Quisling’s SS Longship
Sterling silver longship commissioned by Vidkun Quisling for SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans-Hendrik Neumann, awarded for his services as the chief liaison officer between Norway’s collaborationist Quisling regime and the de facto administration: Germany’s Reichskommissariat Norwegen (Reich Commissariat of Norway). Inscribed on its inner hull says: SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans-Hendrik Neumann. Oslo, 1-2-1944. Vidkun Quisling.
Hans-Hendrik Neumann was a committed National Socialist who originally studied to become an electrical engineer, yet came to serve as adjutant to the infamous SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, headed the operational staff in occupied Norway and commanded 1. SS Panzergrenadier Regiment “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler” towards the end of the war. He joined the Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1930 at the age of 19, before being referred to the Schutzstaffel (SS). He graduated from the SS-Junkerschule in Bad Tölz after which he served as Heydrich’s senior adjutant in the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), enjoying a close working relationship with his boss, according to unclassified US Army documents. In October 1944, 9 months after receiving this award, Neumann was entrusted with the evacuation of all civilians from Norway’s northernmost provinces, as well as to enact a scorched earth policy in anticipation of the Red Army’s advance.
Neumann’s role in Norway was to act as advisor to the Nasjonal Samling (Quisling’s collaborationist fascist party), and instill within their ranks National Socialist principles and reinforce loyalty to Germany. In this function, he was second only in importance to Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Quisling’s Nasjonal Samling came to power by collaborating with occupying German forces. Despite losing all its major trading partners, Norway’s production capacity remained largely intact, with historians attributing this to efficient German economic management.
While Quisling was nominally appointed as head of state by the Germans, real power in occupied Norway rest in the hands of Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Following Quisling’s deposition in 1945, the very term ‘Quisling’ would later become synonymous with ‘traitor’ in the Scandinavian languages. During his trial for high treason that took place in the same year, Quisling would state the following:
“For me, politics is not a question of party interests, a career trajectory [levebrødspolitikk], or personal ambition and hunger for power. It is self-sacrifice and acts in the service of the historical development for the good of my own people, and for the promotion of the Kingdom of God on earth that Christ came to establish. If my actions have been treacherous—as they have been portrayed—then I wish to God for the sake of Norway that many of the sons of Norway become traitors like I am, only that they are not thrown into prison.”
As with other notable fascists such as Oswald Mosley or Benito Mussolini, Quisling was an altruist who began his political career as a socialist, drawn to its idealistic principles and believing in the betterment of humanity by volunteering in various humanitarian causes. Quisling is known for working alongside humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen, having assisted refugees of the First World War and supplying aid in famine-struck Ukraine during the interwar period. In February 1922, Quisling visited Kharkov, where he collected data on conditions in the Ukrainian countryside. As its soon became clear that a third of the country was affected by famine, Quisling was given a leading role in the ‘Nansen Aid’, and together with Nansen he managed to raise awareness of the situation in Ukraine across the rest of Europe. Private contributions poured in, and several hundred thousand people were saved from starvation in the areas under Quisling’s administration. Both Nansen and Quisling became popular figures in Ukraine due to their work, particularly grateful for Quisling having made the disaster known abroad. From 1925 onwards, Quisling devoted his time trying to help the displaced victims of the Armenian genocide, alongside Nansen.
Alongside his English and Italian compatriots, it is likely Quisling realized through his travels the futility of the internationalist sentiment behind traditional socialism, and that in order for socialism to succeed it must pertain to sociocultural realities by remaining within national bounds and allowed to flourish separately.
After the war, Hans-Hendrik Neumann, the recipient of this prize, had a successful electrical engineering career in Philips GmbH where he served as director for the Hanover branch. He went on to marry Helga Daitz, daughter of Nazi ideologist Werner Daitz, with whom he had three children.
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Sterling silver longship commissioned by Vidkun Quisling for SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans-Hendrik Neumann, awarded for his services as the chief liaison officer between Norway’s collaborationist Quisling regime and the de facto administration: Germany’s Reichskommissariat Norwegen (Reich Commissariat of Norway). Inscribed on its inner hull says: SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans-Hendrik Neumann. Oslo, 1-2-1944. Vidkun Quisling.
Hans-Hendrik Neumann was a committed National Socialist who originally studied to become an electrical engineer, yet came to serve as adjutant to the infamous SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, headed the operational staff in occupied Norway and commanded 1. SS Panzergrenadier Regiment “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler” towards the end of the war. He joined the Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1930 at the age of 19, before being referred to the Schutzstaffel (SS). He graduated from the SS-Junkerschule in Bad Tölz after which he served as Heydrich’s senior adjutant in the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), enjoying a close working relationship with his boss, according to unclassified US Army documents. In October 1944, 9 months after receiving this award, Neumann was entrusted with the evacuation of all civilians from Norway’s northernmost provinces, as well as to enact a scorched earth policy in anticipation of the Red Army’s advance.
Neumann’s role in Norway was to act as advisor to the Nasjonal Samling (Quisling’s collaborationist fascist party), and instill within their ranks National Socialist principles and reinforce loyalty to Germany. In this function, he was second only in importance to Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Quisling’s Nasjonal Samling came to power by collaborating with occupying German forces. Despite losing all its major trading partners, Norway’s production capacity remained largely intact, with historians attributing this to efficient German economic management.
While Quisling was nominally appointed as head of state by the Germans, real power in occupied Norway rest in the hands of Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Following Quisling’s deposition in 1945, the very term ‘Quisling’ would later become synonymous with ‘traitor’ in the Scandinavian languages. During his trial for high treason that took place in the same year, Quisling would state the following:
“For me, politics is not a question of party interests, a career trajectory [levebrødspolitikk], or personal ambition and hunger for power. It is self-sacrifice and acts in the service of the historical development for the good of my own people, and for the promotion of the Kingdom of God on earth that Christ came to establish. If my actions have been treacherous—as they have been portrayed—then I wish to God for the sake of Norway that many of the sons of Norway become traitors like I am, only that they are not thrown into prison.”
As with other notable fascists such as Oswald Mosley or Benito Mussolini, Quisling was an altruist who began his political career as a socialist, drawn to its idealistic principles and believing in the betterment of humanity by volunteering in various humanitarian causes. Quisling is known for working alongside humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen, having assisted refugees of the First World War and supplying aid in famine-struck Ukraine during the interwar period. In February 1922, Quisling visited Kharkov, where he collected data on conditions in the Ukrainian countryside. As its soon became clear that a third of the country was affected by famine, Quisling was given a leading role in the ‘Nansen Aid’, and together with Nansen he managed to raise awareness of the situation in Ukraine across the rest of Europe. Private contributions poured in, and several hundred thousand people were saved from starvation in the areas under Quisling’s administration. Both Nansen and Quisling became popular figures in Ukraine due to their work, particularly grateful for Quisling having made the disaster known abroad. From 1925 onwards, Quisling devoted his time trying to help the displaced victims of the Armenian genocide, alongside Nansen.
Alongside his English and Italian compatriots, it is likely Quisling realized through his travels the futility of the internationalist sentiment behind traditional socialism, and that in order for socialism to succeed it must pertain to sociocultural realities by remaining within national bounds and allowed to flourish separately.
After the war, Hans-Hendrik Neumann, the recipient of this prize, had a successful electrical engineering career in Philips GmbH where he served as director for the Hanover branch. He went on to marry Helga Daitz, daughter of Nazi ideologist Werner Daitz, with whom he had three children.
