26. The Most Infamous Traitor of WWII
Vidkun Quisling (1887 – 1945) was a Norwegian army officer and right-wing politician who led a fascist party in the 1930s that met with little success. He betrayed his country to the Nazis during WWII and collaborated with its German conquerors. After initially rejecting him early in their occupation as too seedy even for them, the Nazis finally relented to Quisling’s entreaties and placed him in charge of a puppet government.
Born to a pastor, Quisling’s life had a promising start that give little hint of coming ignominy. He did well in school, and graduated from the Norwegian Military College with the highest ever score since its inception. He was sent to the USSR as a military attache in 1918, and became Norway’s military expert on all things Russian. In 1922, he worked on League of Nations humanitarian relief efforts in the Ukraine, and exhibited considerable administrative talent and skill. While there, he also met and married two Russian women in quick succession, the second marriage, which lasted until his death, either bigamous or unofficial.