Vidkun Quisling is undoubtedly the only Norwegian individual (and among but a small number of individuals regardless of geographic origin) for whom a noun has been created.  The name “Quisling” is synonymous with “traitor.”  I’m sure many people have heard somebody referred to as this, but I would be willing to bet most people don’t know exactly where “Quisling” came from.

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian army officer and politician who served as minister-president of Norway for three years during World War II.  Back in 1933 at the time when Adolph Hitler was forging his political career, Vidkun Quisling got the Nazi ball rolling in Norway when he established the Norwegian nationalist party, Nasjonal Samling. Oddly enough, Vidkun was the son of a Lutheran pastor and seemed to have a relatively undisturbed early life.  His fascist, aggressive tendencies must have begun to develop when he became part of the military.  At the age of 24, the young man achieved the rank of major in the Norwegian army.

When Quisling created the fascist Nasjonal Samling in 1933 it didn’t appear to be very threatening.  Several years later, however, the party line gradually became less religious and more pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic.  In fact, in 1936 the party received fewer votes than it did in 1933 at the time of its establishment.  It wasn’t until after the war began and Quisling held political control that the number of party members increased.

The Germans invaded Norway in 1940 and remained a strong presence there throughout the war, if not physically, indirectly through Nasjonal Samling. The morning after the invasion, after prompts from the German authorities, Quisling broke into a local Oslo broadcaster’s office and pronounced himself Prime Minister of Norway.  At that point, the majority of Norwegians viewed Vidkun Quisling as a traitor.  This is how his name found it’s way into most major dictionaries, defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as “A traitor who serves as the puppet of the enemy occupying his or her country.”

The day after Quisling pronounced himself sole ruler of Norway, the Minister of Germany traveled to Elverum, where the legitimate government was hiding, and tried to convince Kong Haakon (King Haakon, king of Norway during WWII) to appoint Quisling as Prime Minister.  Although Quisling had already named himself with this title, without the beloved Kong Haakon’s support, the people of Norway would not follow.  At this point, Quisling really wasn’t of much interest to Hitler.

During his time in illegitimate power, Quisling lived in a mansion on the island of Bygdøy outside of Oslo.  He was executed in 1945 for high treason at the Akershus fortress in Oslo.  He was given the chance to either commit suicide or escape into exile, but he chose his pride.

The place in which he dwelled during his stay in power is now a Holocaust museum called Villa Grande.  When I studied in Norway, I took a class on the Holocaust and we took a day trip to Villa Grande. It was quite ironic to be inside it and imagine it as a place where a Nazi lived and schemed.  What a great way to transform a place of bad memory.