Josef Terboven

Josef Terboven
Terboven in February 1942, during the Akershus Government Act ceremony.
Reichskommissar for the Occupied Norwegian Territories
In office 24 April 1940 – 7 May 1945
Appointed by	Adolf Hitler
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Franz Böhme (acting)
Gauleiter of Gau Essen
In office 1 August 1930 – 8 May 1945
Appointed by	Adolf Hitler
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Oberpräsident of Rhine Province
In office 5 February 1935 – 8 May 1945
Preceded by	Hermann Freiherr von Lünick
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (1898-05-23)23 May 1898 Essen, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died	8 May 1945(1945-05-08) (aged 46) Asker, Akershus, Norway
Political party	Nazi Party (NSDAP)
Profession	Bank clerk
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Branch/service	Imperial German Army
Years of service	1915–1918
Rank	Leutnant
Unit	Feldartillerie Regiment 9 Luftstreitkräfte
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class

Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving Gauleiter of Gau Essen and the Reichskommissar for Norway during the German occupation.

Terboven was born in Essen, Germany, and attended Volksschule and Realschule before he volunteered for military service during the First World War. After the war, he studied law and political science at the University of Munich and the University of Freiburg, where he first got involved in politics. Terboven joined the Nazi Party in 1923, participated in the Beer Hall Putsch and eventually rose through the ranks to become the Gauleiter of Essen and the editor of various Nazi newspapers. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Terboven was promoted to SA-Gruppenführer and was made a member of the Prussian State Council.

In 1940, he was appointed Reichskommissar for Norway, a position that granted him significant power and control. Terboven established multiple concentration camps in Norway, ruthlessly persecuted the Jewish population and focused on crushing the Norwegian resistance movement. His actions led to numerous atrocities, such as the Beisfjord massacre in which hundreds of Yugoslavian political prisoners and prisoners-of-war were murdered.

As the tide of the war turned against Germany, Terboven implemented a scorched earth policy in northern Norway that resulted in the forced evacuation of 50,000 Norwegians and widespread destruction. He hoped to turn Norway into a fortress for the Nazi regime's last stand. However, after Adolf Hitler's suicide, his successor, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, dismissed Terboven from his post as Reichskommissar on 7 May 1945.

On 8 May 1945, the day of Germany's surrender, Terboven committed suicide by detonating 50 kg of dynamite in a bunker on the Skaugum compound in Norway. His family survived him in West Germany, and his wife, Ilse (Stahl) Terboven died in 1972.