Konrad Bertram Holm Sundlo

Biography

Konrad Bertram Holm Sundlo (1 January 1881 – 25 May 1965) was a Norwegian military officer and colonel. He has since been portrayed as the traitor who "surrendered Narvik to the Germans without a fight" on 9 April 1940, but this characterisation is largely based on rumour and subsequent propaganda. Both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court acquitted him of deliberate treason in connection with the events at Narvik. What the legal proceedings actually established was that his poor reputation stemmed from his active participation in the National Socialist occupation apparatus — not from the surrender itself.

Education and Military Career

Sundlo passed his university entrance examination in 1899 and completed the upper division of the Norwegian Military Academy in 1902. After further studies at the Military High School in 1905 he rose steadily through the ranks: captain in 1911, major in 1930 and colonel in 1933. That same year he was appointed commanding officer of the Hålogaland Infantry Regiment (IR 15), headquartered in Narvik. In 1934 he published the regiment's history, printed in Bodø.

Nasjonal Samling and Political Activity

Sundlo joined Vidkun Quisling's Nasjonal Samling (NS) party in 1933 — the same year he was promoted to colonel and given command in Narvik. Throughout the 1930s he served simultaneously as NS regional leader for Nordland and Troms counties. His well-known pro-German sympathies were conveyed to Hitler by Quisling as early as autumn 1939, and the German naval staff regarded him as an officer favourably disposed towards Germany.

9 April 1940 – What Really Happened at Narvik?

On the morning of 9 April 1940, ten German destroyers carrying approximately 2,000 elite soldiers under General Eduard Dietl sailed into the Ofotfjord. The Norwegian armoured ships Eidsvold and Norge were sunk by German torpedoes with heavy loss of life — the military situation on land had in reality already been decided by the German navy, not by Sundlo. His garrison consisted of roughly 700–800 partially mobilised infantrymen, and he chose to capitulate citing the risk to the civilian population and the unpreparedness of his troops. Divisional commander General Carl Gustav Fleischer responded by arresting Sundlo and publicly denouncing him as a traitor — a label that stuck and has dominated Sundlo's reputation to this day.

It is however essential to emphasise that Fleischer's statement was made in the heat of battle, not as a legal finding. When the case was subjected to thorough judicial scrutiny, neither the Court of Appeal in 1947 nor the Supreme Court in 1948 found grounds to convict him of deliberate treason. The courts concluded that, at most, the matter amounted to negligence in the performance of his military duties — that is, a misjudgement, not a conscious act of betrayal.

The Occupation, 1940–1945 – The Real Reason for the Verdict

What Sundlo was actually convicted of was his active role in the NS occupation apparatus. From autumn 1940 he led the Rikshird (the NS paramilitary organisation) as its national commander. In 1943–44 he served as NS-appointed County Governor of Oslo and Akershus, and from 1944 until the capitulation in May 1945 as County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane. He actively recruited Norwegian volunteers for the Waffen-SS "Norwegian Legion" and advocated for compulsory service on the Eastern Front. It is these actions — not the surrender of Narvik — that formed the core of the treason conviction against him.

Trial and Verdict

Sundlo was tried before the Eidsivating Military Court of Appeal. The verdict came on 13 May 1947: he was acquitted of deliberate treason in connection with the surrender of Narvik — the court found no evidence that this had been an intentional act of betrayal. He was, however, convicted of his extensive collaboration as national Hird commander, County Governor, and recruitment officer. The sentence was life imprisonment with hard labour and confiscation of property. Norway's Supreme Court upheld the verdict on 5 October 1948, thereby confirming the acquittal on the Narvik charge. Sundlo was pardoned in 1952 having served approximately five years. He died at Nesøya in Asker on 25 May 1965.

Historical Assessment

Jan P. Pettersen, in his book Oberst Konrad Sundlo (2025), reviewed over 3,000 pages of trial documents from the 1947 proceedings and concludes that Sundlo did not receive fair treatment in the public debate. Pettersen demonstrates that the defeat at Narvik resulted from systemic failures across the political and military hierarchy, and that Sundlo was to a large extent used as a scapegoat. The popular perception of Sundlo — that he "sold" Narvik — is therefore inconsistent with both the courts' actual findings and a careful reading of the sources. His genuine historical culpability lies in his activities on behalf of NS during the occupation.

Further Reading