Johannes S . Andersen Johannes Sigfred Andersen ( 9 July 1898 – 29 July 1970 ) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during the Second World War , a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 ( NOR . I . C . 1 ) . He was nicknamed " Gulosten " ; ' The Yellow Cheese ' . He also used the surname Ostein during the war . Andersen was a controversial character , because of his pre - war life as a well - known career criminal and a series of incidents that occurred during the war years . These incidents included Andersen working as an assassin during the war , and shortly after the war killing two German prisoners of war during a drinking binge . After the war , Andersen started a wood furniture business . He was supported financially by King Haakon VII of Norway , whose friendship he had gained during the war . Andersen was repeatedly accused of crimes after the war , and on one occasion convicted . Early life . Andersen was born on 9 July 1898 in Kristiania ( now Oslo ) , and had a difficult childhood , the latter part of it in an orphanage . He was the son of construction worker Ole Andersen and Josefine Hansen . Soon after Johannes was born , Norway entered a period of economic difficulties , with little construction work available . This led to his father having to change jobs from mason to milkman . Johannes ' mother became obsessed with religion . Institutionalization . At age 10 Johannes was declared a ward of court and sent to the school institution " Toftes gave " on the island Helgøya in the lake Mjøsa . While at the strict institution Johannes received parcels from home , with yellow cheese . The cheese was needed because of the meagre rations given the boys at " Toftes gave " . The parcels with yellow cheese led to Johannes being given the nickname " Gulosten " ( ) by the other boys at the institution , a name that stuck with him for the rest of his life . After four years on Helgøya he was transferred to Bastøy school home for maladjusted boys , an equally harsh institution . When 29 boys rebelled at Bastøy in 1915 , police officers and the Norwegian Armed Forces were employed to crush the riot , and the leaders taken away in handcuffs . Physical punishment was common at Bastøy , including being locked away in a dark cellar , a punishment Johannes had to endure . When Johannes was 15 his mother died , and he was not informed until several days after her funeral . This led to him making suicide threats , and going amok at the warden ' s office , for which he was punished with a stay in the dark cell . Leaving Helgøya . Andersen went to sea at age 15 , and later found work as a mason ' s assistant . On 7 November 1916 he married Lovise Kristine Klausen , who worked as a waitress at a restaurant frequented by Andersen . They soon got an apartment at Torshov and had a son . Andersen got a better - paid job , laying the foundation for the headquarters of Oslo Lysverker , but when that job was done he had to seek day - to - day work at the harbour . When Norway ' s financial situation again turned for the worse after the upturn of the First World War , no - one would hire a man with an institutional background , and he was out of work . He made a last - ditch attempt to make money ; he bought liquor in Tønsberg and sold it on the black market in Kristiania , but this was not enough for his wife , who left him to pursue a more financially secure future . It has been written that the marriage did not end until 1931 . In the meantime , Andersen befriended a woman named Nancy . She helped hide him when he was wanted by the authorities , she lied during a police interrogation at Møllergata 19 to cover for him and she also helped him with practical things such as acquiring a passport . They agreed to part ways when Andersen was set to pursue a trapper career in Canada ; when going to visit her one last time he stumbled upon a police officer who recognized him and arrested him . Also , when frequenting Hamburg , Andersen spent time with two prostitutes . They were described as " not [ . . . ] extraordinarily beautiful " , and Andersen helped them with buying food . Criminal career . Norway ' s prohibition from 1916 onwards opened up possibilities for a lucrative criminal career , and Andersen joined up in 1921 with old friends from his days at " Toftes gave " in grand - scale smuggling operations . Using ingenious methods for hiding the spirits , they smuggled alcohol into Norway by sea . In his smuggling years Andersen cooperated with future award - winning author Arthur Omre , serving as both crew and skipper on Omre ' s boats before getting his own smuggling vessel . Eventually his cover was blown , and being a wanted man in Norway he had to flee to Germany . While in Germany he worked for one of the biggest suppliers of spirits for the illegal Norwegian market . In 1925 Norway requested that Germany extradite him , and he was arrested in the harbour of Hamburg . Prison life was harsh , but Andersen managed to get transferred to a hospital when faking syphilis by burning his member with a cigarette . He was then deported under police escort back to Norway on the steamship " Kong Dag " , but when the ship entered the Oslofjord , Andersen escaped by jumping overboard near Spro . For several months he was on the run before being recaptured . In the years that followed he was in and out of prison repeatedly . He gained considerable renown for his elegantly executed burglaries , being labelled by the media " gentleman - forbryter i Grünerløkka - utgave " ( ) . He was also well known for his safe - cracking skills . Andersen once more tried to evade justice when he fled a crowded court room in Drammen in 1929 , jumping out a window as the sentence was being proclaimed . He was then smuggled from Drammen inside a chest of drawers which was to undergo reparation in Oslo . He was recaptured shortly before intending to board a cargo ship bound for Canada . His criminal escapades made Andersen a national celebrity in pre - war Norway , and his nickname " Gulosten " a household name . Between 1919 and 1937 he was sentenced to prison terms nine times , spending a total of around seven years behind bars . During the mid - 1930s Andersen attempted to end his criminal career , became engaged , and started a furniture repair business . He remarried on 18 March 1939 , wedding Ruth Johanne ( born 1905 ) , née Nilsen . They had one son . In 1935 Andersen attempted to get a children ' s book published , but it was rejected because of its inclusion of a number of " brutal scenes , unsuited for youths " . The nature scenes in the book were , however , commended by the reviewer . After yet another spell in prison , Andersen was released on 9 April 1940 , the day Germany invaded Norway as a part of World War II . Second World War . Early resistance work . The German invasion of Norway in 1940 led to Andersen ' s life once more taking a turn into illegal activities . His furniture workshop was used as a weapons depot by the Norwegian resistance movement , and he took part in looting German military stores . He was first arrested by the Germans after he had responded to rumours that he was a Nazi by writing the Norwegian national socialist party Nasjonal Samling ' s official publication " Fritt Folk " and stating that " although I have done many wrong things in my life , a Nazi I am not . Yours sincerely Johs . S . Andersen " . The letter was published unedited by the newspaper , although Andersen was later arrested by the occupying authorities and sentenced to one year in prison , after spending half a year in detention . Using techniques he had learned during his earlier criminal career , Andersen managed to be transferred to prison hospital during his time in detention . While there he acquired false x - ray images and tuberculosis germs to fake illnesses in other captured resistance men who were on their way to interrogation . He also infected a German interrogator with malaria by contaminating his insulin . At night , he would sneak out of the hospital and operate in Oslo , amongst other activities breaking into Nasjonal Samling offices and stealing documents , copying them and having them shipped to the United Kingdom together with evidence of torture in Nazi - run prisons . He served the last part of his sentence in Fuhlsbüttel near Hamburg , Germany . His wife was also active in resistance work , dealing with propaganda and espionage . Author Egil Ulateig doubts the veracity of Andersen ' s prison exploits , which are based mostly on Andersen ' s own testimony . Assassin , SOE agent and naval rating . After his return to Norway in 1942 , Andersen carried out the assassination of well - known informer Raymond Colberg and then made good his escape to Sweden . Colberg had been active in the Sandefjord area , uncovering an illegal radio transmitter . This led to the arrest of eight resistance members in March 1941 , three of whom were executed ( Øivind Ask , Andreas Bertnes and Johan Midttun were shot 4 December 1941 ) . Andersen carried out the assassination of the Abwehr agent together with his wife and two acquaintances , kidnapping him and killing him at the animal hospital " Chevals kjeller " . According to Ruth Andersen ' s later interrogation records , the killing was carried out by crucifying him with four knives and crushing his bones with iron pipes , then dismembering the body , putting it in a container for animal carcasses and dumping it in the river Akerselva . The confession may have been made under torture , and included no reference to the bullet holes found on Colberg ' s corpse when it was recovered . According to historian and leader of Norway ' s Resistance Museum , Arnfinn Moland , the claims of Colberg having been tortured and mutilated are fabrications . Moland cites autopsy reports and German archives to back up his claims . Colberg ' s body was discovered by a Norwegian civilian on 15 June 1942 with two 7 , 62 mm calibre bullet holes in the head , and was identified through Colberg ' s dental records . The killing was , according to Ulateig , also motivated by Andersen ' s personal feelings towards Colberg , and Moland states that Andersen " may have had " such motives , a claim that is refuted by history professor Tore Pryser . Andersen then fled to Sweden , and travelled on to the United Kingdom , where he was recruited by Professor Leif Tronstad for work with the British Special Operations Executive . In this context he used the surname Ostein during the war . In the United Kingdom , Andersen suggested a series of further assassinations in Oslo , naming targets and describing plans for how to carry out the killings . The British saw great potential as an agent in a man with Andersen ' s background . Andersen and his group was parachuted from a Halifax bomber to Kjerkeberget near Sandungen in Nordmarka , Oslo . Received by Gunnar Sønsteby and Sverre Ellingsen , this was the first parachute drop received by the resistance group Milorg ' s District 13 . The group spent a month training Milorg resistance people in weapons handling . They were originally intended to carry out assassinations of leading Norwegian Nazis and informers as part of Operation Bittern , first and foremost police minister and " Germanske SS Norge " leader Jonas Lie , but this was refused by the local resistance leaders because of fears of reprisals . Andersen had suggested killing the top - ranking Nazi leader , and the SOE approved . According to a plan formulated by the SOE , Andersen was to don a light suit , enter Lie ' s office in broad daylight , shoot the police minister in the head with a Colt pistol , change to a dark suit hidden underneath the light one , and disappear in the confusion . Andersen commented on the SOE plan : " Lie might survive this assassination attempt , but I won ' t . " Andersen instead wanted to kill Lie on his way from the office to his home . The Bittern operation was severely criticized by the Norwegian Home Forces in a letter to the Norwegian exile government in London . Andersen returned to the United Kingdom via Sweden , after episodes of unruly behaviour in Oslo . In the United Kingdom he had a personal audience with King Haakon VII of Norway . During the audience , Andersen and the King lunched at the Norwegian Club in London , and Andersen entertained the exiled monarch with stories . The King promised to take care of Andersen once the war was over . Andersen then joined the Royal Norwegian Navy and served on a Motor Torpedo Boat ( MTB ) for the duration of the war . The MTB on which Andersen served repeatedly attacked shipping off the Norwegian coast . Many resistance people in Norway had been shocked when they found out that Andersen had been allowed to serve in NOR . I . C . 1 . Leading saboteur Max Manus wrote shortly after the war in his book " Det vil helst gå godt " : " It was one hell of a risk to send a man with Gulosten ' s reputation and history out on secret military missions . It would have been a great embarrassment if " Fritt Folk " had been able to publish that Gulosten made a career in King Håkon ' s armed forces " . Andersen protested against Manus ' account when it was published . Post - war life . Loss of wife and third marriage . When Andersen returned to Norway after the German surrender in 1945 , he had hoped to reunite with his wife Ruth . Instead , he discovered that his wife had been arrested by the Germans on 9 May 1944 . She had been taken to Møllergata 19 , tortured during her captivity and executed at Grini concentration camp by " Sonderkommando Hans " on 21 July 1944 together with five others . They were buried in a mass grave but her body was exhumed and identified on 25 May 1945 . Ruth ' s sister together with Ruth ' s friend Hertha Bergstrøm organized a proper funeral . Andersen and Bergstrøm later married . POW killing controversy . On 3 July 1945 Andersen killed two German prisoners of war with his Thompson submachine gun . Andersen had broken into German barracks in Vadheim in Sogn during a drinking binge , killing the German soldiers Herbert Neumann and Hermann Beckmann . He later claimed to have acted in rage over his wife ' s death . The Norwegian court system started working on Andersen ' s case , eventually reaching judge advocate Ivar Follestad . Andersen was defended by Reidar Skau , who was made Supreme Court Justice in 1945 . Follestad deemed it necessary to prosecute Andersen , but wanted to pardon him after the verdict . After spending more than a year in the civilian and military court systems Andersen ' s murder case reached the top levels of the Royal Norwegian Navy , and on 5 August 1946 it was decided to take the case to the Gulating Military Court of Appeal . Three months later Follestad made a decision of non - indictment , despite there being evidence to convict Andersen . In January 1947 the general jurisdiction chief , Thore Horve , also declared for a decision of non - indictment . Follestad and Horve were supported in this by Minister of Defence Jens Christian Hauge , and the decision was made final by royal resolution on 25 April 1947 . This led to protests from , amongst others , leading Norwegian psychiatrist Johan Scharffenberg . Later life . With starting help from his new wife , Andersen started the wood product factory " Apenes Trevarefabrikk " in Horten , running it for fifteen years . King Haakon VII personally helped him with money and credit , remaining Andersen ' s friend and patron the rest of the king ' s life . One time , Andersen ' s company was hired to perform maintenance work on the Bygdøy Royal Estate . He eventually had to retire because of health problems sustained during the war . Andersen was accused of crimes on several occasions in the post - war years , but was most often acquitted in court . Amongst the crimes of which he was charged but acquitted in court was the theft of building materials in 1954 . Another time he was tricked into lending his car to two people who broke into a goldsmith ' s shop in Tønsberg . Strongly intoxicated at the time of the crime , he was charged but fully acquitted . In 1955 he was , however , convicted and sentenced to 36 days in prison for selling 30 bottles of denatured alcohol , alcohol that was supposed to have been used at his factory . In his later years Andersen became involved in speaking about children ' s rights and correctional institutions . He called the institutions for maladjusted youths " schools for criminals " , and said that the loss and suffering of institutionalization naturally lead youths to crime , using his own life as an example . To explain his views on incarceration and of society ' s response to institutionalized children and ex - convicts Andersen said : " You are to be punished for having been punished . " Johannes " The Yellow Cheese " Andersen died on 29 July 1970 , aged 72 . He was buried in Horten . In late 1968 the book " En mann kalt Gulosten " was released , written by Bjørn Bjørnsen . Already before the book was released , film rights for the story were bought by the company Teamfilm . Teamfilm employee Knut Bohwim stated that the book contained enough material for three motion pictures , but that they would concentrate the story into one film at best .