Latvijas Vēsturnieku komisijas raksti - 23.sējums

154 Konferences “Baltija Otrajā pasaules karā (1939–1945)” referāti par holokausta tematiku
Stahlecker, whose rank was merely BdS for Ostland and North Russia, stands out in
this context as curious. Nevertheless, Stahlecker had previously been instrumental in
implementing SS policies in Norway in 1940, so he was up to speed on the issues.
Furthermore, as commander of EG A he was also at the time in charge of anti-partisan
combat on the Leningrad Front – which was precisely where the Germanic Legions and
police units were to be deployed. Soon after receiving this order, however, Stahlecker
died following a clash with Soviet partisans, leaving it largely up to HSSPF Jeckeln to
oversee its full implementation.
The planned SSification of Norway had obvious benefits for the SS, but what was in
it for Lie? As the head of both the Norwegian police and the Norwegian SS movement,
Lie’s powers and functions in many ways paralleled those of a German HSSPF. Lie’s
“new” Norwegian police had even been even reorganised and trained in the same
manner as its German counterpart. It may have even been Lie’s ambition to take the
place of Redieß as HSSPF in Norway, who has often been portrayed as having been
more loyal to Terboven than to Himmler. 91
The idea of Lie as HSSPF is not completely unthinkable. Lie was an active promoter
of the Staatsschutzkorps idea and a textbook example of kämpfende Verwaltung. He
was probably the highest ranking non-German collaborator to have direct experience of
the Einsatzgruppen in action, thus making him an intimate to the overall SS vision for a
racially-reordered Europe. Furthermore, Henriksen had been granted responsibilities as
SS- und Polizeiführer at a local level in Belarus, affirming that it was therefore possible
in principle for a Norwegian to hold this type of position of authority over German SS
and Orpo structures.
Indeed, during one of the periodic fallings-out between Lie and the SS leadership,
Himmler himself suggested to Terboven that Sverre Riisnæs – Quisling’s minister of
Justice, Lie’s deputy as head of the police while Lie was at the front, and Himmler’s other
main favourite in Norway – be temporarily made Stabschef der SS in Norway, second
only to Redieß, and perhaps his possible successor as HSSPF. Himmler withdrew the
suggestion when Terboven’s suspicions as to the underlying motives were aroused. 92
Furthermore, it is not to be excluded that Lie aspired to an even greater position in
the SS hierarchy, as service as an HSSPF could be a stepping stone to a Hauptamt
of the SS in Berlin. 93
Conclusion
In order to sum up, let us return to the initial question: what did the Holocaust in the Baltic
states and Belarus, along with the anti-partisan operations in these areas and northwestern
Russia, have to do with the SS’ designs on Norway during World War II?