Harry Söderman The fantastic life of - Skl

Thefantasticlife ofHarrySöderman1902-1956

He learnt the subject working withthe famous Dr Locard in Lyon andbecame the first director of theNational Forensic Science Institute,the predecessor of SKL - TheNational Laboratory of ForensicScience.He had an enormous capacity, ashe was, at the same time, leadingthe Institute, writing books and performingmany extra tasks becauseof his reputation as an expert andorganiser. Being true entrepreneur,he was more devoted to developmentthan to administration, but hehad the right feeling for gatheringthe necessary co-workers to maintainhis enterprise.When we at the SKL wanted tocommemorate the 100th anniversaryof Harry Söderman's birth, wesoon found that it was impossible togive only one view of such anextraordinary achievement.We have therefore chosen threedifferent angles.The first is that of a journalistwho takes into account what thegeneral public of today might wantto know about the fantastic life ofHarry Söderman.The second is more of a formalaccount for Harry Söderman's workwritten for the journal PoliceScience when he was still alive, andthe third is a view from one oftoday's European forensic scientists,who has looked into some ofthe archives.We hope these three aspects willgive, not only a reasonable coverageof the life and achievements ofHarry Söderman, but also goodreading.INGVAR KOPPPROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, SKLForewordHarry Söderman lived an extraordinarylife. Few have accomplished as much ashe did.He can be considered as the father ofSwedish “kriminalteknik”, which encompassesthe whole Forensic Science laboratoryarea except forensic medicine andtoxicology.3HARRY SÖDERMAN 1934, PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN

Revolver-Harry andKalleBlomqvistThe adventurous life ofa forensic scientistBY: KAIANDERS SEMPLERTRANSLATION: INGELA DELLBYIt is told that by the endof the Second WorldWar, May 1st 1945, hetook the night trainfrom Stockholm to Oslo,walked straight up tothe German commandantand declared thatcontinued resistancewould be madness.Together with aGerman motorcyclemessenger he then wentout to the dreadedGerman prison campGrini and personallyreleased the imprisonedNorwegian resistancemen.In Norway he was considered anational hero, and at Furudal north ofRättvik there is a bust in remembranceof him. In his native townNora, a square is now named afterhim.Actually, his name was HarrySöderman, but after he had become adoctor of philosophy by test shootingweapons and comparing the groovesof the bullets, he was generally calledRevolver-Harry. He was an ardentdemocrat and anti-fascist and hemeant that the free society could onlybe sustained by legal security. Andlegal security in turn needs access tothe unambiguous technical productionof evidence, for convicting theguilty as well as for acquitting theinnocent.By the end of the 1900th centurynorthern Sweden was to a great extenta lawless land. Harry's father, PehrSöderman, had been a county sheriffin Delsbo. His work as the guardianof the law seems to have had much incommon with the work of the sheriffsin the films of the Wild West.HARRY SÖDERMAN 1945, PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN4

If we can trust his posthumous reputation,Mr. Söderman senior showedquite a few similarities with WyattEarp, the legendary sheriff of DodgeCity. The county sheriff was in a perpetualstate of feud with the illicit distillersin his region, and both partiesalways had their guns ready to fire. It isastounding that Mr. Söderman seniorsurvived all the ambushes, assaults andnightly fighting in the forest wherethey shot savagely at each other withtheir shotguns.However, when young Harry wasborn in 1902 the family had moved tomore civilised areas farther south in thecountry. Harry started school, but hedid not show any great inclination forstudies. The only subjects he was interestedin were chemistry and physics.The result was that he later entered thechemical vocational training school inMalmö from which he graduated in1923.Wood chemistryThe intention was that Harry shouldbecome a chemist in the wood industry.But after he had practised forsome months at a wood company herealised that in order to get anywherein the world of timber, pulp and sulphatelye he had to add to his theoreticalknowledge. So he went toAltenburg in Germany and studiedwood chemistry in the very midst ofthe worst years of inflation in theWeimar Republic. After a year he hadhis exam - and in addition, he hadlearnt to speak German.But it wasn't forest chemistry thatHarry dreamed about, but criminology,and he devoured everything hecould lay his hands on in this subject.But how could he ever become acriminologist? For getting a job withinthe police, you had to study law,something that was definitely not inhis line.After he had returned home anddone his military service in Sweden,he decided to start his career as achemist by taking a "Wanderjahr" - ayear of wandering the world. Perhapssomething would turn up in the meantime.First he stayed for some time inFrance and then he worked for a coupleof months as a fireman on a NorthSea tramp steamer. But Harry was ayoung man with a will of iron and anunusual talent for innovative andunconventional thinking. He wantedto go farther away, he wanted to seethe Orient. He went home and turnedto the manager of a Swedish bicyclefactory with a radical suggestion:- Lend me a bike and I'll ride it toConstantinople and in that way I'llboost your firm, he said.A bicycle trip to AsiaThe bicycle factory owner was sosurprised that he consented, andHarry quickly packed his knapsack.Before he went away he also took theopportunity to arrange with thePHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”Bicycle, elephants, canoes andcamels were Harry Söderman´smeans of transportation fromStockholm to Constantinople viaPersia through the Baluchistanidesert to India and China.Swedish Police Magazine and anotherSwedish weekly magazine to send thema travel diary, which would make histravelling funds last longer.Harry's trip turned out to be longerthan he originally planned for. FromConstantinople, nowadays Istanbul, hecontinued eastwards. Through Persia,the Baluchistani desert, India andBurma he went all the way to Thailandand China. Everywhere he was keen onseeing the local police authorities andreporting home.It isn't quite the regular thing thatpeople should bike to China. At least notin Sweden. Here Harry's exploit wouldnot be repeated until the 1990s. Then ayoung Swede named Göran Kroppcycled from Sweden to the Himalayas.There he climbed the peak of MountEverest and then cycled back homeagain.Although, Harry never climbed thehighest mountain in the world, but hespent one and a half years of his journeyin the east. Then he turned back home.But what would become of him now?5

A meeting on amountain peakIn his autobiography "Policeman'sLot" (published posthumously in1956 in the USA) Harry Södermantells that he decided to ramble in theSwedish mountains for some daysafter his return home. He went northand took lodgings at a small boardinghouse.One day he made a tour up to amountaintop nearby. The landladywondered whether he could considertaking some of the other guests at theboarding house up there. The wholething ended by forming a small expeditionconsisting of Harry, a clergyman,a lawyer and a Frenchman.After some hours they reached the topof the mountain. There was one of theSwedish Touring Club's cabins forover-night accommodation, andwhere they had their picnic andstayed the night.However, the next morning theweather was bad with fog and snow,so the party had to stay in the cabinfor several days. They passed thetime with card games and conversationwhile the storm howled round thedoors. Then it happened that Harrytalked about his secret dream - tostudy criminal investigation for thefamous French criminologistEdmond Locard in Lyon."How interesting", said theFrenchman. "Locard is a good friendof mine. If you wish, I could writehim a letter of recommendation andask if he would take you on as a student."Some weeks later Harry had a letterfrom Mr. Locard wishing himwarm welcome to Lyon as a temporarystudent.The Lyon yearsHarry Söderman, now 24 years old,promptly left for Lyon. The Swedishwood industry missed a competentchemist.From this we learn to take advantageof the opportunity and the importanceof polite conversations withstrangers on mountain peaks!In Lyon Harry learnt moderncriminal investigation from theground up.Locard assumed that the criminalalways leaves some traces, somethingwhich is now called the Locard principle:"Every contact leaves a trace!"Mr. Locard claimed.The marks a forensic technicianlooks for are such things as hair, textilefibres, fingerprints, nail dirt,bloodstains, sperm, shoe- and wheeltraces, dust and gravel, glass splinter,paint flakes, chemical substances.Harry learned all about chemicalanalyses, identification of fingerprints,investigation on the scene of acrime and many other things.PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”Locard´s staff at the forensic laboratory in Lyon in 1928. EdmundLocard is the second from the right in the bottom row and HarrySöderman is the second from the right in the upper row.The monkey had been trained byhis cunning owner to become amaster cat burglar.PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”6

While in Lyon Harry also took theopportunity to take a doctor's degreeat the University of Lyon. Hisresearch work naturally concernedcriminal investigation. It was aboutanalysis and identification of pistolbullets. He was the first to make a scientificstudy of the individual markingson fired bullets that originatefrom the grooves in the barrel and thecartridge case due to the firing pin.In order to examine pistol bulletsquickly, he invented an apparatus hecalled a Hastoscope. It was a comparisonmicroscope where the bulletsinvestigated could be turned and rotated,either together or individually.After six years with Mr. Locard inLyon he thought himself skilledenough and returned to Sweden.Once back home he started a smallprivate bureau in Stockholm where heoffered forensic services, and aboveall, certificates of authenticity of documents.His work progressed moreand more successfully, and soon hewas appointed docent in criminologyat the University of Stockholm.He got a grant and went to theUSA to make contacts and study theforensic progress of the new world.Forming of SKAIn 1939 Doctor Harry Södermanbecame head of the recently formedSKA - The National Forensic ScienceInstitute - in Stockholm. The purposeof the institute was to give the policemeans and competence to make accurateanalyses and investigations onthe scene of a crime, and that was apredecessor to today's SKL - TheNational Laboratory of ForensicScience in Linköping.- Because the criminal alwaysleaves marks, Harry told his new colleaguesand pupils. It is only a questionof having methods sophisticatedenough to detect them.PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”One of thefounders of InterpolHarry Söderman was now consideredone of the leading forensic techniciansin the world, and lectured bothin the USA and at Scotland Yard inLondon. In New York he took part inthe development of a new forensiclaboratory. Thanks to his excellentknowledge of languages - he spokefluent German, French and English -he naturally became a prominent figurein the international police collaboration,and he was one of thefounders of Interpol.Harry Söderman´s“Minnesbok förKriminalpolismän”(Memo book förpolice detectives)was first publishedin 1938.It vas considered tobe a memorandumfor the policedetective in hisfieldwork.The author wasvery clear that thecontents of the bookwere exclusively forpolicemen “becauseof the occurringdescriptions of theworking methods ofcriminals, etc.”Harry Södermaninvestigates a submachinegun in hisoffice at the NationalForensic ScienceInstitute.During his journeys all overEurope and the USA he collected thelatest findings concerning criminalinvestigation. He summarised it all in"The Handbook of criminal investigation",a thick book of 680 pages,which accounted for forensic methodsfrom antiquity to our own time.Here he discussed matters, such asidentification of individuals by fingerprints,the collection of traces onthe scene of the crime and photographicdocumentation, witness psychology,analyses of powder stains,pistol bullets and bullet-holes, analysisof writing and other such things.PHOTO: BO LUNDQUIST7

Astrid Lindgren assecretaryIn 1939 he looked for a secretary forhis voluminous correspondence. Ayoung lady named Astrid Lindgrengot the job. Nobody knew then thatthis young lady in course of timewould become one of Sweden's mostbeloved writers of children's booksand internationally famous.Astrid Lindgren wrote in 1946 abook titled "Bill Bergson, MasterDetective", the first of what wouldbecome a sequence of three excitingbooks for young people. The booksare about the twelve-year-old KalleBlomkvist - or Bill Bergson, as is hisEnglish name - who is dreaming ofbecoming a detective, and who getsinvolved in a succession of nastycriminal cases together with hisfriends.8Astrid Lindgren has afterwardstold that it was during the time shewas Harry Söderman's secretary thatshe got inspiration and forensic materialfor the books. In "Bill Bergson,Master Detective" (MästerdetektivenBlomqvist) Bill takes the fingerprintsof a sleeping scoundrel according toall the recognised rules.In the following book, "BillBergson Lives Dangerously"(Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist leverfarligt), he carries out an advancedchemical analysis - the Marshianarsenic test - and discovers that a barof chocolate is poisoned with arsenic.It is all breathtaking, especially foryoung readers at the age of twelve.The books were radio serials inthe 1950s, and were later also transferredto movies. Thus the forensiclaboratory technician and detectiveFront page of theSwedish magazineLektyr från 1952.It says:“New series ofarticles!The head of theNational ForensicScience Institute, MrHarry Söderman,shares his memoirswith us.”Revolver-Harry Söderman in theguise of Bill Bergson became an idolfor all the boys in Sweden.But that was not enough. Thepolice, and particularly the forensiclaboratory technicians, have neverhad such good standing in Sweden asduring the time when the BillBergson-fever raged.Well-read columnistBut it wasn't only in the shape of BillBergson that Harry Södermanreached the public. By this time,many popular weekly and monthlymagazines readily told about horriblecrimes and legal cases. These magazineshired Harry Söderman as acolumnist and he told astounding storiesin the best Sherlock Holmesmannerfrom the exciting world ofcriminal investigation.Much of the material was from histime with Mr Locard in Lyon. Herewas, for instance, the story about theburglar with the strange fingerprints.Nobody could understand how thecunning jewel thief could get througha window on the third floor. Finally itwas discovered that a trained monkey

had committed the thefts. No wonderthe fingerprints were unusual.Many of the stories published inthe Swedish magazines "Kriminaljournalen","Lektyr", "Rekordmagasinet"and other popular press alsoappear in "Policeman's Lot".But let us return to the wartime.Training ofNorwegian policemenIn the spring 1942, whilst the war wasraging, Harry Söderman had a requestfrom the Norwegian minister for justicein London. In Sweden there werequite a few Norwegians who had fledthe Nazi occupation of Norway, theminister explained. Would it be possibleto start a discreet training ofNorwegian policemen in Sweden?The idea was that after the war, thesemen would replace those policementhat had become compromised byworking for the Quisling administration.Certainly, said Harry, and with hisusual capacity for unconventional andinnovative methods he took care of thematter. A number of "health farms"were opened where the Norwegianswere trained with the consent of theSwedish authorities.In reality it was not the matter ofpolicemen but pure military training,this in flagrant violation of Sweden'sformal status as a neutral state. Butafter Stalingrad the political winds inSweden had shifted concurrently withthe fortunes of war.From the point when neutralSweden was left with no alternativeand was forced to be a puppet ofGermany, the Swedish governmentwas more and more keenly sympatheticto the cause of the allies. The factthat Harry Söderman in someinscrutable way managed to find armsfor the Norwegian police detachmentcan be seen as a definite proof of this.An expedition with members of the Norwegian resistance, the military,doctors and a chauffeur to save war captives at the Saltfjord in May1945. Harry Söderman is the third man from the left.Altogether 17 000 men weretrained between 1943 and 1945 atHarry Söderman's "health camps".One of which was in the wood atGottröra, not far from the presentinternational airport of Stockholm,Arlanda.January 12th 1945 the firstNorwegian police troops were airliftedby the Americans from Luleå toKirkenes on the Norwegian ArcticOcean coast. The whole of Finnmarkhad been burnt and betrayed by theretreating Germans during theautumn of 1944, and Russian troopshad occupied the eastern Finnmarkup to the Tana River.Harry Söderman's police troopsnow took over from the Russians,who compliantly pulled away to theirside of the border one month later.This was in accordance with thetreaty at Jalta between Churchill,Roosevelt and Stalin.This and many other things youcan read about in "The Battle of theArctic Scandinavia" by LarsGyllenhaal, Historiska media 2001.One of the Norwegians who wasflown up to the north of Norway fromSweden was Thor Heyerdahl, theman who later became world-famousfor his voyages with the rafts Kon-Tiki and Ra. Another was the fatherof my brother-in-law, a young mancalled Arvid Holte, who had fledNorway two years earlier.InternationalcommitmentsIn 1953 Harry Söderman decided toresign as head of the NationalForensic Science Institute to dedicatehimself totally to his internationalcommitments. He moved to the USAwith his family, and as a consultant heparticipated in the organisation ofpolice organisations in a number ofcountries.1956 he was struck by heartinfarction during a commission inTanger. An adventurous life was at anend.PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN9

Harry Soderman of Stockholm:Master CriminologistBY: CEDRIC LARSSONFROM: THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW,CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE,1952.The name ofSöderman is almostlegendary inEuropean police circles,and it is noexaggeration to saythat today he isEurope's leadingcriminologist andauthority on policesystems.While Söderman´s name isfamiliar in Americanpolice circles also, duelargely to his writings in police science,his very distinguished career isall too little known.The writer has had the privilege ofseveral interviews with the eminentcriminologist in the course of hismost recent visit to America, andobtained from him the story of hislife, which has been supplementedwith extensive readings into his considerablepublished works.10The career of Dr. Harry Södermanonce more illustrates the ancientproverb that truth is stranger than fiction.One might almost suspect thatsuch a biography had been conjuredup from the fertile mind of a ConanDoyle or Baron Münchausen.Dr. Söderman was born August28, 1902 in Stockholm in a maternityhome, although his family did notlive in that city. He was one of tenchildren. His father, Per Söderman,was a Landsmann, a kind of sheriff,in Delsbo, Helsingland, in northernSweden. This area was once regardedas the most "hard-boiled" province inSweden. Per Söderman was marriedtwice, with seven children by the firstmarriage and three by the second.Harry was the eldest by the secondmarriage.Dr. Söderman says with a twinklein his eye that his interest in criminologydates from the time that his motherwas still nursing him, becausetwice in his infancy enemies of hisfather unsuccessfully tried to putexplosives in the Söderman house todestroy it.PHOTO: LIBRARY OF AFTONBLADET

A promising studentHarry showed unusual promise inschool, and his father determined togive him a good technical educationand make him a chemist. His elementaryschooling was had in northernSweden, and when he finished elementaryschool, his father sent him tothe Chemical Institute of Malmöwhere he was graduated with honorsin 1920. At the age of 18 he went forspecial training to Germany, where hestudied legal chemistry as well aspulp and paper chemistry at theTechnical Institute of Altenburg, fromwhere he was graduated in 1922.Although his father wanted Harryto have a solid occupation as achemist in a Swedish paper mill, sucha prosaic life held little challenge tothis dynamic youth. While inGermany, he became a keen studentof criminology, first more as a hobbythan anything else. Soon he wasstudying it seriously and becameknown as a capable person in thisfield.Two years in AsiaHarry had been an avid reader of travelbooks in his adolescent years, andalways cherished a dream of one daytravelling through Asia. He was nowable to realize his fond ambition, forafter returning to Stockholm, he persuadedthe Swedish Police Journal tosend him on an Asiatic tour from 1924-26.He served as a correspondent forthis paper and reported on Asiatic policesystems and crime and delinquency inthese countries. He spent over two yearstravelling extensively in Asia, fromTurkey through the entire continent toChina. He journeyed through Syria,Mesopotamia, Persia, Baluchistan; andtraveled on camel-back through India,Burma, Siam, and French Indo-China.The famous Sir BasilThomson, earlierHead of the CentralIntelligence Division atthe Scotland Yard andHarry Söderman,flanked by the twoSiamese men thenstudying criminalinvestigation in Lyon.He was not content merely to visitthe large centers of population ofthese countries, but constantly pushedback into the hinterland in his criminologicalhegira. His dispatches wereread with great interest throughoutScandinavia and by criminologists ofall the leading capitals of Europe.When he returned, he found himselfalready famous at the age of 24.Back in EuropeReturning to Europe, he becameassistant to Dr. Edmond Locard at theFrench State Police Laboratory atLyons from 1926 to 1928. Whilethere he took the degree of Doctor ofScience at the University of Lyons,getting that degree with "TresHonorable" mention.He now embarked in earnest onhis life's work in criminology. He waselected a member of the InternationalAcademy of Criminal Science inVienna, in 1929. That same year hewas elected assistant editor of RevueInternale de Criminalistique, publishedin Lyons, a post he held formany years. In 1929 he spent severalmonths in France as a special instructorto a mission from Siam underPrince Vongsa Nirajra teaching theseSiamese modern scientific policemethods.Returning to Sweden in 1930, hewas made chief editor of NordiskCriminal Teknisk Tidskrift (NordicJournal for Police Science) the mostnoteworthy publication in its field innorthern Europe. Besides teaching atthe University of Stockholm, he wasalso appointed by a Royal Swedishcharter to become an instructor inpolice science to the higher officialsin the Swedish Royal State Police.In the years that followed hisfame grew by leaps and bounds. Hewas assigned by the Swedish governmentin dozens of instances to investigatecases of arson, serious theftcases, and murder, throughout thewhole of Scandinavia, when the localpolice authorities could not copewith them.In a surprising percentage of allthese cases, through the use of scientificdetection methods, he wouldtrack down the perpetrator of thecrime.11PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”

In 1931 he was named a memberof the Royal Parliamentary TechnicalCommittee which investigated theriots at the sawmills in Ådalen,Sweden. In 1934 he was made a specialinvestigator into the celebratedReichstag Arson case which madehistory. The criminologist reportedhis findings, in this case for a leadingStockholm paper. He was the onlyperson other than the Nazi officialsto speak with the suspect, Van derLubbe, in prison.Söderman's considerable knowledgeof chemistry and science ingeneral were put to excellentuse in combatting crime,and he devised manynew methods or applicationsof science incrime-solving, involvingballistics, fingerprints ofdead bodies, footprints,burglary investigation, postaltheft investigation, dust analysis,espionage, and similarfields.He came, however, to be bestknown internationally through hiswritings. His first book was publishedin Stockholm in 1927 when he wasbut 25 : Brottets Värld (The World ofCrime). The following year anotherwork appeared under his name in theFrench language and published atLyons: L'Expertise des Arms a FeuCourtées. He published also a largenumber of technical monographs inlearned journals and specialized periodicals.His fame reached much higher in1930 upon the appearance of whatpromised to be a definitive work onpolice science: Handbok iKriminalteknik (Handbook o f PoliceScience) in which he collaborated withErnst Fontell, Police Commissioner ofGothenburg. This Handbook - totalling12675 pages - was the precursor of hisclassic Modern Criminal Investigation,later to make such a success on bothsides of the Atlantic. The 1930Handbook is written in clear, readableSwedish prose, and well illustrated, butwas handicapped by the fact that itsaudience was limited to persons whocould read Swedish.In 1930 Söderman published inFrench an authoritative volume on fingerprints:Etude sur les EmpreintesDigitales.theAllaboveworks have beenwidely quoted in French,German, Spanish, South American,and English works on crime.Studies in AmericaIn 1933 Söderman obtained a fellowshipfrom the Swedish AmericanFoundation to study American policesystems. He spent a whole year in theNew York City Police Departmentstudying their methods, and made awide circle of friends, among them JohnJ. O'Connell, late Chief Inspector.After a year with the New YorkPolice, Söderman and O'Connell wereentrusted with the task of founding thenew police laboratory. This consumedabout another year. Söderman, meanwhile,had used the time to good advantageto visit police departments of otherlarge American cities, and the offices ofthe F.B.I. in Washington.Söderman all this time felt thatthere was ample room for a goodbasic work on criminology for policestudents everywhere, written inEnglish, which would parallel in contenthis 1930 Handbook whose utilityhad been greatly circumscribed bythe fact that it was in Swedish. Hetalked the matter over with his friendO'Connell, and after many exploratoryconversations, the two decided toteam up and produce a book underjoint authorship, using the unparalleledresources of the New YorkPolice Department and Söderman'swide continental experience as background.Modern CriminalInvestigationThus it was that ModernCriminal Investigation bySöderman and O'Connell madeits initial appearance in 1935 underthe imprint of Funk & WagnallsCompany. This volume was destinedto make history in the literature ofpolice science. The first edition(which is now a collector's item) had24 chapters, bibliography and index,and totalled 461 pages.It was well illustrated with photographsand line-drawings and wonalmost instantaneous acceptance as astandard in its field throughout thepolice world. Sales of the first printingwere so rapid that it was quicklyexhausted. Many other printings followedin quick succession. In the nextfive or six years the book wentthrough three editions and 18 printings.Total sales were never officiallydivulged by Funk & Wagnalls, butfrom informal conversations withofficials of that firm, the writer estimatesthat sales in America alonemust have totalled close to 75,000.“HANDBOK I KRIMINALTEKNIK” PHOTO: BO LUNDQUIST

DRAWING BY OTTO WENDELStatens Kriminaltekniska Anstalt at Bergsgatan, Stockholm 1939Besides the English editions, however,the book was translated into a halfdozendifferent languages, includingFrench, German, Swedish, Spanish, andJapanese.In 1939 a South American editionwas published in Buenos Aires, some3 700 copies being printed. It wastranslated by Germãn Salgado of theBuenos Aires Police Department andDr. Antonio L. Beruti, a judge in theSupreme Court of that city. Althoughno exact figures are obtainable, aconservative estimate would placeforeign language copies of theSöderman-O'Connell book at about25,000. This would place total salesof the book in the 100,000 bracket,thought to be a record for a work inthis field.A completely revised and rewrittenedition, comprising thirty chaptersand 576 pages, was published inFebruary, 1952. It was issued asunder the joint authorship imprint onthe title-page, although O'Connellpassed away in 1947, so virtually theentire burden of revision has fallen onSöderman's shoulders.But to get back to Söderman'scareer in the thirties-after leavingNew York in 1935 he again returnedto Sweden and taught at theUniversity of Stockholm. He managedto find time to do some work forthe International Police Commissiondealing with the issuance and standardizationof passports, designed tocombat illegal traffic in this field.The year 1937 Söderman spent inDublin, where he was principal adviserin the reorganization of the IrishState Police.SKAIn 1939 the Swedish Parliament createda kind of Swedish version of theF.B.I. called Statens KriminaltekniskaAnstalt, or National Instituteof Technical Police. Söderman wasnamed its first director, a post whichhe has retained to the present time,although he is gone so much he has tohave competent understudies to carryon in his absences. Dr. Söderman wasgiven a free hand in setting up theNational Institute, which he dividedinto two units. The first division wasthe laboratory division and dealt withall kinds of scientific and technicalmethods for combatting crime. Thesecond division was administrative incharacter and carries on the multifariouspaper work inevitably entailed inefficient criminological investigation.The National Institute acts as aclearinghouse throughout Scandinaviafor fingerprint registrations,criminal records and data of all types,and related functions. Besides this,the Institute has extensive archives ofcrime records, a "Rogue's Gallery,"serves as a central passport institutionfor the country and handles all relationswith foreign police, publishes apolice bulletin, and sends out speciallytrained agents for the examinationof scenes of crime at the request oflocal authorities. It has extensive andmodern laboratories which are consideredto be among the best inEurope.Swedish PoliceThe Police School in Stockholm(where Dr. Söderman teaches) is oneof the most extensive in the world.The passing of its examinations iscompulsory for every rank up to commissaryof police (superintendent,English style; captain, Americanstyle).The Swedish state police set-up israther unusual. This force is chieflyconcerned with policing the rural districtsand has branch offices in everyone of the 25 provinces. The detectivesand patrolmen are loaned outfrom the local forces for a certain timebut paid by the government, and the13

PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMANdifferent state police forces are mainlyhandled by the chief public prosecutorof the province. The head of the statepolice is formally an assistant commissionerin the Stockholm policedepartment. The police forces ofSweden number about 7600 men.World War IIDuring World War II, Söderman wasplaced by his government in charge of athen very confidential project of organizingNorwegian and Danish policetroops raised in Sweden during that conflict.The Norwegian contingent numberedabout 15,000 and the Danish3,000. Their mission was to be ready theday Germany capitulated to rush intotheir respective countries and preservelaw and order. This they accomplishedcapably, in close cooperation with theSwedish General Staff and the Alliedauthorities.Shortly before the ending of WorldWar II Söderman was sent to occupiedOslo on a bold mission. There were atthat time about 7,000 political prisonersHarry Söderman in Norway,1945.Harry Söderman advocated that the German police should be armed.This made the East German press call him "Revolver-Harry", a nicknamethat followed him till he died and even afterwards, presumably becauseit seemed so appropriate. As we all know, he had both taken his doctor'sdegree in the identification of firearms and armed the Norwegian policetroops. Here at the farewell party in Germany in 1951, he makes ajoke about his nickname.(Source: Erik Söderman)held by the Gestapo in Norway, andSöderman was busy bargaining on howto get them out and into Sweden inbuses, when the war suddenly ended.Söderman in a characteristic decisivefashion, seized the initiative and freedthese unfortunate prisoners on his ownresponsibility and for a time was a sortof police chief in Oslo until theNorwegian authorities could move inand take over. Later the King of Norwaydecorated him with the DistinguishedService Medal of Norway for this feat.This medal is normally reserved forbravery on the battlefield.In the post-war years, Söderman hasacted as Reporter General to theInternational Criminal PoliceCommission, a post which requirestravel, correspondence, and writing.This supra-national organization hasamong its members police organizationsfrom all over the free world, suchas Scotland Yard and similar groups. Ithas as its aim the cooperation of thepolice systems of the free world in combattinginternational crime.Reorganization ofGerman PoliceDr. Söderman had an interesting assignmentduring the year 1951. Since 1946the Germans in the Allied sections rantheir own police under Allied supervision.However, when the BonnRepublic was set up, it became apparentthat there was need for the reorganizationof the German police by an impartialoutside expert. Dr. Söderman waschosen for this tough assignment, andfrom March to December 1951 spentmost of his time and energy at this formidabletask.There was established in Wiesbadena Federal Office of Crime Investigation(Bundeskriminalamt). This office maintainslarge laboratories, publishes thePolice Bulletin, keeps a central file offingerprints and other crime records,and sends out trained agents to aid thelocal police if so requested.The Office has limited executivepowers. It maintains in the capital,Bonn, a special squad of detectives forPHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN14

the protection of the president, cabinetmembers, and the diplomatic corps. TheFederal Office of Crime Investigationhandles all relations with foreign policeand is the connecting link with theInternational Criminal PoliceCommission. Needless to say, Dr.Söderman is the principal architect inthis reorganization of the German policesystem.Personal lifeAs for his personal life, Dr. Södermanwas married in 1935 to Ingrid Beckman.They have two sons: Pehr born in 1936and Erik born 1946. The Södermans liveon an estate 30 miles south of Stockholm.Politically Dr. Söderman has wisely neverbeen active.He is a member of the Swedish"Farmers Party" and was once persuadedto run as a candidate from his district toParliament, but was not elected, probablyto the disgust of the criminal world wherethey would prefer to see him do anythingbut chase criminals. In conversation,Söderman loves to refer fondly to his"farm," crops, and animals. In his somewhatrare uncriminological moments, hestyles himself a "farmer."During his distinguished career,Söderman has won a host of honors andconferments by foreign governments,police societies, and learned bodies, toonumerous to mention. Söderman neverdisplays any of his awards, even to intimates,or talks about his honors, since heis a man of considerable modesty. Hedresses very simply, and one would neversurmise just from looking at him casuallythat he was the foremost criminologist ofEurope. Söderman is a prolific writer andindefatigable researcher, and if someambitious librarian ever made a completebibliography of his writings there wouldprobably be 150 to 200 titles to list.Söderman today, at fifty years ofage, stands at the apex of his career, onewhich has been of great benefit tomankind throughout the world.Söderman's great contribution to criminologyhas been to adapt and extend thediscoveries of science, chiefly biology,physics, and chemistry, during the pastthree decades, to the field of police science.He is no armchair criminologist,either, but to perfect his knowledge ofcriminal investigation, has visited hundredsif not thousands of scenes ofcrime of every known type. His skill,patience, tact, industry, and thoroughnesshave also made him quite popularwith all police groups he has workedwith. He has personally solved scores ofbaffling crimes in his lifetime, by theuse of scientific methods of criminalinvestigation, and many cases could beset forth if space permitted.A genial knackSöderman is an affable, forthright individual,with a saving sense of humorand a genial knack of making friendswherever he goes. On one or two occasionswhen in New York City, he hasgiven entertaining and diverting lecturesbefore such groups as the MysteryWriters of America, Inc., drawing anecdotesand stories from his rich fund ofpersonal experience, which are asbreath-taking as any Sherlock Holmesyarn. Like most Swedes of education,he speaks English with ready facility.In Western civilization in the pastfew decades there has gradually developeda new science which in America iscalled criminal investigation or policescience.In Europe it is usually termed policescientifique or technique policiere. Asfor the continental terminology, it israther difficult to say which of theseterms is preferable. The former refers toa given, definite science and the latter tothe practical application of that science.Both are important phases in preservinglaw and order.It is a sad truth that criminals alwaysseem to take advantage of the latest discoverieswithin scientific progress in theperpetration of many of their crimes.Therefore society owes a great debt ofgratitude to men like Söderman, whoseek to utilize the latest advances of sciencein combatting crime. It is a basictenet of Söderman's philosophy that thepolice, fighting as it does an oftenuneven battle to protect society, hasevery reason in the world to keep in stepwith the latest developments of science.Söderman´s niche in the criminologicalhall of fame is assured, and it isa considerable niche. His career, it ishoped, is far from over, but his famewould be assured on the basis of whathe has already done. His name is asfamiliar in Sweden as that of J. EdgarHoover in America. His name takes itsplace with that honored group who havedone so much to protect society fromthe ravages of evil and misguided menwho form the criminal fringe of everygeneration.A tribute toSödermanIt is a tribute to Söderman to say thathe is far more than a great Swedishcriminologist. He does, in fact,belong to the entire world of freesociety, for his researches, discoveries,and achievements have beenmade available to the free world. Hiseminent name belongs with that honoredcompany of Bertillon, Gross,Galton, Locard, Heindl, Balthazard,Wentworth, Van Ledden, De Rechter,Minovici, Osborn, Mitchell, andmany others - all great names in theannals of criminology - and who haveleft society far safer and strongerbecause they have lived.THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNALOF CRIMINAL LAW,CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE.VOL. 43, NO. 1. MAY-JUNE, 1952.15

Harry SödermanA Great Pan-EuropeanCriminalistThis is also probably why hebecame known in circleswhere forensic scientists arerarely known : in police circles.This, in my mind, is an indicationthat he had a clear, modern and forwardlooking vision of the role offorensic science; a vision that manyforensic scientists still lack todayensconced in their specialist's viewsof “their” science for the law, ratherthan science in its broadest sense as aprocess useful in determining truth(identity, cause, circumstances) asmuch as possible for the judiciary.16BY PROFESSOR PIERRE A. MARGOT, PHDINSTITUT DE POLICE SCIENTIFIQUE ET DE CRIMINOLOGIE, LAUSANNEHARRY SÖDERMAN is a name that I firstheard when I was a student of forensic sciencein Lausanne some 25 years after hisdeath. It did not come up attached to aspecific field like Bertillon (anthropometry),Galton (dactyloscopy), Goddard (firearms),Osborn (Questioned documents),but more like the name of his masterEdmond Locard, a generalist, a criminalistin its pure dimension looking at evidencenot only as a means of proving in court,but also as lead-giving in the investigation.This needs polyvalence, observationcapabilities, intelligence, to transformdata into meaningful information.Curiosity and the development of amultilingual culture helped makeHarry Söderman one of the foremostmind in forensic science.Not knowing him directly, it is byresearching through archives that Istarted to understand the importanceof his contribution and to regret hisearly disappearance. Forensic scientistsof today should be aware of arich contribution whose validity isstill evident some 50 years later!My contribution here is minimal,but shows through anecdotes,notes, contributions by his peers(which do not appear in most publishedmaterial I have seen inEnglish) how highly regardedHarry Söderman was and howinnovative he could be, facingpragmatic problems.Relation to LocardIt is obvious, throughout his writing,that Harry Söderman had anadmiration for Edmond Locard, histhesis director, mentor, colleague,friend.This relation and admiration canbe felt while reading the first 190pages of the book Policeman's Lot(Söderman 1956).What is less obvious and lesswell known is that this admirationwas reciprocal, arose from the timeHarry Söderman was a student ofLocard in Lyon, and remained afterthe dreadful tragedy that splitEuropeans in WWII. There are two"preface" written by Locard in1928 (Söderman 1928) and in 1956(Söderman 1956) that never appearin English editions or versions, butthat are telling witnesses of thisclose relationship. It is perhaps betterto start with the preface writtenin 1956, when Locard learns of thedeath of his friend. I freely translatethe whole preface which I willtry to relate to other documentslater in this presentation.

PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”Doctor Edmond Locard, the famous head of the forensic laboratory inLyon, Harry Söderman´s friend and tutor, expert on crimes, but also onmusic and theatre.“At the very moment I was goingto write this preface, I learn with sucha deep sorrow, the death of my dearfriend Harry Söderman, who disappeared,still very young, when he wasgoing to be able to take, finally, sucha well deserved rest.What a magnificent life he hashad, or better, what a story! HarrySöderman, traveller without rest, hasnot only gone round the vast world,but has explored all the fields ofknowledge. I feel honoured to havehad him as a student, the most brilliantof all my students. But this greatcriminalist has learnt many otherthings than the art of detecting andconfounding criminals. Chemist,graphologist, prodigiously polyglot,enriched by an immense reading, hehad accumulated in his unique brainwhat would have been the richness oftwenty elite's intelligences.Moreover he was a producer/adoer. He had the art of drawing fromwhat he knew for the better good ofhis friends and others. During themany years he spent near me what Ihave got to do due to his initiatives! Ishould say his darings. It is him who,literally, made me create the RevueInternationale de Criminalistique.Beside me, he has pushed to createthe International Academy that Vanledden Hülsebosch, Popp, Türkel andBischoff could perhaps not have managedto organise, nor to maintainwithout him. And how to forget that,when I was backing from the terrifyingenterprise of composing the sevenvolumes of the Traité deCriminalistique, it is him who decideda careless editor, my friendJoannès Desvignes, to risk the dangerousadventure "PM addtion(Locard 1931)!"Since then, Harry Söderman hasplayed a historical role where hiscourage without capitulation joinedhis spirit of initiative. But at the heatof the action, he never ceased to be avery great criminalist.Secretary of the InternationalCommission of Criminal Police, heinsured the liaison between countries.Locally, he has founded for theScandinavian countries this journalwhere so many pertinent articles haveappeared, among which the bests carriedhis signature.With this, always wandering. Hisletters would enrich a stamp collection:and I was not more surprised tosee on his letters the stamp of Tangerrather than that from New York orStockholm.Harry Söderman has had the wisestidea when he started to write hismemories, as if he had been foreseeingthat his days, so full, were counted.I am glad to vouch here that nothingthat came out from his pen shouldbe neglected by men who wish toknow what can the alloy of such anintelligence combined to such a magnificentenergy .”Edmond Locard (Söderman 1956)17

HARRY S. 1925 OR 1926 IN LYON, PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMANThe second preface appears at thebeginning of Harry Söderman´s thesisand is telling, if not an early admirationof the master for the pupil, atleast the clear vision that the pupilwas destined for a great future. Ileave in the beginning of the prefacewhich demonstrates a facet ofLocard's vision of science used in thejudicial process.“I don't know a more tragic imagethan that which represents Themiswith her eyes covered. I understandwell that the ancestors of classicalMediterranea, Greeks and Latins,have wanted to mean by that thatJustice did not want to know the purpurof kings, nor the splendour ofnaked Phrynea.But how not to worry that thisbandage, after having saved her fromthe prestiges that she would risk byimposing her the contemplation of the"greatness of the flesh", as would sayBossuet, would stop her distinguishthe narrow road that would take herto the truth. And since, furthermore,she would risk to be deafened in templeswhere so many people make withtheir larynx formidable concerts,18human Justice, that was already lameaccording to mythological traditions,would be the real figure of a cripple.Really, she is a dame that there isno charm to frequent. It is better toforget that one was given a leatheringthan ask her for any compensation orvengeance. This goddess without eyesand hearing, and limping, would certainlyadd more blows of her own. Butif you are accused of having stolenthe tower of Notre-Dame, and had notbeen able to flee prudently in duetime, as was the counsel of this wisestamenable person, that Panurge was,one has to think to put ones affairs inorder with her. When one has a pureheart, one would like her to see that,and that she took away for onemoment her bandage in order to seethat well.So has been created the recentmyth of a Justice seeing clearly. Whatdo I say, some daring people havedreamt to substitute an acute visionfrom eyes armed with magnifyingglass and microscope to a legendaryblindness. One would like a learnedThemis who, after having gonethrough the faculties where onespeaks, she had spent some time inthose where we learn to observe. Sothe civil or criminal inquiry hasbecome scientific. And the expert hascollaborated with the judge, afterhelping the policeman.This co-operation has not alwaysbeen received as enthusiastically as itwas offered. One of the most distinguishedmagistrate who presided thedebates with a praiseworthy effort ina difficult case, summarised experts'testimonies in these very carefulterms: "when science goes one stepforward, truth goes back two steps”.Despite this pyrrhonian pessimism,techniques are created thatnot all magistrate turn up their noseto, nor all amenable persons. Andeven magistrates, such as Hans Grossand Robert Heindl, have collaboratedto these developments. It is true thatthey are not from our country. And littleby little, criminalistics has shownwhat could be expected from thestudy of marks, prints, stains, dust,written documents. Among all theseproblems, that of the identification offirearms is one where the results arethe clearest and the most conclusive.Harry Söderman has arrived fromScandinavia to study criminalistics ina French laboratory. I have followedstep by step this clear intelligence,helped by a tenacity without shortcomingsand the very firm love ofwork. I believe in the success of onlythose who join the merit of the characterto those of the mind. HarrySöderman is one of them. It is notindifferent that a young man who isdedicated to an intellectual life hasstarted to cross the deserts of CentralAsia and to hunt the tiger in theMekong. Nothing mediocre to expectfrom him. It is very sweet to me to bethe godfather of Harry Söderman atthe beginnings of a life which I pretendwill be prolific, and to present tothe public this first scientific work ofa man for whom my esteem equals myaffection.This work is first a state of the art.One can find a clear and completesummary of what has been done onshort firearms with the criminalisticspoint of view. It is also to a largeextent, the presentation of originaland very sound techniques. So thismonograph is the most commendablework that exist today on a very importantand difficult question. I can recommendit to technicians in conscience“Locard p. V-VII in (Söderman1928)

Harry Söderman,the paradigm of aEuropeanStudent in Sweden, then Germany,his knowledge of languages extendedto French (as evidenced by his thesis)and English (his activities withO'Connell in New York), a true polyglothe was able to communicate andpublish proficiently in all these languages(Söderman 1928; Locard,Söderman et al. 1929; Söderman1931; Söderman 1938; Söderman andO'Connell 1952), this led him tobecome one of the most sought afterscientist and consultant in matters offorensic science and criminal investigationand one of the most activeforensic scientist on the internationalscene. Made a member of the newlycreated International Academy ofCriminalistics (seat Vienna) inLausanne (1929) at the early age of27 (wrongly called InternationalAcademy of Criminals Science fromVienna by Larson (Larson 1952)) hebecame a leading European figurewith editorial responsibilities besidesLocard in the official organ of theAcademy "la Revue Internationale deCriminalistique" (1929 - 1939).The name of Söderman appears asa contributor to the second generalassembly of the Academy in Viennain 1930, and the typewritten summaryappears on page 14 of the notesmade by Bischoff. It appears justafter a contribution by Heess(Stuttgart) (well known in the field offirearms identification with Mezgerand Hasslacher) and before a contributionby Prof Popp (Francfort a/M).His paper concerned methods appliedto the identification of projectiles,cartridge cases and powders. Hemade the proposal that manufacturersof firearms develop specific signsFounders of the Academy: Prof Marc-A. Bischoff, prof Siegfried Türkel, C.J. vanLedden Hülsebosch, Prof G. Popp and Dr Edmond Locard, in Lausanne, 1929.that would be identifying marks onfired cartridge cases, and that the systemshould be compulsory and generalised!It is ironical that in 2001 thiswas (still?) debated at the UNO inNew York in order to be able to tracefirearms and their origin!In the meantime he had founded,prolific author he also travelledextensively and helped set up or reorganisepolice laboratories and organisationsin many countries (see Larson(Larson 1952) besides his own.Connections with the InternationalCriminal Police Commission beforeWWII, were revived in 1946 when hewith others, the "Nordisk became Reporter General to the ICPCKriminalteknis Tidskrift" in 1931(Söderman 1931) and become a professorof criminalistics at theUniversity of Stockholm that sameyear, also publishing in Archiv fürKriminologie (founded by H. Gross)(Locard, Söderman et al. 1929). Awith President Louwage, SecretaryGeneral Ducloux and two otherReporter General Howe and Müller.He was still active with the ICPCand had a working meeting with theDirectorate of the ICPC still oneweek before his untimely death.The last meeting of the Academy took place again in Lausanne in 1938and Söderman appears in the official photograph.PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOTPHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOT19

PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMANPHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOTGeneral Assembly of Interpol, Rome 1954 with Pope Pius XII.The Executive Committee of the ICPC with Ducloux, Harry Söderman,Nepote, Howe, Müller and Lowage in 1947 (above) and in Bern (GeneralAssembly) in 1949 (with Müller and Louwage).HARRY SÖDERMAN,the doer and craftsmanLocard mentions that HarrySöderman was capable of developing,from his ideas and those of others,tools and methods useful in criminalistics.One such tool was theHastoscope, based on Goddard'sideas (comparison process in firearmsidentification, used in the Sacco andVanzetti's case by Goddard andWaite).It is an improved comparisonmicroscope with a special sampleholder designed to hold bullets horizontallyand to turn them around theiraxis to observe and compare riflingmarks. The origin of the name itself ismysterious but my hypothesis is thatit came from a contraction ofHa(rry)S(öderman)toscope with thepun that it helps get results muchquicker than before (as in haste)..This became the basis of thedevelopment of comparisonmicroscopy in the identification offirearms used in criminal activities(Locard 1929).Another such development, wasthe creation of a dust collector connectedto an Electrolux vacuumcleaner (Söderman 1931) calledthereafter the "Söderman-Heubergerfilter", its use was adopted by Locardin its extensive writings about dust(Locard, Söderman et al. 1929).PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOT20

PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOTHarry Söderman,missions during thewarThere is one specific indication thatHastoscope had a mission from theSwedish government in 1942, whenhe was sent to Switzerland.There he spent (Feb 1942) a weekwith the chief of Intelligence in theSwiss army, Colonel Werner Müller(who was to become one of the membersof the directorate of the ICPCtoo), before travelling to Geneva andFrance where he met, for the lasttime, his friend and master Locard(Söderman 1956; Söderman 1956)(p. 26).Harry Söderman,regular contactswith Bischoff inLausanneUnfortunately, personal correspondanceof Bischoff does not exist anymoreat the IPSC.Bischoff himself cleared hisarchives when retiring in 1963, but Icould find a few tokens showing contactswith Bischoff starting in 1928and lasting until Harry Söderman´sdeath in 1956 as evidence by autographedbooks.BibliographyLarson, C. (1952). "HarrySöderman of Stockholm: MasterCriminologist." The Journal ofCriminal Law, Criminology andPolice Science 43(1): 95-102.Locard, E. (1929). "Graphoscopeet hastoscope." Revue Internationalede Criminalistique 1:113-117.Locard, E. (1931). Traité decriminalistique Vol.I à VII. Lyon,Joannès Desvigne et fils Editeurs.Locard, E., H. Söderman, et al.(1929). "Beiträge zur kriminalistischenStaubuntersuchung." Archivfür Kriminologie 92(5-6): 234-245.Söderman, H. (1928). L'expertisedes armes à feu courtes. Lyon,Joannès Desvigne et fils.Söderman, H. (1931). "En nyapparat för uppsamling av damm iförbrytares kläder." NordiskKriminalteknisk Tidskrift 1.Söderman, H. (1931). "Inifranlasta dörrar." Nordisk KriminaltekniskTidskrift 1(1).Söderman, H. (1938). Minnesbokför Kriminalpolismän. Stockholm,Stockholms Bokindustri Aktiebolag.Söderman, H. (1956).Policeman's Lot. A Criminologist'sGallery of Friends and Felons. NewYork, Funk & Wagnalls Company.Söderman, H. (1956). Quaranteans de police internationale. Paris,Presses de la Cité.Söderman, H. and J. O'Connell(1952). Modern CriminalInvestigation. New York, Funk &Wagnalls Company.21

COVER PHOTO: HARRY SÖDERMAN, 1955LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN

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