Pelle group

The Pelle group (Norwegian: Pelle-gruppen) was a Norwegian communist sabotage group that operated in Østlandet during the autumn of 1944. It was led by Ragnar "Pelle" Sollie, the only one in the group who was a member of Communist Party of Norway.

It has been attributed to 16 operations, including the blowing up of 6 ships and one crane at a ship yard ( Nyland- og Akers Mekaniske Verksted). 11 of its members were sentenced to death — 7 of these were executed in February and March of 1945.

An article in Aftenposten referred to the group's 23 November 1944 ship sabotage as "the largest Norwegian sabotage attack during Word War Two".

History
The ship sabotage on 23 November 1944 was preceded by two tons of dynamite being smuggled from Sollihøgda into Oslo. (Responsibility for the smuggling, was had by a subdivision of the Pelle Group—the Ullevål Hageby Gang. Sverre Kokkin bicycled, with dynamite, from Hønefoss to Oslo. ) At the shipyard, workers and foremen brought the explosives onto the ship, in lunch boxes and tool boxes. Of five shipwrights who participated after being trained by Sollie, three changed their name after the war.

Organization
Subdivisions of the group included the Ullevål Hageby Gang and the Losby Gang.

Recognition after the war
No member has ever received medals for their actions during World War Two, from Norway's government. In 2013 one of the two members who is still alive, Sverre Kokkin said that if he gets a medal, it probably will be post mortem.

In a 2013 article on NRK, Øystein Rakkenes and Morten Conradi (directors of a 2013 film about the Pelle Group) said "... why [Max] Manus has been credited for the big ship sabotage action (skipssabotasjeaksjonen ) in 1944 at the port of Oslo?" The directors also said "It was first when the members of Pelle Group—Sverre Kokkin and Leif Kjemperud—protested in 2010, that the monument [of Max Manus] at last was moved to Akershus festning"—[from the site of the 1944 ship sabotage at present day Aker Brygge].

Later in 2013 Ronald Bye—a former Party Secretary of the Labour Party—wrote in Norwegian daily Aftenposten that "It is not about the content of an obituary, a lunch with the defence minister who presented a tray as a gift, and that now (November 22) there will be unveiled a monument to comemmorate the Pelle Group. It is about the 'retouching' of the group's members in regards to an official recognition for the efforts on behalf of the Resistance. The reason; the members were stigmatized and many of them were put under surveillance as communists—in lee of the hunt for fifth columnists during the Cold War... But my point is to front the criticism of the bad treatment that the Pelle Group officially got from Norwegian authorities. For example this was expressed by not being granted honors such as Den norsk deltakermedaljen, War Cross, Forsvarsmedaljen, Forsvarets hederskors, and Haakon VIIs 70-årsmedalje. - These are honours that—with a generous hand—has been awarded to others who participated in the Resistance fight during the war."

A 30 October 2013 Dagsavisen article quoted from a speech (honoring the group) by the former minister of defence: "Who chose to follow the narrow path of courage ... And here were people from the entire politcal spectrum. Still, the cold relationship between East and West came to make life difficult for some. We know that some in the Pelle Group were inflicted with unreasonably great strain. In the clear light of hindsight, this is something that we today can confirm."

Monument in Oslo
In 2010, the city council of Oslo passed a resolution to build a monument to honor the Pelle group.

In December 2011, 3 members of the Pelle group criticized the council's Finance committee for not allocating the "originally proposed Norwegian kroner 1.75 million" in the proposed budget for 2012.

In 2013 Aftenposten said that three years ago Max Manus was honored with a monument at Aker Brygge, and that the "Placement led to protest, since it was the Pelle Group that performed the sabotage of ships here. The monument was therefore moved to below Akershus Fortress, where Max Manus led the sabotage attack on [steamship] Donau. - But the commotion regarding the placement, put the Pelle Group on the map. The city council decided that the Pelle Group also would receive a monument, and that it was to be placed at Aker Brygge."

It was financed by a Norwegian firm—Samlerhuset.

After completion
On 22 November 2013 the monument was unveiled, after a ceremony in the city hall of Oslo with crown prince Haakon and Oslo's mayor sitting alongside Reidar Formo and Sverre Kokkin (the two last surviving member of the Pelle Group).

The names of 63 persons are listed on the monument, including saboteurs of the group and facilitators.

Klassekampen has highlighted tireless effort, involving the monument, by Erling Folkvord, historian Lars Borgersrud, Morten Conradi and Øystein Rakkenes, and mentioning Gunnar Sønsteby as an ally to the project.

A description of the monument says that it "... shows two young men running with banner and rifle; and a women carrying a handbag with illegal newspapers.