Thorden Hessel Christophersen

Thorden Hessel Christophersen was born at Drammen in Buskerud, Norway. He was the eldest son of Tollef Christophersen (1878–1949) and Emma Langager (1880–1962). Raised in the port city of Drammen, he began his lifelong seafaring career at 17, working on local trading vessels.[1]

In 1935, he married Ida Beckmann. The pair would go on to have 4 sons.[1]

Christophersen followed the standard marine career-path, beginning with odd-jobs on local vessels. In 1928, he secured a stable position as the chief deckhand aboard a minor trading vessel that made regular journeys between Drammen and Tallinn as part of the Estonian Pelt Trade.[1] This began his lifelong infatuation with the northern region of Estonia.

Sometime in 1940 he began to notice the political activities of his brother, Halfdan Olaus Christophersen, and approached the Den nasjonale regjering to begin his career as an informant on the activities of the Norwegian resistance movement.[1] He gained insider access to the resistance through the influence of his brother, who secured for him a role collecting intelligence on German shipping and passing messages to and from contacts in the Eesti Vastupanuliikumine.

Eventually, Hessel Christophersen's lack of intelligence training resulted in his exposure as a Den nasjonale regjering collaborator.[1] This revelation led to a falling out between him and his brother, Halfdan Olaus Christophersen, who would never speak to him again.[2]

His public status as a collaborator resulted in his shunning by his Norwegian friends and professional contacts. Hessel Christophersen would soon take his family to flee Norway and settle in the familiar port city of Tallinn, Estonia, adopting the last name Hesselbeck, a combination of his middle name and his wife's maiden name.[3]