Departures of note

Børge Willy Redsted Pedersen, writing as Sven Hassel, claimed his bestselling World War II novels were based on his service in a German penal tank regiment on the Eastern Front. In 1963, Danish radio journalist George Kringelbach revealed that Hassel was a convicted traitor, not a war hero. The exposure led his publisher to drop him, and he moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he continued publishing through his own company.

Hassel's wartime record was disputed for decades. He claimed to have joined the German Army in 1936, fought in tank units, and surrendered to Soviets in Berlin in 1945. Martin Q Magnussen’s 2023 book, drawing on recovered archival records, concluded that he joined the Wehrmacht in 1942 under a false name, served in Ukraine, was sent to a penal battalion for impersonating a Spanish Civil War veteran, then absconded and served in the HIPO Corps, a Gestapo-created auxiliary police force. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for treason in 1947 and was released in 1949.

Despite the controversy, his novels, including 'The Legion of the Damned' (1953) and 'Wheels of Terror' (1958), sold over 50 million copies worldwide, making him one of Denmark's bestselling authors. His books were particularly popular in the UK, where he sold 15 million copies. In Denmark, however, he remained an outcast, with critics calling him a traitor and his work plagiarized.

Hassel died in Barcelona on 21 September 2012, aged 95. His son maintained that the official retraction from Danish radio, which acknowledged his father's wartime service, was valid. Later research, including a 2023 book by Martin Q Magnussen, suggested that Hassel's claims were a mix of truth and fabrication, and that he may have been involved in activities that led to innocent people being prosecuted after the war.