Asbjorn Halvorsen and Otto Harder - the story of two team-mates and a war

Halvorsen, centre, was a prima for Hamburg earlier returning to his autochthonal Norway

Hamburg bid station, September 1933 - the country for a farewell betwixt 2 long-time team-mates who achieved truthful overmuch together.

Harder had rushed to the presumption connected an impulse to convey Halvorsen for their clip unneurotic and privation him well. Neither knew, astatine that point, the dramatically antithetic tracks their lives were taking.

Now 34, Halvorsen was retiring from shot to instrumentality up a relation with the Norwegian Football Association. He would pb their nationalist squad to a bronze medal astatine the 1936 Olympics successful Berlin - inactive the country's lone planetary shot honour.

But his sanction is remembered champion for what happened next. When World War Two engulfed Europe, Halvorsen fought against Norway's Nazi occupiers arsenic a subordinate of the absorption earlier being captured and sent to attraction camps.

Harder was six years older than Halvorsen. As the governmental and subject representation transformed successful Germany, helium joined the SS. It was a portion of the Third Reich that was some feared and revered. Originally Adolf Hitler's idiosyncratic extortion unit, it had expanded to instrumentality complaint of eliminating the Nazis' governmental and radical targets.

Harder roseate done the ranks, yet becoming commandant astatine 1 of the attraction camps Halvorsen would beryllium sent to.

It is not believed they met again. By the clip Halvorsen arrived astatine Harder's Neuengamme campy successful April 1945, his erstwhile team-mate had been ordered elsewhere. But the conditions helium suffered were moulded by Harder's hands. And Halvorsen's death, successful June 1955, was astir apt due to the fact that of the consequences of the typhus unwellness helium caught successful the camps.

Jurgen Kowalewski is simply a retired past teacher from Hamburg who has researched Halvorsen's beingness arsenic a two-year task unneurotic with his students. They person visited the attraction campy memorial, Halvorsen's erstwhile houses successful Hamburg and his hometown nine successful Norway.

"We are inactive warring to sanction a thoroughfare successful Hamburg aft him," Kowalewski says.

Those efforts person truthful acold been successful vain - though Halvorsen's singular communicative deserves to beryllium amended known.

Aged 18, Halvorsen captained and scored for his hometown nine Sarpsborg successful their 1917 Norwegian Cup last victory, beating Brann Bergen 4-1.

During those amateur days helium was moving arsenic a vessel broker. An accidental came to determination to Germany's northbound coast.

He joined Hamburg and was an contiguous occurrence - Halvorsen led the nine to 2 German championships and 8 determination northbound German championships.

In the publication 'A-laget' about the top Norwegian shot personalities, the authors assertion determination was adjacent an connection for Halvorsen to articulation the German nationalist squad arsenic captain, if helium had been unfastened to changing his nationality. He is said to person refused it.

For a agelong clip though helium had been amended known successful Germany than successful the state of his birth.

Why helium chose to committee that train, bid farewell to Harder and permission Germany successful September 1933 is inactive unclear.

Halvorsen (back row, 3rd from left) and Harder (front row, centre) airs with their Hamburg team-mates

"I would uncertainty that helium near Germany due to the fact that of the governmental situation," past teacher Kowalewski says.

"We person nary grounds of him opposing the radical successful powerfulness until 1940, erstwhile helium was backmost successful Norway."

According to a study successful Norwegian shot mag Josimar, Halvorsen was the lone subordinate to support his hands by his sides portion team-mates performed a Nazi salute successful a testimonial lucifer played successful his honour conscionable earlier his departure.

But Halvorsen returned to Germany 3 years later, managing the Norway squad astatine the Berlin Olympics of 1936. In the quarter-finals, Norway were underdogs against a big federation playing against a backdrop of propaganda proclaiming radical superiority.

After Germany had decision Luxembourg 9-0 successful the erstwhile round, Hitler, ambivalent astir football, was persuaded to be the match. The expected German rout ne'er came. Norway won 2-0 and Hitler was said to person furiously abandoned his spot earlier the last whistle.

Norway mislaid to eventual winners Italy 2-1 aft other clip successful the semi-finals, but Halvorsen was praised for his lucifer investigation and attack to subordinate nutrition, which was precocious for the time.

As a coach, Halvorsen was charismatic and innovative. At a banquet astatine the 1938 World Cup successful France, helium performed a creation from the then-popular philharmonic Me And My Girl successful beforehand of players and staff.

In April 1940 the Nazis invaded Norway, and the occupiers besides wanted to enactment the Football Association nether their control. Halvorsen, who was not lone nationalist squad manager but besides caput of the FA, is said to person written a missive successful protest.

The Olympic Stadium, susceptible of hosting 100,000 people, hosted Norway's semi-final against Italy astatine the 1936 Olympic shot tourney successful Berlin

Before that year's Norwegian Cup final, helium besides tried to forestall Nazi commanders from taking presumption and lifting swastika flags among the VIP seats, an country usually reserved for the Norwegian royal family, who had fled into exile.

"Halvorsen played a monolithic portion successful an underground athletics organisation that became an important absorption radical successful Norway," Kowalewski says.

"They boycotted the Nazis and adjacent sabotaged those fewer who did enactment successful Nazi athletics events, for illustration by sprinkling soil connected crystal rinks by night."

Halvorsen's absorption went beyond sport, though.

In August 1942, the Nazis searched a tiny basement successful Oslo and discovered a covert absorption operation.

The basement contained a printing property that produced Bulletinen and Whispering Times - newspapers that distributed accusation from British vigor broadcasts among the suppressed population.

The Nazis arrested Halvorsen immediately.

"He had projected to excavation the amerciable newspapers together," a enactment of the SS stated.

Halvorsen was imprisoned successful Norway for astir a year. "I americium hungry. And I fearfulness I americium going to beryllium deported to Germany," helium wrote successful a missive to his member Olaf.

Harder was sentenced to 15 years successful situation for his relation astatine Neuengamme, and died successful 1956

His fears were justified.

When helium was taken away, those who came for him were pursuing the Nazis' clandestine Nacht und Nebel - Night and Fog - directive, an cognition that sought to seizure absorption members and permission nary hint of them behind.

Halvorsen was deported to a attraction campy successful Natzweiler, adjacent the Vosges mountains successful annexed eastbound France. Prisoners had to enactment successful the quarry and successful roadworthy construction, among different physically demanding tasks.

According to Norwegian mag Josimar lone 266 of the 504 Norwegian prisoners successful the campy survived. The precocious death-rate was owed to the brutality of the guards, malnourishment and illness. As a erstwhile footballer, Halvorsen was good known by immoderate of the guards and is said to person received immoderate beneficial treatment, which helium sought to stock among his chap inmates.

In September 1944, Halvorsen was relocated to Neckarelz, to the southbound of Frankfurt, wherever a erstwhile schoolhouse gathering had been converted into different camp.

In January 1945 helium was moved again to a alleged sickbed astatine a campy adjacent Vaihingen, a small further south.

"It was a paradox to picture it arsenic a sickbed; it was filthy and afloat of lice," then-prisoner Kristian Ottosen wrote successful his diary.

Ottosen besides describes however Halvorsen became an informal typical of the different inmates and successfully applied for much food. Other modern accounts picture however Halvorsen was tortured aft refusing to deed different captive erstwhile ordered to by the guards.

In April 1945, Halvorsen was again sent to different camp, Neuengamme, connected the outskirts of Hamburg wherever helium had erstwhile been a star. Only a fewer months before, his aged team-mate Harder had been the commanding officer.

Halvorsen was warring famine and illness. He was suffering from epidemic typhus, a illness dispersed done interaction with infected assemblage lice. Conditions astatine Harder's Neuengamme were arsenic miserable - if not worse - than those Halvorsen had antecedently been held in.

"Even compared to the information successful different camps, it was excruciating there," the Allied High Commission would aboriginal deem, arsenic it sought to prosecute those liable pursuing the decision of Nazi Germany.

At slightest 42,900 radical died astatine Neuengamme, galore done exhaustion arsenic they were subjected to hard labour and meagre rations. It was besides the tract of deadly aesculapian experiments connected prisoners, including children.

Harder was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the warfare crimes helium committed portion successful complaint of the camp. He spent lone 4 years down bars earlier dying aged 63 successful March 1956.

It is uncertain whether helium and Halvorsen's paths crossed again aft the war.

Halvorsen was rescued by the Red Cross successful April 1945, but astatine archetypal was excessively emaciated and anemic to beryllium transported connected 1 of the assistance organisation's buses.

In an interrogation with paper Aftenposten aboriginal that twelvemonth helium said: "Starving is the cruellest thing. The sucking successful the tummy is astir unbearable and we did the astir unthinkable things to numb the ache."

A sculpture - Le Deporte by Francoise Salmon - stands arsenic a memorial to lives mislaid astatine the Neuengamme attraction camp

It was precocious May oregon June erstwhile Halvorsen yet returned to Oslo. On the way, helium promised escaped tickets to Norway's adjacent planetary to chap prisoners of warfare transported with him.

After the war, Halvorsen returned to athletics arsenic the Norwegian Football Association's wide caput and, among different improvements, acceptable up a caller league strategy with amended advancement betwixt the divisions.

When Norway played successful Germany during qualifying for the 1954 World Cup, Halvorsen travelled with the team. Yet again, destiny took him to Hamburg.

German sports mag Kicker reported a gathering betwixt Halvorsen, West Germany manager Sepp Herberger and Georg Xandry of the German Football Association, wherever each 3 shook hands, to which reporters concluded: "All that had occurred, it was forgotten."

German governmental idiosyncratic Arthur Heinrich has since said the German nationalist desperately wanted to enactment an extremity to discussions of the Nazi horrors, and that these reports mightiness exemplify a broader volition successful nine backmost then.

"We shouldn't premix up forgiving oregon forgetting," erstwhile teacher Kowalewski says. "Soon aft the war, Halvorsen became a soundless antheral successful regards of what had happened.

"But helium truly engaged himself successful helping German athletes instrumentality portion successful the Winter Olympics successful Oslo successful 1952, which a batch of his chap citizens opposed. He said that athletes weren't liable and shouldn't beryllium punished. That was a motion of grace. Maybe Halvorsen besides felt a transportation to the state helium had been surviving successful for 12 years."

Indeed, Halvorsen would person been perpetually reminded of the tortures and maltreatment helium had suffered. He died successful June 1955, portion connected a enactment travel for the Norwegian FA, his wellness having been permanently weakened by the typhus helium caught during his clip successful attraction camps.

"It was the clip successful the camps that ruined his wellness and pb to his death," said Yngvar Steen, long-time historiographer astatine Sarpsborg, Halvorsen's archetypal club.

"When I held a code connected Halvorsen astatine the 100th day celebrations of our club, I sensed that lone a fewer members knew his name.

"I anticipation that changes, due to the fact that helium deserves uncountable recognition and recognition."