Dick Zeiner-Henriksen
Richard Zeiner-Henriksen was a Norwegian businessperson and [Norwegian Norwegian resistance movement|resistance movement|resistance] member during World War II.
World War II
On 9 April 1940, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Norway as a part of World War II. Young Zeiner-Henriksen became a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1. From 1943 to 1944, he co-operated with Max Manus and Oslogjengen and, from 1944 to 1945, he participated in the Special Operations Executive operation GREBE in Dovrefjell and Rondane.He participated in the May 1944 sabotage of Arbeidstjenesten's offices. He obtained copy of the door key to the address Wergelandsveien 3 together with Roy Nielsen. Nielsen was in charge of the strike towards Wergelandsveien 3, but the mission was called off because there were people present at the office. Zeiner-Henriksen joined Max Manus, Edvard Tallaksen and Gregers Gram to strike the address Kirkeveien 90. Zeiner-Henriksen was placed outside the building, tasked with ringing the doorbell in case of peril. As the three main saboteurs had spent one-and-a-half hours burning Arbeidstjenesten's documents, they heard the doorbell as well as shooting. Four people from Milorg had been placed throughout the area to assist with firepower in case enemies showed up. Three of the four guards were captured and executed, whereas the fourth guard, Hans-Peter Styren, survived. Tallaksen, Gram and Zeiner-Henriksen escaped on foot and Manus stole a bike from a passer-by. Only Zeiner-Henriksen, Manus and Styren survived World War II. It later became clear that troops showed up because the Nazi collaborator Hans Eng stayed at the same address that day. The sabotage mission was portrayed in the 2008 film Max Manus. Zeiner-Henriksen was decorated with the Norwegian War Medal, the Defence Medal 1940–1945 and the British King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom.
Zeiner-Henriksen, born in Leningrad, took his examen artium in 1943. He was a son of the diplomat Richard Zeiner-Henriksen and his wife Erica, née Wang. He was a nephew of the professor of medicine Knut Benjamin Zeiner-Henriksen. His brother, Erik Zeiner-Henriksen, was also a resistance member during the war, but was captured in May 1944 and died in Dachau concentration camp in February 1945.