Evald Mikson

Evald Mikson (Icelandic: Eðvald Hinriksson), (12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1911 – 27 December 1993) was an Estonian athlete and police officer. He was a goalkeeper for the Estonia national football team, winning seven caps between 1934 and 1938. Mikson played a controversial role as an alleged collaborator during his service in the police force of Estonia during the 1941–1944 Nazi German occupation of Estonia, and he has been accused of committing war crimes against Jews during World War II.

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

Overview

In 2001, the Simon Wiesenthal Center published allegations that Mikson committed war crimes against the local Jews during the German occupation of Estonia, when he was working as Deputy Head of Police in Tallinn/Harjumaa.[1] Mikson's descendants have reportedly claimed that he had been at least on one occasion imprisoned by the Germans for hiding details about witnesses from his superiors. However, records obtained by the Simon Wiesenthal Center indicate that he was actually detained for possessing gold stolen from his Jewish victims.[1]

Mikson escaped from Estonia to Sweden in 1944. In 1946, he was transported to the Norwegian border, where a boat to Venezuela waited. However, the boat was stranded in Iceland, and he remained there until his death.[2][3]

Mikson himself claimed in 1992 that he was being called a Nazi collaborator and war criminal because of a "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 Mikson, along with Ain-Ervin Mere, Julius Ennok and Ervin Viks, for having signed numerous death warrants when they were members of the Political Police (Department B IV), headed by Ennok.[5]

Family

Mikson was the father of Jóhannes Eðvaldsson, who played for Celtic F.C. in the 1970s, and of Atli Eðvaldsson, s former player for Borussia Dortmund, and player and coach for 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. JSTOR 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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