Heinrich Fehlis

Heinrich Fehlis (1 November 1906 in Wulften am Harz – 11 May 1945 in Porsgrunn) was an SS officer during World War II, most noted for his command of the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst in Norway during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany.

Georg Wilhelm Müller (front row, to the left) Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Fehlis (to the right) visiting a war cemetery in Oslo, Norway in 1941.

Heinrich Fehlis in 1944

Born in Wulften am Harz, Germany, Fehlis was a newly educated attorney when he joined the SA in 1933 and shortly thereafter became a member of the Nazi Party. He moved to the SS in 1935 and rose through their ranks. He was active in the Einsatzgruppen during Operation Weserübung. In November 1940 he succeeded Walter Stahlecker in the dual command of the SD and Sicherheitspolizei for Norway and Oslo, reporting to Reinhard Heydrich and Ernst Kaltenbrunner in Berlin and Josef Terboven in Norway.[1]

Fehlis and other German Gestapo officials tried to escape capture after Germany had capitulated, taking over a German military camp (Lager Franken) near Porsgrunn, Norway, impersonating one lieutenant "Gerstheuer" in the German Alpine Corps. Commanded by his superior in Sandefjord (Hauptmann Walter) to surrender, he asked for an hour to organize the surrender. During that time he found the means to first poison, then shoot himself.[2][3][4]

Notes

Fehlis's biographical information is described as a footnote, citing information from the SS Personalhauptamt in: Bohn, Robert (2000). Reichskommissariat Norwegen (in German). Oldenbourg. p. 74. ISBN 3-486-56488-9.
Cohen, Maynar (2000). A Stand Against Tyranny: Norway's Physicians and the Nazis. Wayne State University Press. p. 273. ISBN 0-8143-2934-9. Heinrich Fehlis, head of the Gestapo in Norway, took refuge with seventy of his men in a German military base near Porsgrunn. When Milorg units demanded he be turned over, Fehlis first swallowed poison, then shot himself.
August Schrumpf (district physician) (1970-02-10). "Fehlis affæren i Porsgrunn" (in Norwegian). Porsgrunn folkebibliotek. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
Frits Klykken (regional commander of Milorg) (1970-02-10). "Saken Fehlis" (in Norwegian). Porsgrunn folkebibliotek. Retrieved 2008-02-19.

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[1] Fehlis's biographical information is described as a footnote, citing information from the SS Personalhauptamt in: Bohn, Robert (2000). Reichskommissariat Norwegen (in German). Oldenbourg. p. 74. ISBN 3-486-56488-9.

[2] Cohen, Maynar (2000). A Stand Against Tyranny: Norway's Physicians and the Nazis. Wayne State University Press. p. 273. ISBN 0-8143-2934-9. Heinrich Fehlis, head of the Gestapo in Norway, took refuge with seventy of his men in a German military base near Porsgrunn. When Milorg units demanded he be turned over, Fehlis first swallowed poison, then shot himself.

[3] August Schrumpf (district physician) (1970-02-10). "Fehlis affæren i Porsgrunn" (in Norwegian). Porsgrunn folkebibliotek. Retrieved 2008-02-19.

[4] Frits Klykken (regional commander of Milorg) (1970-02-10). "Saken Fehlis" (in Norwegian). Porsgrunn folkebibliotek. Retrieved 2008-02-19.