surrounded himself with young
acolytes with whom he discussed
“terminating” political enemies. In
1949, the biggest riots in Icelandic
history took place. On March 30th
a large number of protesters had
gathered in front of parliament to
protest against the country join-
ing NATO. When it was announced
that parliament had passed the
resolution, fighting broke out and
a number of pro-NATO civilians
armed with batons stormed the
crowd, inflicting beatings on the
protestors. There, among those who
behaved with utmost severity, was
Ólafur. In connection to his actions
that day, the newspapers recount-
ed his past as a Nazi collaborator
and criminal, which was, accord-
ing to Foreign Minister Bjarni, “in-
humane” and “hurtful” to Ólafur.
Helping executioners,
forgetting the victims
Ólafur’s most high profile victim
was the Icelander Leifur Muller,
who due to information relayed to
the Gestapo by Ólafur was in 1943
sent to the Sachsenhausen concen-
tration camp, where he remained
until the end of the war. In Leifur’s
memoirs he wrote about his shock
over how fiercely authorities had
tried to save the executioner while
not a single letter was sent to plead
with German authorities to get
Leifur released from the merciless
hell he suffered in the Nazi camp.
14 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16 — 2017
TIME CAPSULE
Þjóðleik-
húsið
Hverfisgata

Words: Jenna Mohammed
Photo: Art Bicnick
The National Theatre of Iceland is
one of Reykjavík’s most long-lived
art institutions. It’s hard to miss:
the building has an inviting atmos-
phere, with a baronial structure
and classic red carpet on the inside.
Opened in April 1950 and designed
by state architect Guðjón Samúels-
son, the National Theatre sparked
public interest with all sorts of stage
performances, and still remains
true to what local theatre is all about
to this day. The award-winning ven-
ue has showcased productions such
as ‘Metamorphoses’ (2008), ‘Off Tar-
get’ (2009), ‘King Lear’ (2011), and
‘Macbeth’ (2013), to name just a few.
Funded by the government’s Minis-
try of Education, Science and Cul-
ture, the establishment is dedicated
to cultivating new and original Ice-
landic plays, musicals, dance perfor-
mances, and classics both Icelandic
and foreign, along with productions
for children. There’s always a variety
of shows to see, and the building’s
interior is a pleasure in itself.
BRYGGJAN BRUGGHÚS * GRANDAGARÐI 8 101 REYKJAVÍK
00354 456 4040 * WWW.BRYGGJANBRUGGHUS.IS
DAILY TOURS ON THE HOUR BETWEEN 13-22
BEER TOUR
2O - 30 MIN TOUR INCLUDING A 3 OR 6
BEER FLIGHT MENU FROM OUR MICRO BREWERY.
2.900/5.400 KR.
DOCKSIDE BREWERY & BISTRO
BISTRO
11.30-23.00
JAZZ EVERY
SUNDAY
AT 20.00
Ólafur Pétursson