Kai Holst | |
|---|---|
 Photo of Holst taken on 22 June 1945, a few days before his death | |
| Born | Kai Christian Middelthon Holst 24 February 1913 Lillehammer[1] |
| Died | 27 June 1945 (aged 32)[2] Stockholm |
| Cause of death | Pistol bullet to head, officially suicide[3][4] but many friends and colleagues suspected murder.[4][5][6][7][8][9] |
| Body discovered | Top of stairway, apartment house, Gärdet |
| Resting place | Vestre Gravlund, Oslo |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Education | Secondary school, vocational school[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Seaman, fur farmer[1] |
| Known for | Resistance fighter and suspicious circumstances regarding his death |
| Spouse | Margarete Corneliussen[10][11] |
| Parent(s) | Christian and Inga Holst (born Rasmussen)[1] |
Kai Christian Middelthon Holst (24 February 1913 – 27 June 1945) was a Norwegian seaman, fur farmer and resistance fighter during World War II.[12] When the leadership of Milorg was torn up by the Gestapo in 1942, he acquired a leading role in the organisation and participated in re-establishing the central leadership (Sentralledelsen, SL) of Milorg together with Jens Christian Hauge.[12][13] Holst had to flee Norway in the autumn of 1943[14][15][16] and stayed in Sweden until the liberation of Norway in 1945.
Holst is remembered both for his work with the Norwegian resistance and for the circumstances surrounding his death in Stockholm in 1945.[2] Holst's demise was so much talked of at the time that the Milorg leadership issued a statement in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten in July 1945.[17] Swedish and Norwegian authorities officially concluded that Holst committed suicide,[3][4] but his family and many of his friends and colleagues were of the opinion that Holst was murdered.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
- ^ a b c d Fra varm til kald krig, 88
- ^ a b Fra varm til kald krig, 107–111
- ^ a b Fra varm til kald krig, 107
- ^ a b c d "That there could be a need for such a security unit, one got a shrill reminder about as Kai Holst, the Milorg-veteran that together with Ole Borge had the main honour for establishing a security service, died under strange circumstances in Stockholm in the end of June 1945. The police investigation concluded with suicide, but among Holst's old comrades from Milorg there were many who refused to believe that Holst could have taken his own life.", from Jens Chr. Hauge: fullt og helt, 285
- ^ a b Svik og gråsoner, 159
- ^ a b "Also a lot of other friends and colleagues of Holst from the war reject the suicide theory as nonsense. The Swedish police showed little ability or will in solving the case, they argue", Fra varm til kald krig, 105
- ^ a b "That Holst was liquidated due to what he discovered at Lillehammer is also the opinion of several of Holst's friends from the resistance movement during the war. Several say like Otto Paus that they were warned against looking into his cause of death", from Svik og gråsoner, 183
- ^ a b "Retired general Ole Otto Paus' statement to Dagbladet 28.9.94: 'Kai Holst was without doubt killed. That I can swear to God.' (avlegge salighetsed)", from Taushetens pris, 55
- ^ a b "Erik Myhre thought of continuing his investigation in Stockholm together with Erling Mörk Hansson who heard tell that Myhre first went to the British intelligence officer MacRoberts (Major W.D MacRoberts, Svik og Gråsoner, 168–169, contributor's note).": "He came back and said: 'Do you know what MacRoberts said, he said he forbids us to travel over, he said it would cost us our lives if we did it, he forbids us to travel. Erik Myhre was a bit surprised ... and in the end he said 'but if I take with me Erling and we travel privately over', so MacRoberts had said to him that then you will not return alive to Oslo", statement by Erling Mørch Hansson, from the radio program Liket på Gärdet i Stockholm, from 10:30 in the recording
- ^ Fra varm til kald krig, 139
- ^ Jens Chr. Hauge : fullt og helt, 165
- ^ a b Fra varm til kald krig, 89–92
- ^ "After this severe draining of the central leadership in SL there was only one connection between the council and all sections within O, namely Kai Holst. There were no horizontal connections, so very much was dependent on him", Milorg 1941–43, 23
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
TaushetenPris52was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "In August 1943 Kaka crossed the border and by that concluded a uniquely intense effort in occupied Norway", from Rapport om mitt arbeid under okkupasjonen, 134
- ^ "But during the summer a range of important colleagues had to travel due to razzias and warnings. From Grini there came a warning that Gestapo were on the trail of Kaka (Kai Holst), and in August he went over the border to Sweden, where he soon got important tasks at the Norwegian military office in Stockholm. It was with heavy heart that Hauge let him go. Kaka's bravery, unselfishness (selvoppofrelse) and contagious activism had made him a close friend and a rare valuable colleague. But the dangersigns were after a while so many that both Hauge and Holst realized that it was best to give up while he could.", from Jens Chr. Hauge : fullt og helt, 149
- ^ Milorg-leadership statement regarding Kai Holst's death, of 19 July 1945:
"Due to the sensation that has emerged concerning Kai Holst's death we want, after Swedish and Norwegian police have made thorough investigations, to give the statement below:
Kai Holst very early entered the work with establishing the resistance forces. He was connected to the leadership (Sentralledelsen), where his work was of invaluable use. His strong and good character, his bravery, clear intelligence and charm made him unusually well fit for this work. In 1943 he was ordered to leave the country, after he had been heavily sought by the Gestapo.
In Sweden he was immediately employed by the Norwegian legation in Stockholm, where he continued his outstanding work to support the resistance forces.
When peace arrived, it was natural that he got a responsible task in connection with winding down the large structure that had been established in Sweden.
Throughout the fight for freedom Kai Holst used all his strength. He worked day and night without thought of himself, and without taking into consideration that he had been through a severe illness that he had won over, but that had given him a severe physical handicap. When he after all managed the enormous workload through several years, it was the satisfaction he felt by submitting his utmost.
One has been able to follow Kai Holst from day to day, and in the last time period from hour to hour and on the basis of this it can be stated that there has not been found any proof (holdepunkt) for the assumption that there is a murder. Neither has there been found anything that hints that he – even a few minutes before his death – had plans about taking his own life, and he cannot be seen to have had any motive for such an act. All his dispositions, on the contrary, show that he calculated on living. This is also in line with the impression his friends that talked with him got, also during his last journey from Norway back to Sweden.
In the last weeks and days under and after the capitulation, the workload Kai Holst had, reached such a degree of intensity that it went above what a human could manage. He wore himself out in the fight for the liberation of the country. Olaf Helset Carl Semb Michael S. Hansson
Oslo, 19 July 1945", from Fra varm til kald krig, 111–112, originally printed in Aftenposten, 21 July 1945