Evald Mikson

Evald Mikson (Icelandic: Eðvald Hinriksson), (12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1911 – 27 December 1993) was a goalkeeper in the Estonian national football team, winning seven caps between 1934 and 1938. He has been accused of playing an active role in the murder of Jews in Estonia during his service as Deputy Chief of the Estonian Sicherheitspolizei in the Tallinn-Harju district during the German Occupation of Estonia in World War II.[1]

Evald Mikson
Personal information
Full name Evald Mikson
Date of birth (1911-07-12)12 July 1911 (N.S.)
Place of birth Tartu, Livonia, Russian Empire
Date of death 27 December 1993(1993-12-27) (aged 82)
Place of death Reykjavík, Iceland
Position(s) Goalkeeper
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1934–1938 Estonia 7 (0)

Overview

Mikson has been accused by the Simon Wiesenthal Center of committing serious war crimes against Jews during the Second World War, when he was working as Deputy Head of Police in Tallinn/Harjumaa.

Mikson's descendants have claimed he was imprisoned by the Germans for hiding details about witnesses from his superiors. However, records show he was actually detained for the charge of possessing Jewish goods, relating to gold taken from his victims. He escaped to Sweden in 1944, where there was never any question of extradition to the Soviet Union. In 1946 he was transported to the Norwegian border where a boat to Venezuela waited in Halden. However, the boat was stranded in Iceland, where he remained until his death.[2][3]

According to Evald Mikson in 1992, the reason behind Simon Wiesenthal Center working so hard to call him a Nazi is his "former colleague from the Estonian police force who is now a rich man living in Venezuela and who wanted revenge after I wrote an article about him and his crimes against Estonians in World War II".[4]

In 1999, the Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity singled out the roles of Mikson along with Ain-Ervin Mere, Julius Ennok and Ervin Viks for having signed numerous death warrants during their role as members of the Political Police (Department B IV), headed by Ennok.[5]

Personal life

Mikson was the father of Jóhannes Eðvaldsson, who played for Celtic F.C. in the seventies, and Atli Eðvaldsson, former player for Borussia Dortmund and player and coach of the Icelandic national football team.[6]

References
  1. "WIESENTHAL CENTER WELCOMES ESTONIAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION FINDINGS WHICH CONFIRM HOLOCAUST CRIMES OF EVALD MIKSON". Simon Wiesenthal Center. 2001. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  2. Luik, Margus (2009). Estonian Football 100 years. Estonia: ML Agency. p. 288. ISBN 978-9949-18-257-2.
  3. Örn Vilhjálmsson, Vilhjálmur (23 October 2007). "ICELAND, THE JEWS, AND ANTI-SEMITISM, 1625–2004". Jewish Political Studies Review. 16 (3): 131–156. doi:10.2307/25834609. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  4. "Veit að mál mín verða rannsökuð í Eistlandi". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 21 February 1992. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  5. "Phase II : The German occupation of Estonia in 1941–1944" (PDF). mnemosyne.ee. Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  6. Fortuna-Held Edvaldsson (†62) Als mir Atli Frikadellen mit Marmelade anbot, express.de, 3 September 2019

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