Template:Infobox Military Unit Sonderabteilung Lola was a group under the German Sicherheitsdienst in Trondheim, and consisted of around 50-60 Norwegian informants who worked for Henry Oliver Rinnan, many of whom were former frontline soldiers.
Under cover the group contacted people who were anti-Nazis, and through these they infiltrated the resistance movement. After a period of active work in the resistance group, both to gather information and build trust, the network was rolled up and the participants arrested and tortured. This kind of infiltration operations were called "provocation business", in a self-help to expedite action as a subsequent arrest the suspects. Rinnan even called this a "game in the negative sector". The group worked towards the entire Central Norway, ie Trøndelag, Møre and Romsdal. Rinnan even wanted to expand operations to Oslo, but this was stopped by its German parent.
The group, which was also called the Rinnan gang, was not formally a part of the Sicherheitsdienst until 1943 when Rinnan received a formal position within the occupation. He utilized these powers to, among other things, start with their own interrogation by torture. Before this, he had reported resistance people to contact the German officers Gerhard Flesch and Walter Gemmecke, so that these were arrested, tortured and possibly killed, or put in concentration camps.
From September 1943 the group had a base at Jonsvannsveien 46 in Trondheim, after the war known as Band Klosteret, which was equipped with cells and torture chambers in the basement, where several were killed under torture. Rinnan drove the group completely by their own rules and on a couple of occasions killed Norwegians without German prior consent. Several hundred were tortured, and it is believed that the group killed more than 80 people. In spring 1945 part of the group tried to flee to Sweden with hostages, but was stopped and arrested five kilometres from the border.
Legal purge against group unfolded during 1945 and 1946 and resulted in 7 life sentences and 12 death sentences, of which 2 were later converted to life sentences. Only men were executed (Henry Rinnan, Bjarne Jenshus, Aksel Mære, Harry Rønning, Harry Hofstad, Olaus Hamrun, Per Bergeen, Kristian Randal, Harald Grøtte and Hans Egeberg). The female members were sentenced to up to life sentences.
External links[]
- Rinnanbanden Template:No icon
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no:Sonderabteilung Lola pl:Sonderabteilung Lola