Klaksvík uprising
When rebellion of Klaksvík , who also Klaksvík conflict or dispute of Klaksvík ( Faroese : Klaksvíksstríðið [klakːsvʊiksːstɹʊiɛ] , Danish : Klaksvigsstriden ) is called, the local population resisted in 1955 a decision by the Danish authorities, which was triggered by the dismissal Olaf Halvorsen. Halvorsen was the chief physician at the hospital in Klaksvík, the second largest city in the Faroe Islands . The resignation of the former supporter of National Socialism happened against the will of the residents. In April 1955, 120 police officers from Denmark were sent to the city to settle the dispute. The residents responded by mining the port. Before the confrontation arose, a preliminary compromise was reached. Another escalation in the autumn of 1955 culminated in an assassination attempt on the Faroese Prime Minister Kristian Djurhuus , who remained unharmed. The doctor's dispute was the triggering factor, but it was actually about the question of Faroese independence from the Danish mother country.
background
Olaf Halvorsen was born in Denmark in 1913. He lost his father when he was two years old and his mother when he was five. He then lived with his grandparents, but his grandfather also died when he was 14. That made him a quiet person who felt the need to show his skills and be recognized for it. Thanks to his professional skills, Halvorsen was able to complete his training as a doctor in 1939. During the dramatic events in Klaksvík, he lived with his wife Andrea and their two sons. After Klaksvík's quarrel, he settled in the Copenhagen suburb of Klampenborg and practiced as a doctor until he retired. He never returned to the Faroe Islands, but he still had a painting by Klaksvík in his living room. Olaf Halvorsen died in 1993 at the age of 80. |
Olaf Halvorsen and National Socialism
Olaf Halvorsen studied medicine in Copenhagen in the 1930s . On July 8, 1938, he registered with the Danish Nazi party Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti (DNSAP). The leader or "leader" of this party at that time was the doctor Frits Clausen . Clausen made the acquaintance of Halvorsen and when Halvorsen was a fully qualified doctor in 1939, Clausen offered him a substitute as a doctor in Bovrup in southern Jutland for a few months . Halvorsen accepted the offer. The attack by the German Empire on Denmark in 1940 led to a breach of trust and enmity between the two, whereupon Halvorsen resigned from the DNSAP.
Accusations from the Medical Association
The head office of the "General Danish Doctors' Association" (Den Almindelige Danske Lægeforening) accused Halvorsen in 1948 of having reported to serve as a doctor for the Schutzstaffel (SS) on the Eastern Front during the Second World War . Halvorsen denied this and a court acquitted him of the allegations in 1949. The demands for the exclusion of Halvorsen, for fines or other disciplinary measures were given up. However, the costs of the legal proceedings were imposed on him, which amounted to 601.50 Danish kroner . Halvorsen refused to comply and was consequently expelled from the medical association.
Employment in the Faroe Islands
Due to the expulsion, he was not given a job in a hospital in Denmark. Even in Greenland , his applications were unsuccessful. Eventually he was employed at the hospital in the Faroese capital Tórshavn and briefly taught aspiring nurses before moving to Klaksvík, where he was temporarily hired as a doctor on July 1, 1951. The appointment included both hospital and local doctor positions for the Klaksvík municipality. Rumors about Halvorsen's past as a National Socialist spread quickly, but the residents of the North Islands didn't care. A good relationship developed between him and the population, even if he was perceived as mischievous. Among other things, his almost marching gait was noticed.
Course of events
Trying to remove Halvorsen
In 1955, the Faroese and Danish authorities in Tórshavn decided to remove Halvorsen from his position because of his past in the DNSAP and his association with Clausen. This led to unrest among the Klaksvík, with whom Halvorsen enjoyed quite a sympathy. It became even more uneasy when the authorities announced that they wanted to hire the Faroese doctor Rubeck Nielsen. Nielsen was in contact with Jógvan Frederik Kjølbro and his family. Kjølbro's company was one of the largest employers on the islands. Many saw Nielsen's appointment as evidence of corruption and improper interference by the Danes in Faroe Islands affairs. In order to carry out his project, the imperial ombudsman Niels Elkær-Hansen and other representatives of the authorities traveled to Klaksvík on April 21, 1955. Elkær-Hansen wanted to permanently remove the controversial doctor from his position. The delegation encountered hundreds of local residents who prevented the delegation from completing the formalities that were supposed to relieve Halvorsen from his post. Instead, she was chased through town onto the Tjaldur liner . The delegation took the ship to seek refuge in the port of Fuglafjørður .
Police in Klaksvík
The local authorities were then forced to turn to Denmark for help. On April 22, 1955, the M / S Parkeston then left the port of Esbjerg . On board was the Faroese Prime Minister Kristian Djurhuus, six journalists, around 50 boxes with weapons and ammunition, a police car and 120 police officers with six police dogs. The police operation was to remain a secret, but both Danish and Faroese newspapers reported the mobilization. In Klaksvík, the response was to set up armed guards and to mine the port entrance using an old ship loaded with explosives.
Preliminary compromise
To prevent the situation from escalating further, the Danish government decided to send the then Finance Minister and later Danish Prime Minister Viggo Kampmann to the Faroe Islands as quickly as possible to mediate the dispute and negotiate a compromise. The M / S Parkeston ran under the various ports in the Faroe Islands, according Klaksvík it but did not. Part of the compromise provided for Halvorsen's temporary departure to Denmark, which Halvorsen did. There he should reconcile himself with the Danish Medical Association. His successor was asked to resign from his position in Klaksvík. Halvorsen could then have reapplied after a possible reconciliation. In addition, two Danish doctors were temporarily employed at the Klaksvík hospital.
As the six-month employment of the two Danish doctors neared its end, the imperial ombudsman Elkær-Hansen called the hospital administration to a meeting in Klaksvik on September 23, 1955. At the meeting it was found that Halvorsen had not yet reconciled with the medical association and that his successor had not yet resigned. When the delegation was on their way to the hospital at half past seven in the evening to consult the two new doctors, they encountered around 150 angry demonstrators who insulted them and demanded that Kampmann's promise to reinstate Halvorsen be kept. This led the Danish government to respond to the provocation by ordering the Danish Navy frigate Rolf Krake (Søværnet) to Klaksvík. In the meantime, Kampmann flew to the Faroe Islands and discovered that the compromise had failed.
The end
On October 1, 1955, the Rolf Krake reached the city. Hundreds of young people tried to break through the barriers in the port area, but they were repulsed by the police with dogs and batons. Some Faroese carried out several actions, such as cutting off electricity in the city and at the port. There were no direct confrontations while the police were in the city.
The Klaksvík uprising led to a series of legal proceedings against the ringleaders . The trial began on October 24, 1955 and the verdicts were announced on November 15, 1955: of the 31 defendants, all but one were convicted. 18 of the convicts appealed, of which 14 judgments were confirmed and 4 people acquitted. As the leader of the riot, Fischer Heinesen was sentenced to 12 months in prison, of which he served eight months. He was to serve his sentence on the Tinganes peninsula in Tórshavn. The punishment went too far for the people in Klaksvík and it was decided to send a fleet of fishing boats to the capital, originally with the intention of freeing Heinesen. As bad weather came on, only 200 people arrived in Tórshavn. Due to a lack of support from the Tórshavner, the Klaksvík decided to form only one demonstration against the Reichsombudsman and the Faroese government.
On November 7, 1955, an empty house used by the police was blown up. On November 20, the home of Faroese Prime Minister Djurhuus in Tvøroyri was shot at with a submachine gun. Neither he nor anyone else was harmed in the attack. On November 22nd, a bomb exploded outside the police station in Klaksvík, no one was harmed here either. In addition, a homemade bomb was found in the basement of Minister Hákun Djurhuus . It did not cause an explosion because of a faulty circuit. None of these incidents were resolved.
The Klaksvík uprising finally ended on May 9, 1956 after the hospital administration hired the doctor Knud Seedorf as a compromise. Halvorsen was employed at the Copenhagen hospital and never returned to the Faroe Islands.
In popular culture
- Bergljót D. Hentze and Ólavur Rasmussen produced the two-part documentary Klaksvíksstríðið from 2008 for the public broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya . The documentary received good reviews.
See also
literature
- Frede Asgaard: Klaksvig-striden I (1955) , Forlaget Insight 1990, ISBN 87-89651-00-6 .
- Frede Asgaard: Klaksvig-striden II (1955) , Forlaget Insight 1990 ISBN 87-89651-02-2
- J. Feilberg Jørgensen, Klaksvig-say in: Politihistorisk Selskab Årsskrift 1984 . ISBN 87-88061-07-8
- Detlef Wildraut: The Klaksvík conflict, Part I in the Members page of the Faroese German Friends Association Tjaldur ff, No. 37, page 9., 2006.
- Detlef Wildraut: The Klaksvík conflict, part II in the membership sheet of the German-Faroese Circle of Friends Tjaldur No. 38, p. 12 ff., 2007
Web links
- Klaksvíkstriden on rejsende.dk (Danish)
- Klaksvíks historie on klaksvik.fo (Faroese)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Leivur Frederiksen: Norðingar eru væl nøgdir við "Klaksvíksstríðið" ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Kringvarp Føroya on December 31, 2008, accessed on August 16, 2010.
