Siegfried Fehmer became one of the most feared Gestapo officers in Nazi-occupied Norway. Based in Oslo, he specialized in hunting members of the Norwegian resistance, particularly Milorg, and became notorious for personally taking part in interrogations and torture. Prisoners were beaten, deprived of sleep, and subjected to extreme physical and psychological abuse in an effort to destroy resistance networks.

By 1945, Fehmer headed Department IV of the Gestapo in Oslo. When Nazi Germany surrendered, he disguised himself as an ordinary soldier and attempted to escape to Sweden. His plan failed after Allied intelligence intercepted a telephone call he made to a female acquaintance about his German Shepherd. Arrested on 31 May 1945, Fehmer later faced Norwegian justice for the torture and abuse committed during the occupation.