Henry Rinnan

Henry Oliver Rinnan (14 May 1915 – 1 February 1947) was a notorious Norwegian Gestapo agent in the area around Trondheim Municipality, Norway during World War II.

During the Winter War, Rinnan tried to enlist with the Finns to fight against the Soviet Union, but was rejected due to his poor physique.

Rinnan worked closely with the German Sicherheitspolizei in Trondheim, where his main contacts were Gerhard Flesch and Walter Gemmecke.

During this decade the private residence of the Rinnan family was in the captured house of Landstads Vei 1, located approximately one kilometre from the gang's headquarters.

The members of the independent Gestapo unit Sonderabteilung Lola infiltrated the resistance movement by engaging people in conversation in buses, trains, cafés, etc., encouraging them to talk about their attitudes toward the Nazi occupation.

Having identified people who they thought were in the resistance, Rinnan's agents worked to build trust with them and penetrate their networks.

Rinnan operated with impunity and almost no interference from his German taskmasters, often using murder and torture as sanctioned means.

Rinnan photographed with visible bruises after his initial arrest
Henry Rinnan testifying at his trial