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Was
Hamsun a Nazi? |
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The question has haunted Norway, Scandinavia and the entire literary
community for more than 50 years. More than 1000
books have been written on the subject. There are more than
100 websites about him,
doctorats, opinions and debates. All his works, all his articles
and speaches, thousands of personal letters have been read thouroughly
by numerous researches in the entire world. Now the conclusion can
be brought forward, and the question can be answered.
Was Hamsun a Nazi?
The answer is:
No.
Hamsun was NOT a nazi. Hamsun was NOT a fascist. Hamsun had nothing
in common with nazism.
Fact:
- Hamsun was a child of life
- Hamsun's art is open, tolerant and beautiful
- Hamsun's political opinions were not nazi
- Hamsun was pro-german during his entire life, but
not nazi
- Hamsun was aquitted of nazism in a post-war court
of law
- Hamsun had a fight with Hitler and disliked Hitler
- Hamsun was against the German management of Norway
- Hamsun liberated many norwegians from german prisons
- Hamsun was old and unaware
- Hamsun was chocked to learn about the true nature
of nazism
#1: A
child of life
Hamsun was a friend of all, a lover of life, of
nature, of people in all appearances, a great man
with an even greater heart. He was kind and generous.
He was a child of life, and he loved children. |
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#2: Hamsun's
art is open, tolerant and beautiful
Nothing in the works of Hamsun expresses nazi or
fascist viewpoints or opinions. His art is open,
tolerant and beautiful. Knut Hamsun published more
than 50 works. They all sound off a common message:
The love for life. He was awarded the nobel price
in 1920 for his ways of expressing this. |
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#3: Hamsun's
political opinions were not nazi
Nothing in Hamsun's public expression of political
viewpoints has ever expressed nazi or fascist opinions.
Hamsun has never expressed racist or anti-semitic
opinions. Hamsun was a moral conservative, sometimes
reactionary, sometimes revolutionary, a royalist
who believed in authorities. But he was not a nazi. |
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#4: Support
of Germany since childhood
Hamsun favored the rise of Germany in general, was
anti-anglosaxon and anti-american, as well as anti-modernistic.
This does not mean he was a nazi. Hamsun supported
the German occupation of Norway, opposed the Norwegian
resistance and feared a coming english invasion.
He was also dissapointed of the Norwegian king fleeing
Norway. This does not mean he was a Nazi. Hamsun
was against communism and the bolscheviks, which
was behind his supported for the german eastern
expansion. This does not mean he was a nazi. |
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#5: Hamsun
was aqquited of nazism in a post-war court of law.
Hamsun was aquitted in a post-war court of law,
for having ever been member of the nazi parti. He
was never enrolled in any such, or part of any nazi
community or group. He never spoke with a Nazi voice.
Hamsun spoke with a pro-german voice for 4 decades,
supported the German occupation, for which he was
sentenced to a fine. But he was aqquitted of being
a nazi. |
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#6: Hamsun
argued with Hitler and disliked him
Hamsun met Hitler in 1943 to complain the German
management of Norway (Reichskommisar Terboven).
Hamsun was amongst the very few people in history
to have an open and loud argument with Hitler, and
live to tell about it. Hitler was furious and ended
the meeting. Hamsun was invited there in the first
place as an asset for the Germans to harvest.
Hamsun strongly critisized Hitler in private, and
wrote a cryptic obituary for Hitler, in which he
both praised and ridiculed him. |
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#7: Hamsun
was opposed to the German management of Norway
Hamsun strongly opposed the German Reichskommisar
Terboven. He expressed this to German management,
to Hitler, and in public. |
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#8: Hamsun
liberated many norwegians from the prisons
Hamsun was amongst those who through letters liberated
the most Norwegians from german prisons. Hamsun
was against the way, Germany occupied Norway. |
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#9: Hamsun
was old and unaware
Hamsun knew nothing about the deeds of the nazis
outside Norway. In Norway, he opposed what he
knew. He lived, during most of WW2, isolated on
his manor, and was both blind and deaf. He was
81-86 years at the time. |
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#10: Hamsun
was shocked to learn about the Nazis
Hamsun learned about the nazi concentration camps
during a forced post-war stay at a clinic. Hamsun
was shocked and cried uncontrollably. He had, to
that point, only been presented of the german side
of the story through official media. |
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Note: All of the above are conclusions to intensive
research and facts from domains and fields of research, historical
records and analysis. For each sentence of the above, two books
and three doctorats could be written, flanked by hundreds of referencing
sources. But that is not the point of this presentation. The point
of this presentation is to communicate the final truth about Hamsun's
relationship with nazism in a shape, which the public needs and
has always requested. The public has been deprived of this so far,
because the facts have drowned in an complex academic presentation,
that has been inaccesible due to its mere size, and untrustable,
due to its political agenda.
This is now over.
Mikkel Michelsen
Knut Hamsun Online
03/03/2005.
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