Foto: Ulf Gudmunsson, Fanø > 
  
Erik Haaest

Curiculum Vitae 
Erik Haaest is the author of  'The Sven Hassel Mystery'. Here  his CV, told by himself:
- I am  75 years, born on March 14th 1935, in Denmark. My father was a respected farmer. I made an early break with all family-traditions: I did not want to inherit the farm and become a farmer; I wanted to study to be a journalist. In 1955 I earned my General Certificate of Education with the highest character given that year in Denmark . 
1955-1958 I did my military service. I became an officer (lieutenant) in 1957.
Towards the end of my service, I was posted in Itzehoe , Germany (1957-58). There I served in Denmark 's last military command in the Allied Occupation Forces of Germany.
In 1958 I began my career in journalism, and I have worked in that discipline since then.
For six years, I engaged in it without interruption. In 1964, I became a freelancer.
During these years, I also wrote humurous songs and poems for the Danish variety-world.
At the same time, I was also an author  og books and editor-in-chief of a pop music magazine. From 1975 I have first and foremost written documentary-books of Danes in German military Service for Hitler during the WW-II. Till then, no one had dared to write a single line about this subject; not until I published three journalistic documentary books in 1975 about the Danish volunteers in a Danish 'SS-Freecorps Danmark'.
In response to this, I was opposed by 100% of the so called 'public opinion'. I was even called ' a Nazi' because I had told the story of the war's losing side.
My father knew better. Only because of those accusations in the press, did he suddenly make a revelation to me: He told me of his time in the illegal Danish resistance-movement during the WW-II and the Nazi-occupation of Denmark.
I had never heard that from his mouth before - even though I had had some suspicions of it.  For political reasons my father had drawn himself away from contact with most of his former pals in the resistance-movement. (He died 1992)
He had two reasons for his drawing-back:
1)He was deeply disappointed, when on May 5th 1945 the leaders of the Danish resistance-movement accepted one of the prime ministers from the Danish-German cooperation-years 1940-43 (Mr. Vilhelm Buhl) as the prime minister of the socalled 'Liberation Government'.
2) He did not like, that people, who never did anything active against the German Nazis in Denmark 1940-45, now after the war seemed to be crying the loudest in the name of "the people" (the french word is better: 'le peuple'). He also didn't approve that the former illegal resistance-leaders now claimed honour, medals, high qualified job and life-pension for their fight for their own homeland.
     Knowing this made me even more interested in disclosing all the stories from the time of the German occupation of Denmark. I never believed in anyone to be either 100% clean freedom-fighter or the 100% dark 'traitors'. Something in between must have been. 
I was now a grown-up man and knew that nothing in life is black & white (except for the wellknown whisky). Life is mostly grey. The 'rascals' had their positive sides; the 'heroes' also had their dark sides.
As a journalist I worked in many different European countries. I lived for years in Spain , Germany and Sweden (speak all the three languages). In Spain I worked for three years in the Spanish newspaper in English language 'Majorca Daily Bulletin'. I had an international press-office, selling stories and photos all over the world from the island where al 'the upper ten' came for holidays.
     In 1987 I was back in Denmark and stopped working as an ordinary journalist and stuck to my book-writing. That has till now resulted in about 30 documentary-books of the subject "The Dirty(?) Danes in WW-II".
My latest book (made together with my wife, Gurli. We have worked together for 35 years!). The title is "Sören Kam - Hitlers' Danish Favourite".
  
  You can ask me question in www.facebook.com's "erik haaest fan club' or directly to my mailaddress erik@haaest.dk

                                                      GÅ TIL INDHOLDSFORTEGNELSEN HER