[Norwegian psychiatry and Nazism. A historical project of current interest]

In 1945 the Ministry of Justice appointed a committee to conduct a psychiatric examination of Norwegian Nazis. This was done after a proposal from the Norwegian Psychiatric Association on the initiative of Professor Langfeldt, who at that time was head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oslo. An investigation based on a crosscheck between membership of the Nazi party and the Norwegian case register for psychoses for the period 1926-1940 showed 30% more psychoses among the Nazis than in the population as a whole. Other studies tended to support the view that there was a high prevalence of deviant personalities among the Nazis. A study of 340 "front combatants" (not representative of the whole group of 8,000) showed no increase in psychopathology. They had a higher level of intelligence and education than the mean of young Norwegian males. Many of them belonged to strong pro-Nazi families. The studies of pro-Nazi women, especially the very young who had been involved in sexual relationships with German soldiers, are not representative. The findings seem to indicate that many of them lacked family support and had social problems. The studies are discussed in a historical perspective, with some comments about their relevance today.