The fantastic life of Harry Söderman
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The
fantastic
life of Harry
Söderman
1902-1956He learnt the subject working with
the famous Dr Locard in Lyon and
became the first director of the
National Forensic Science Institute,
the predecessor of SKL - The
National Laboratory of Forensic
Science.
He had an enormous capacity, as
he was, at the same time, leading
the Institute, writing books and per-
forming many extra tasks because
of his reputation as an expert and
organiser. Being true entrepreneur,
he was more devoted to develop-
ment than to administration, but he
had the right feeling for gathering
the necessary co-workers to main-
tain his enterprise.
HARRY SÖDERMAN 1934, PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN
When we at the SKL wanted to
commemorate the 100th anniver-
sary of Harry Söderman's birth, we
soon found that it was impossible to
give only one view of such an
extraordinary achievement.
We have therefore chosen three
different angles.
The first is that of a journalist
who takes into account what the
general public of today might want
to know about the fantastic life of
Harry Söderman.
The second is more of a formal
account for Harry Söderman's work
Foreword
written for the journal Police
Science when he was still alive, and
the third is a view from one of
today's European forensic scien-
tists, who has looked into some of
the archives.
Harry Söderman lived an extraordinary
We hope these three aspects will life. Few have accomplished as much as
give, not only a reasonable cover- he did.
age of the life and achievements of
Harry Söderman, but also good He can be considered as the father of
reading. Swedish “kriminalteknik”, which encom-
passes the whole Forensic Science labora-
tory area except forensic medicine and
INGVAR KOPP
PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR, SKL toxicology.
3Revolver-
Harry and
Kalle
Blomqvist
The adventurous life of
a forensic scientist
HARRY SÖDERMAN 1945, PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN
BY: KAIANDERS SEMPLER
TRANSLATION: INGELA DELLBY
It is told that by the end
of the Second World
War, May 1st 1945, he
took the night train
from Stockholm to Oslo,
walked straight up to
the German comman-
dant and declared that
In Norway he was considered a be sustained by legal security. And
continued resistance national hero, and at Furudal north of legal security in turn needs access to
would be madness. Rättvik there is a bust in remem- the unambiguous technical produc-
Together with a brance of him. In his native town tion of evidence, for convicting the
German motorcycle Nora, a square is now named after guilty as well as for acquitting the
him. innocent.
messenger he then went Actually, his name was Harry By the end of the 1900th century
out to the dreaded Söderman, but after he had become a northern Sweden was to a great extent
German prison camp doctor of philosophy by test shooting a lawless land. Harry's father, Pehr
Grini and personally weapons and comparing the grooves Söderman, had been a county sheriff
of the bullets, he was generally called in Delsbo. His work as the guardian
released the imprisoned of the law seems to have had much in
Revolver-Harry. He was an ardent
Norwegian resistance democrat and anti-fascist and he common with the work of the sheriffs
men. meant that the free society could only in the films of the Wild West.
4If we can trust his posthumous rep- Bicycle, elephants, canoes and
utation, Mr. Söderman senior showed camels were Harry Söderman´s
quite a few similarities with Wyatt means of transportation from
Earp, the legendary sheriff of Dodge Stockholm to Constantinople via
Persia through the Baluchistani
City. The county sheriff was in a per-
desert to India and China.
petual state of feud with the illicit dis-
tillers in his region, and both parties
always had their guns ready to fire. It is
astounding that Mr. Söderman senior
survived all the ambushes, assaults and
PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”
nightly fighting in the forest where
they shot savagely at each other with
their shotguns.
However, when young Harry was
born in 1902 the family had moved to
more civilised areas farther south in the
country. Harry started school, but he
did not show any great inclination for
studies. The only subjects he was inter-
ested in were chemistry and physics.
The result was that he later entered the
chemical vocational training school in After he had returned home and Swedish Police Magazine and another
Malmö from which he graduated in done his military service in Sweden, Swedish weekly magazine to send them
1923. he decided to start his career as a a travel diary, which would make his
chemist by taking a "Wanderjahr" - a travelling funds last longer.
Wood chemistry year of wandering the world. Perhaps Harry's trip turned out to be longer
The intention was that Harry should something would turn up in the mean- than he originally planned for. From
become a chemist in the wood indus- time. Constantinople, nowadays Istanbul, he
try. But after he had practised for First he stayed for some time in continued eastwards. Through Persia,
some months at a wood company he France and then he worked for a cou- the Baluchistani desert, India and
realised that in order to get anywhere ple of months as a fireman on a North Burma he went all the way to Thailand
in the world of timber, pulp and sul- Sea tramp steamer. But Harry was a and China. Everywhere he was keen on
phate lye he had to add to his theoret- young man with a will of iron and an seeing the local police authorities and
ical knowledge. So he went to unusual talent for innovative and reporting home.
Altenburg in Germany and studied unconventional thinking. He wanted It isn't quite the regular thing that
wood chemistry in the very midst of to go farther away, he wanted to see people should bike to China. At least not
the worst years of inflation in the the Orient. He went home and turned
Weimar Republic. After a year he had in Sweden. Here Harry's exploit would
to the manager of a Swedish bicycle not be repeated until the 1990s. Then a
his exam - and in addition, he had
factory with a radical suggestion: young Swede named Göran Kropp
learnt to speak German.
- Lend me a bike and I'll ride it to cycled from Sweden to the Himalayas.
But it wasn't forest chemistry that
Constantinople and in that way I'll There he climbed the peak of Mount
Harry dreamed about, but criminolo-
boost your firm, he said. Everest and then cycled back home
gy, and he devoured everything he
could lay his hands on in this subject. A bicycle trip to Asia again.
But how could he ever become a The bicycle factory owner was so Although, Harry never climbed the
criminologist? For getting a job with- surprised that he consented, and highest mountain in the world, but he
in the police, you had to study law, Harry quickly packed his knapsack. spent one and a half years of his journey
something that was definitely not in Before he went away he also took the in the east. Then he turned back home.
his line. opportunity to arrange with the But what would become of him now?
5A meeting on a However, the next morning the wood industry missed a competent
weather was bad with fog and snow, chemist.
mountain peak
so the party had to stay in the cabin From this we learn to take advan-
In his autobiography "Policeman's
for several days. They passed the tage of the opportunity and the impor-
Lot" (published posthumously in
time with card games and conversa- tance of polite conversations with
1956 in the USA) Harry Söderman
tion while the storm howled round the strangers on mountain peaks!
tells that he decided to ramble in the
doors. Then it happened that Harry In Lyon Harry learnt modern
Swedish mountains for some days
talked about his secret dream - to criminal investigation from the
after his return home. He went north
study criminal investigation for the ground up.
and took lodgings at a small boarding
famous French criminologist Locard assumed that the criminal
house.
Edmond Locard in Lyon. always leaves some traces, something
One day he made a tour up to a
"How interesting", said the which is now called the Locard prin-
mountaintop nearby. The landlady
Frenchman. "Locard is a good friend ciple: "Every contact leaves a trace!"
wondered whether he could consider
of mine. If you wish, I could write Mr. Locard claimed.
taking some of the other guests at the
him a letter of recommendation and The marks a forensic technician
boarding house up there. The whole
ask if he would take you on as a stu- looks for are such things as hair, tex-
thing ended by forming a small expe-
dent." tile fibres, fingerprints, nail dirt,
dition consisting of Harry, a clergy-
Some weeks later Harry had a let- bloodstains, sperm, shoe- and wheel
man, a lawyer and a Frenchman.
ter from Mr. Locard wishing him traces, dust and gravel, glass splinter,
After some hours they reached the top
warm welcome to Lyon as a tempo- paint flakes, chemical substances.
of the mountain. There was one of the
rary student.
Swedish Touring Club's cabins for Harry learned all about chemical
over-night accommodation, and The Lyon years analyses, identification of finger-
where they had their picnic and Harry Söderman, now 24 years old, prints, investigation on the scene of a
stayed the night. promptly left for Lyon. The Swedish crime and many other things.
PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”
PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”
Locard´s staff at the forensic laboratory in Lyon in 1928. Edmund The monkey had been trained by
Locard is the second from the right in the bottom row and Harry his cunning owner to become a
Söderman is the second from the right in the upper row. master cat burglar.
6While in Lyon Harry also took the Harry Söderman
PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”
opportunity to take a doctor's degree investigates a sub-
at the University of Lyon. His machine gun in his
research work naturally concerned office at the National
Forensic Science
criminal investigation. It was about
Institute.
analysis and identification of pistol
bullets. He was the first to make a sci-
entific study of the individual mark-
ings on fired bullets that originate
from the grooves in the barrel and the
cartridge case due to the firing pin.
In order to examine pistol bullets
One of the During his journeys all over
Europe and the USA he collected the
quickly, he invented an apparatus he founders of Interpol latest findings concerning criminal
called a Hastoscope. It was a compar- Harry Söderman was now considered investigation. He summarised it all in
ison microscope where the bullets one of the leading forensic techni- "The Handbook of criminal investi-
investigated could be turned and rotat- cians in the world, and lectured both gation", a thick book of 680 pages,
ed, either together or individually. in the USA and at Scotland Yard in which accounted for forensic meth-
After six years with Mr. Locard in London. In New York he took part in ods from antiquity to our own time.
Lyon he thought himself skilled the development of a new forensic Here he discussed matters, such as
enough and returned to Sweden. laboratory. Thanks to his excellent identification of individuals by fin-
Once back home he started a small knowledge of languages - he spoke gerprints, the collection of traces on
private bureau in Stockholm where he fluent German, French and English - the scene of the crime and photo-
offered forensic services, and above he naturally became a prominent fig- graphic documentation, witness psy-
all, certificates of authenticity of doc- ure in the international police collab- chology, analyses of powder stains,
uments. His work progressed more oration, and he was one of the pistol bullets and bullet-holes, analy-
and more successfully, and soon he founders of Interpol. sis of writing and other such things.
was appointed docent in criminology
at the University of Stockholm.
He got a grant and went to the
USA to make contacts and study the
Harry Söderman´s
forensic progress of the new world. “Minnesbok för
Forming of SKA Kriminalpolismän”
In 1939 Doctor Harry Söderman (Memo book för
police detectives)
became head of the recently formed
was first published
SKA - The National Forensic Science in 1938.
Institute - in Stockholm. The purpose It vas considered to
of the institute was to give the police be a memorandum
means and competence to make accu- for the police
rate analyses and investigations on detective in his
the scene of a crime, and that was a fieldwork.
predecessor to today's SKL - The The author was
National Laboratory of Forensic very clear that the
contents of the book
Science in Linköping.
were exclusively for
PHOTO: BO LUNDQUIST
- Because the criminal always policemen “because
leaves marks, Harry told his new col- of the occurring
leagues and pupils. It is only a ques- descriptions of the
tion of having methods sophisticated working methods of
enough to detect them. criminals, etc.”
7Astrid Lindgren as Astrid Lindgren has afterwards
told that it was during the time she
secretary was Harry Söderman's secretary that
In 1939 he looked for a secretary for she got inspiration and forensic mate-
his voluminous correspondence. A rial for the books. In "Bill Bergson,
young lady named Astrid Lindgren
Master Detective" (Mästerdetektiven
got the job. Nobody knew then that
Blomqvist) Bill takes the fingerprints
this young lady in course of time
of a sleeping scoundrel according to
would become one of Sweden's most
all the recognised rules.
beloved writers of children's books
and internationally famous. In the following book, "Bill
Astrid Lindgren wrote in 1946 a Bergson Lives Dangerously"
book titled "Bill Bergson, Master (Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist lever
Detective", the first of what would farligt), he carries out an advanced
become a sequence of three exciting chemical analysis - the Marshian
books for young people. The books arsenic test - and discovers that a bar
are about the twelve-year-old Kalle of chocolate is poisoned with arsenic.
Blomkvist - or Bill Bergson, as is his It is all breathtaking, especially for
English name - who is dreaming of young readers at the age of twelve.
becoming a detective, and who gets The books were radio serials in
involved in a succession of nasty the 1950s, and were later also trans- Revolver-Harry Söderman in the
criminal cases together with his ferred to movies. Thus the forensic guise of Bill Bergson became an idol
friends. laboratory technician and detective for all the boys in Sweden.
Front page of the But that was not enough. The
Swedish magazine police, and particularly the forensic
Lektyr från 1952. laboratory technicians, have never
had such good standing in Sweden as
It says: during the time when the Bill
“New series of Bergson-fever raged.
articles!
The head of the Well-read columnist
National Forensic But it wasn't only in the shape of Bill
Science Institute, Mr Bergson that Harry Söderman
Harry Söderman, reached the public. By this time,
shares his memoirs many popular weekly and monthly
with us.” magazines readily told about horrible
crimes and legal cases. These maga-
zines hired Harry Söderman as a
columnist and he told astounding sto-
ries in the best Sherlock Holmes-
manner from the exciting world of
criminal investigation.
Much of the material was from his
time with Mr Locard in Lyon. Here
was, for instance, the story about the
burglar with the strange fingerprints.
Nobody could understand how the
cunning jewel thief could get through
a window on the third floor. Finally it
was discovered that a trained monkey
8had committed the thefts. No wonder
the fingerprints were unusual.
Many of the stories published in
the Swedish magazines "Kriminal-
journalen", "Lektyr", "Rekordmaga-
sinet" and other popular press also
appear in "Policeman's Lot".
But let us return to the wartime.
Training of
Norwegian policemen
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN
In the spring 1942, whilst the war was
raging, Harry Söderman had a request
from the Norwegian minister for jus-
tice in London. In Sweden there were
quite a few Norwegians who had fled
the Nazi occupation of Norway, the
minister explained. Would it be possi-
ble to start a discreet training of
Norwegian policemen in Sweden? An expedition with members of the Norwegian resistance, the military,
The idea was that after the war, these doctors and a chauffeur to save war captives at the Saltfjord in May
men would replace those policemen 1945. Harry Söderman is the third man from the left.
that had become compromised by
working for the Quisling administra- Altogether 17 000 men were Arctic Scandinavia" by Lars
tion. trained between 1943 and 1945 at Gyllenhaal, Historiska media 2001.
Certainly, said Harry, and with his Harry Söderman's "health camps". One of the Norwegians who was
usual capacity for unconventional and One of which was in the wood at flown up to the north of Norway from
innovative methods he took care of the Gottröra, not far from the present Sweden was Thor Heyerdahl, the
matter. A number of "health farms" international airport of Stockholm, man who later became world-famous
were opened where the Norwegians Arlanda. for his voyages with the rafts Kon-
were trained with the consent of the January 12th 1945 the first Tiki and Ra. Another was the father
Swedish authorities. Norwegian police troops were airlift- of my brother-in-law, a young man
In reality it was not the matter of ed by the Americans from Luleå to called Arvid Holte, who had fled
policemen but pure military training, Kirkenes on the Norwegian Arctic Norway two years earlier.
this in flagrant violation of Sweden's Ocean coast. The whole of Finnmark
had been burnt and betrayed by the
International
formal status as a neutral state. But
after Stalingrad the political winds in retreating Germans during the commitments
In 1953 Harry Söderman decided to
Sweden had shifted concurrently with autumn of 1944, and Russian troops
resign as head of the National
the fortunes of war. had occupied the eastern Finnmark
Forensic Science Institute to dedicate
From the point when neutral up to the Tana River. himself totally to his international
Sweden was left with no alternative Harry Söderman's police troops commitments. He moved to the USA
and was forced to be a puppet of now took over from the Russians, with his family, and as a consultant he
Germany, the Swedish government who compliantly pulled away to their participated in the organisation of
was more and more keenly sympathet- side of the border one month later. police organisations in a number of
ic to the cause of the allies. The fact This was in accordance with the countries.
that Harry Söderman in some treaty at Jalta between Churchill, 1956 he was struck by heart
inscrutable way managed to find arms Roosevelt and Stalin. infarction during a commission in
for the Norwegian police detachment This and many other things you Tanger. An adventurous life was at an
can be seen as a definite proof of this. can read about in "The Battle of the end.
9Harry Soderman of Stockholm:
Master Criminologist
BY: CEDRIC LARSSON
FROM: THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW,
CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE,
1952.
The name of
Söderman is almost
legendary in
European police cir-
cles, and it is no
exaggeration to say
that today he is
Europe's leading
criminologist and
authority on police
systems.
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF AFTONBLADET
W
hile Söderman´s name is The career of Dr. Harry Söderman Sweden. This area was once regarded
familiar in American once more illustrates the ancient as the most "hard-boiled" province in
police circles also, due proverb that truth is stranger than fic- Sweden. Per Söderman was married
largely to his writings in police sci- tion. One might almost suspect that twice, with seven children by the first
ence, his very distinguished career is such a biography had been conjured marriage and three by the second.
all too little known. up from the fertile mind of a Conan Harry was the eldest by the second
marriage.
The writer has had the privilege of Doyle or Baron Münchausen.
Dr. Söderman says with a twinkle
several interviews with the eminent Dr. Söderman was born August
in his eye that his interest in criminol-
criminologist in the course of his 28, 1902 in Stockholm in a maternity ogy dates from the time that his moth-
most recent visit to America, and home, although his family did not er was still nursing him, because
obtained from him the story of his live in that city. He was one of ten twice in his infancy enemies of his
life, which has been supplemented children. His father, Per Söderman, father unsuccessfully tried to put
with extensive readings into his con- was a Landsmann, a kind of sheriff, explosives in the Söderman house to
siderable published works. in Delsbo, Helsingland, in northern destroy it.
10A promising student He was not content merely to visit tor to a mission from Siam under
Harry showed unusual promise in the large centers of population of Prince Vongsa Nirajra teaching these
school, and his father determined to these countries, but constantly pushed Siamese modern scientific police
give him a good technical education back into the hinterland in his crimi- methods.
and make him a chemist. His elemen- nological hegira. His dispatches were Returning to Sweden in 1930, he
tary schooling was had in northern read with great interest throughout was made chief editor of Nordisk
Sweden, and when he finished ele- Scandinavia and by criminologists of Criminal Teknisk Tidskrift (Nordic
mentary school, his father sent him to all the leading capitals of Europe. Journal for Police Science) the most
the Chemical Institute of Malmö When he returned, he found himself noteworthy publication in its field in
where he was graduated with honors already famous at the age of 24. northern Europe. Besides teaching at
in 1920. At the age of 18 he went for Back in Europe the University of Stockholm, he was
special training to Germany, where he Returning to Europe, he became also appointed by a Royal Swedish
studied legal chemistry as well as assistant to Dr. Edmond Locard at the charter to become an instructor in
pulp and paper chemistry at the French State Police Laboratory at police science to the higher officials
Technical Institute of Altenburg, from Lyons from 1926 to 1928. While in the Swedish Royal State Police.
where he was graduated in 1922. there he took the degree of Doctor of In the years that followed his
Although his father wanted Harry Science at the University of Lyons, fame grew by leaps and bounds. He
to have a solid occupation as a getting that degree with "Tres was assigned by the Swedish govern-
chemist in a Swedish paper mill, such Honorable" mention. ment in dozens of instances to inves-
a prosaic life held little challenge to He now embarked in earnest on tigate cases of arson, serious theft
this dynamic youth. While in his life's work in criminology. He was cases, and murder, throughout the
Germany, he became a keen student elected a member of the International whole of Scandinavia, when the local
of criminology, first more as a hobby Academy of Criminal Science in police authorities could not cope
than anything else. Soon he was Vienna, in 1929. That same year he with them.
studying it seriously and became was elected assistant editor of Revue In a surprising percentage of all
known as a capable person in this Internale de Criminalistique, pub- these cases, through the use of scien-
field. lished in Lyons, a post he held for tific detection methods, he would
many years. In 1929 he spent several track down the perpetrator of the
Two years in Asia months in France as a special instruc- crime.
Harry had been an avid reader of travel
books in his adolescent years, and
always cherished a dream of one day
travelling through Asia. He was now
able to realize his fond ambition, for
after returning to Stockholm, he per-
suaded the Swedish Police Journal to
send him on an Asiatic tour from 1924-
26.
PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”
He served as a correspondent for
this paper and reported on Asiatic police The famous Sir Basil
systems and crime and delinquency in Thomson, earlier
these countries. He spent over two years Head of the Central
travelling extensively in Asia, from Intelligence Division at
the Scotland Yard and
Turkey through the entire continent to
Harry Söderman,
China. He journeyed through Syria, flanked by the two
Mesopotamia, Persia, Baluchistan; and Siamese men then
traveled on camel-back through India, studying criminal
Burma, Siam, and French Indo-China. investigation in Lyon.
11In 1931 he was named a member 675 pages - was the precursor of his Söderman all this time felt that
of the Royal Parliamentary Technical classic Modern Criminal Investigation, there was ample room for a good
Committee which investigated the later to make such a success on both basic work on criminology for police
riots at the sawmills in Ådalen, sides of the Atlantic. The 1930 students everywhere, written in
Sweden. In 1934 he was made a spe- Handbook is written in clear, readable English, which would parallel in con-
cial investigator into the celebrated Swedish prose, and well illustrated, but tent his 1930 Handbook whose utility
Reichstag Arson case which made was handicapped by the fact that its had been greatly circumscribed by
history. The criminologist reported audience was limited to persons who the fact that it was in Swedish. He
his findings, in this case for a leading could read Swedish. talked the matter over with his friend
Stockholm paper. He was the only In 1930 Söderman published in O'Connell, and after many explorato-
person other than the Nazi officials French an authoritative volume on fin- ry conversations, the two decided to
to speak with the suspect, Van der gerprints: Etude sur les Empreintes team up and produce a book under
Lubbe, in prison. Digitales. joint authorship, using the unparal-
“HANDBOK I KRIMINALTEKNIK” PHOTO: BO LUNDQUIST
Söderman's considerable knowl- leled resources of the New York
edge of chemistry and science in Police Department and Söderman's
general were put to excellent wide continental experience as back-
use in combatting crime, ground.
and he devised many
new methods or appli-
Modern Criminal
cations of science in Investigation
crime-solving, involving Thus it was that Modern
ballistics, fingerprints of Criminal Investigation by
dead bodies, footprints, Söderman and O'Connell made
burglary investigation, postal its initial appearance in 1935 under
theft investigation, dust analy- All the imprint of Funk & Wagnalls
sis, espionage, and similar the above Company. This volume was destined
fields. works have been to make history in the literature of
He came, however, to be best widely quoted in French, police science. The first edition
known internationally through his German, Spanish, South American, (which is now a collector's item) had
writings. His first book was published and English works on crime. 24 chapters, bibliography and index,
in Stockholm in 1927 when he was and totalled 461 pages.
but 25 : Brottets Värld (The World of
Studies in America It was well illustrated with photo-
In 1933 Söderman obtained a fellow-
Crime). The following year another graphs and line-drawings and won
ship from the Swedish American
work appeared under his name in the almost instantaneous acceptance as a
Foundation to study American police
French language and published at standard in its field throughout the
systems. He spent a whole year in the
Lyons: L'Expertise des Arms a Feu New York City Police Department police world. Sales of the first print-
Courtées. He published also a large studying their methods, and made a ing were so rapid that it was quickly
number of technical monographs in wide circle of friends, among them John exhausted. Many other printings fol-
learned journals and specialized peri- J. O'Connell, late Chief Inspector. lowed in quick succession. In the next
odicals. After a year with the New York five or six years the book went
His fame reached much higher in Police, Söderman and O'Connell were through three editions and 18 print-
1930 upon the appearance of what entrusted with the task of founding the ings.
promised to be a definitive work on new police laboratory. This consumed Total sales were never officially
police science: Handbok i about another year. Söderman, mean- divulged by Funk & Wagnalls, but
Kriminalteknik (Handbook o f Police while, had used the time to good advan- from informal conversations with
Science) in which he collaborated with tage to visit police departments of other officials of that firm, the writer esti-
Ernst Fontell, Police Commissioner of large American cities, and the offices of mates that sales in America alone
Gothenburg. This Handbook - totalling the F.B.I. in Washington. must have totalled close to 75,000.
12although he is gone so much he has to
have competent understudies to carry
on in his absences. Dr. Söderman was
given a free hand in setting up the
National Institute, which he divided
into two units. The first division was
the laboratory division and dealt with
all kinds of scientific and technical
methods for combatting crime. The
second division was administrative in
character and carries on the multifar-
ious paper work inevitably entailed in
efficient criminological investigation.
The National Institute acts as a
DRAWING BY OTTO WENDEL
clearinghouse throughout Scandi-
navia for fingerprint registrations,
criminal records and data of all types,
and related functions. Besides this,
the Institute has extensive archives of
crime records, a "Rogue's Gallery,"
serves as a central passport institution
Statens Kriminaltekniska Anstalt at Bergsgatan, Stockholm 1939
for the country and handles all rela-
Besides the English editions, how- passed away in 1947, so virtually the tions with foreign police, publishes a
ever, the book was translated into a half- entire burden of revision has fallen on police bulletin, and sends out special-
dozen different languages, including Söderman's shoulders. ly trained agents for the examination
French, German, Swedish, Spanish, and But to get back to Söderman's of scenes of crime at the request of
Japanese. career in the thirties-after leaving local authorities. It has extensive and
In 1939 a South American edition New York in 1935 he again returned modern laboratories which are con-
was published in Buenos Aires, some to Sweden and taught at the sidered to be among the best in
3 700 copies being printed. It was University of Stockholm. He man- Europe.
translated by Germãn Salgado of the aged to find time to do some work for
Buenos Aires Police Department and the International Police Commission
Swedish Police
Dr. Antonio L. Beruti, a judge in the The Police School in Stockholm
dealing with the issuance and stan-
Supreme Court of that city. Although (where Dr. Söderman teaches) is one
dardization of passports, designed to
no exact figures are obtainable, a of the most extensive in the world.
combat illegal traffic in this field.
conservative estimate would place The passing of its examinations is
The year 1937 Söderman spent in
foreign language copies of the compulsory for every rank up to com-
Dublin, where he was principal advis-
Söderman-O'Connell book at about missary of police (superintendent,
er in the reorganization of the Irish
25,000. This would place total sales English style; captain, American
State Police.
of the book in the 100,000 bracket, style).
thought to be a record for a work in SKA The Swedish state police set-up is
this field. In 1939 the Swedish Parliament cre- rather unusual. This force is chiefly
A completely revised and rewrit- ated a kind of Swedish version of the concerned with policing the rural dis-
ten edition, comprising thirty chap- F.B.I. called Statens Kriminal- tricts and has branch offices in every
ters and 576 pages, was published in tekniska Anstalt, or National Institute one of the 25 provinces. The detec-
February, 1952. It was issued as of Technical Police. Söderman was tives and patrolmen are loaned out
under the joint authorship imprint on named its first director, a post which from the local forces for a certain time
the title-page, although O'Connell he has retained to the present time, but paid by the government, and the
13different state police forces are mainly
handled by the chief public prosecutor
of the province. The head of the state
police is formally an assistant com-
missioner in the Stockholm police
department. The police forces of
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN
Sweden number about 7600 men.
World War II
During World War II, Söderman was
placed by his government in charge of a
then very confidential project of organ-
izing Norwegian and Danish police
troops raised in Sweden during that con-
flict. The Norwegian contingent num-
bered about 15,000 and the Danish Harry Söderman advocated that the German police should be armed.
This made the East German press call him "Revolver-Harry", a nickname
3,000. Their mission was to be ready the
that followed him till he died and even afterwards, presumably because
day Germany capitulated to rush into it seemed so appropriate. As we all know, he had both taken his docto-
their respective countries and preserve r's degree in the identification of firearms and armed the Norwegian poli-
law and order. This they accomplished ce troops. Here at the farewell party in Germany in 1951, he makes a
capably, in close cooperation with the joke about his nickname.(Source: Erik Söderman)
Swedish General Staff and the Allied
authorities.
held by the Gestapo in Norway, and Reorganization of
Söderman was busy bargaining on how
Shortly before the ending of World to get them out and into Sweden in German Police
War II Söderman was sent to occupied buses, when the war suddenly ended. Dr. Söderman had an interesting assign-
Oslo on a bold mission. There were at Söderman in a characteristic decisive ment during the year 1951. Since 1946
that time about 7,000 political prisoners fashion, seized the initiative and freed the Germans in the Allied sections ran
these unfortunate prisoners on his own their own police under Allied supervi-
responsibility and for a time was a sort sion. However, when the Bonn
of police chief in Oslo until the Republic was set up, it became apparent
Norwegian authorities could move in that there was need for the reorganiza-
and take over. Later the King of Norway tion of the German police by an impar-
decorated him with the Distinguished tial outside expert. Dr. Söderman was
Service Medal of Norway for this feat. chosen for this tough assignment, and
This medal is normally reserved for from March to December 1951 spent
bravery on the battlefield. most of his time and energy at this for-
In the post-war years, Söderman has midable task.
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN
acted as Reporter General to the There was established in Wiesbaden
International Criminal Police a Federal Office of Crime Investigation
Commission, a post which requires (Bundeskriminalamt). This office main-
travel, correspondence, and writing. tains large laboratories, publishes the
This supra-national organization has Police Bulletin, keeps a central file of
among its members police organiza- fingerprints and other crime records,
tions from all over the free world, such and sends out trained agents to aid the
as Scotland Yard and similar groups. It local police if so requested.
has as its aim the cooperation of the The Office has limited executive
Harry Söderman in Norway, police systems of the free world in com- powers. It maintains in the capital,
1945. batting international crime. Bonn, a special squad of detectives for
14the protection of the president, cabinet which has been of great benefit to It is a sad truth that criminals always
members, and the diplomatic corps. The mankind throughout the world. seem to take advantage of the latest dis-
Federal Office of Crime Investigation Söderman's great contribution to crimi- coveries within scientific progress in the
handles all relations with foreign police nology has been to adapt and extend the perpetration of many of their crimes.
and is the connecting link with the discoveries of science, chiefly biology, Therefore society owes a great debt of
International Criminal Police physics, and chemistry, during the past gratitude to men like Söderman, who
Commission. Needless to say, Dr. three decades, to the field of police sci- seek to utilize the latest advances of sci-
Söderman is the principal architect in ence. He is no armchair criminologist, ence in combatting crime. It is a basic
this reorganization of the German police either, but to perfect his knowledge of tenet of Söderman's philosophy that the
system. criminal investigation, has visited hun- police, fighting as it does an often
dreds if not thousands of scenes of uneven battle to protect society, has
Personal life crime of every known type. His skill, every reason in the world to keep in step
As for his personal life, Dr. Söderman patience, tact, industry, and thorough- with the latest developments of science.
was married in 1935 to Ingrid Beckman. ness have also made him quite popular Söderman´s niche in the crimino-
They have two sons: Pehr born in 1936 with all police groups he has worked logical hall of fame is assured, and it is
and Erik born 1946. The Södermans live with. He has personally solved scores of a considerable niche. His career, it is
on an estate 30 miles south of Stockholm. baffling crimes in his lifetime, by the hoped, is far from over, but his fame
Politically Dr. Söderman has wisely never use of scientific methods of criminal would be assured on the basis of what
been active. investigation, and many cases could be he has already done. His name is as
He is a member of the Swedish set forth if space permitted. familiar in Sweden as that of J. Edgar
Hoover in America. His name takes its
"Farmers Party" and was once persuaded A genial knack place with that honored group who have
to run as a candidate from his district to Söderman is an affable, forthright indi-
Parliament, but was not elected, probably done so much to protect society from
vidual, with a saving sense of humor the ravages of evil and misguided men
to the disgust of the criminal world where and a genial knack of making friends
they would prefer to see him do anything who form the criminal fringe of every
wherever he goes. On one or two occa- generation.
but chase criminals. In conversation, sions when in New York City, he has
Söderman loves to refer fondly to his given entertaining and diverting lectures A tribute to
"farm," crops, and animals. In his some-
what rare uncriminological moments, he
before such groups as the Mystery Söderman
Writers of America, Inc., drawing anec- It is a tribute to Söderman to say that
styles himself a "farmer." dotes and stories from his rich fund of he is far more than a great Swedish
During his distinguished career, personal experience, which are as criminologist. He does, in fact,
Söderman has won a host of honors and breath-taking as any Sherlock Holmes belong to the entire world of free
conferments by foreign governments, yarn. Like most Swedes of education, society, for his researches, discover-
police societies, and learned bodies, too he speaks English with ready facility. ies, and achievements have been
numerous to mention. Söderman never In Western civilization in the past made available to the free world. His
displays any of his awards, even to inti- few decades there has gradually devel- eminent name belongs with that hon-
mates, or talks about his honors, since he oped a new science which in America is ored company of Bertillon, Gross,
is a man of considerable modesty. He called criminal investigation or police
Galton, Locard, Heindl, Balthazard,
dresses very simply, and one would never science.
Wentworth, Van Ledden, De Rechter,
surmise just from looking at him casually In Europe it is usually termed police
Minovici, Osborn, Mitchell, and
that he was the foremost criminologist of scientifique or technique policiere. As
many others - all great names in the
Europe. Söderman is a prolific writer and for the continental terminology, it is
annals of criminology - and who have
indefatigable researcher, and if some rather difficult to say which of these
left society far safer and stronger
ambitious librarian ever made a complete terms is preferable. The former refers to
because they have lived.
bibliography of his writings there would a given, definite science and the latter to
THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL
probably be 150 to 200 titles to list. the practical application of that science. OF CRIMINAL LAW,
Söderman today, at fifty years of Both are important phases in preserving CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE.
age, stands at the apex of his career, one law and order. VOL. 43, NO. 1. MAY-JUNE, 1952.
15Harry Söderman
A Great Pan-European
Criminalist
My contribution here is mini-
BY PROFESSOR PIERRE A. MARGOT, PHD mal, but shows through anecdotes,
INSTITUT DE POLICE SCIENTIFIQUE ET DE CRIMINOLOGIE, LAUSANNE notes, contributions by his peers
(which do not appear in most pub-
HARRY SÖDERMAN is a name that I first lished material I have seen in
English) how highly regarded
heard when I was a student of forensic sci- Harry Söderman was and how
ence in Lausanne some 25 years after his innovative he could be, facing
pragmatic problems.
death. It did not come up attached to a
specific field like Bertillon (anthropome- Relation to Locard
It is obvious, throughout his writ-
try), Galton (dactyloscopy), Goddard (fire- ing, that Harry Söderman had an
arms), Osborn (Questioned documents), admiration for Edmond Locard, his
thesis director, mentor, colleague,
but more like the name of his master friend.
Edmond Locard, a generalist, a criminalist This relation and admiration can
in its pure dimension looking at evidence be felt while reading the first 190
pages of the book Policeman's Lot
not only as a means of proving in court, (Söderman 1956).
but also as lead-giving in the investiga- What is less obvious and less
tion. well known is that this admiration
was reciprocal, arose from the time
Harry Söderman was a student of
T
his is also probably why he This needs polyvalence, observation Locard in Lyon, and remained after
became known in circles capabilities, intelligence, to transform the dreadful tragedy that split
where forensic scientists are data into meaningful information. Europeans in WWII. There are two
rarely known : in police circles. Curiosity and the development of a "preface" written by Locard in
This, in my mind, is an indication multilingual culture helped make 1928 (Söderman 1928) and in 1956
that he had a clear, modern and for- Harry Söderman one of the foremost (Söderman 1956) that never appear
ward looking vision of the role of mind in forensic science. in English editions or versions, but
forensic science; a vision that many Not knowing him directly, it is by that are telling witnesses of this
forensic scientists still lack today researching through archives that I close relationship. It is perhaps bet-
ensconced in their specialist's views started to understand the importance ter to start with the preface written
of “their” science for the law, rather of his contribution and to regret his in 1956, when Locard learns of the
than science in its broadest sense as a early disappearance. Forensic scien- death of his friend. I freely trans-
process useful in determining truth tists of today should be aware of a late the whole preface which I will
(identity, cause, circumstances) as rich contribution whose validity is try to relate to other documents
much as possible for the judiciary. still evident some 50 years later! later in this presentation.
16literally, made me create the Revue
Internationale de Criminalistique.
Beside me, he has pushed to create
the International Academy that Van
ledden Hülsebosch, Popp, Türkel and
Bischoff could perhaps not have man-
aged to organise, nor to maintain
without him. And how to forget that,
when I was backing from the terrify-
ing enterprise of composing the seven
volumes of the Traité de
Criminalistique, it is him who decid-
ed a careless editor, my friend
Joannès Desvignes, to risk the dan-
gerous adventure "PM addtion
(Locard 1931)!"
Since then, Harry Söderman has
played a historical role where his
courage without capitulation joined
his spirit of initiative. But at the heat
PHOTO: FROM THE BOOK “POLICEMAN´S LOT”
of the action, he never ceased to be a
very great criminalist.
Secretary of the International
Commission of Criminal Police, he
insured the liaison between countries.
Locally, he has founded for the
Scandinavian countries this journal
where so many pertinent articles have
appeared, among which the bests car-
ried his signature.
Doctor Edmond Locard, the famous head of the forensic laboratory in With this, always wandering. His
Lyon, Harry Söderman´s friend and tutor, expert on crimes, but also on letters would enrich a stamp collec-
music and theatre. tion: and I was not more surprised to
“At the very moment I was going criminalist has learnt many other see on his letters the stamp of Tanger
to write this preface, I learn with such things than the art of detecting and rather than that from New York or
a deep sorrow, the death of my dear confounding criminals. Chemist, Stockholm.
friend Harry Söderman, who disap- graphologist, prodigiously polyglot, Harry Söderman has had the wis-
peared, still very young, when he was enriched by an immense reading, he est idea when he started to write his
going to be able to take, finally, such had accumulated in his unique brain memories, as if he had been foresee-
a well deserved rest. what would have been the richness of ing that his days, so full, were count-
What a magnificent life he has twenty elite's intelligences. ed. I am glad to vouch here that noth-
had, or better, what a story! Harry Moreover he was a producer/a ing that came out from his pen should
Söderman, traveller without rest, has doer. He had the art of drawing from be neglected by men who wish to
not only gone round the vast world, what he knew for the better good of know what can the alloy of such an
but has explored all the fields of his friends and others. During the intelligence combined to such a mag-
knowledge. I feel honoured to have many years he spent near me what I nificent energy .”
had him as a student, the most bril- have got to do due to his initiatives! I
liant of all my students. But this great should say his darings. It is him who, Edmond Locard (Söderman 1956)
17human Justice, that was already lame to, nor all amenable persons. And
HARRY S. 1925 OR 1926 IN LYON, PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN
according to mythological traditions, even magistrates, such as Hans Gross
would be the real figure of a cripple. and Robert Heindl, have collaborated
Really, she is a dame that there is to these developments. It is true that
no charm to frequent. It is better to they are not from our country. And lit-
forget that one was given a leathering tle by little, criminalistics has shown
than ask her for any compensation or what could be expected from the
vengeance. This goddess without eyes study of marks, prints, stains, dust,
and hearing, and limping, would cer- written documents. Among all these
tainly add more blows of her own. But problems, that of the identification of
if you are accused of having stolen firearms is one where the results are
the tower of Notre-Dame, and had not the clearest and the most conclusive.
been able to flee prudently in due Harry Söderman has arrived from
time, as was the counsel of this wisest Scandinavia to study criminalistics in
amenable person, that Panurge was, a French laboratory. I have followed
one has to think to put ones affairs in step by step this clear intelligence,
order with her. When one has a pure helped by a tenacity without short-
heart, one would like her to see that, comings and the very firm love of
The second preface appears at the and that she took away for one work. I believe in the success of only
beginning of Harry Söderman´s the- moment her bandage in order to see those who join the merit of the char-
sis and is telling, if not an early admi- that well. acter to those of the mind. Harry
ration of the master for the pupil, at So has been created the recent Söderman is one of them. It is not
least the clear vision that the pupil myth of a Justice seeing clearly. What indifferent that a young man who is
was destined for a great future. I do I say, some daring people have dedicated to an intellectual life has
leave in the beginning of the preface dreamt to substitute an acute vision started to cross the deserts of Central
which demonstrates a facet of from eyes armed with magnifying Asia and to hunt the tiger in the
Locard's vision of science used in the glass and microscope to a legendary Mekong. Nothing mediocre to expect
judicial process. blindness. One would like a learned from him. It is very sweet to me to be
“I don't know a more tragic image Themis who, after having gone the godfather of Harry Söderman at
than that which represents Themis through the faculties where one the beginnings of a life which I pre-
with her eyes covered. I understand speaks, she had spent some time in tend will be prolific, and to present to
well that the ancestors of classical those where we learn to observe. So the public this first scientific work of
Mediterranea, Greeks and Latins, the civil or criminal inquiry has a man for whom my esteem equals my
have wanted to mean by that that become scientific. And the expert has affection.
Justice did not want to know the pur- collaborated with the judge, after This work is first a state of the art.
pur of kings, nor the splendour of helping the policeman. One can find a clear and complete
naked Phrynea. This co-operation has not always summary of what has been done on
But how not to worry that this been received as enthusiastically as it short firearms with the criminalistics
bandage, after having saved her from was offered. One of the most distin- point of view. It is also to a large
the prestiges that she would risk by guished magistrate who presided the extent, the presentation of original
imposing her the contemplation of the debates with a praiseworthy effort in and very sound techniques. So this
"greatness of the flesh", as would say a difficult case, summarised experts' monograph is the most commendable
Bossuet, would stop her distinguish testimonies in these very careful work that exist today on a very impor-
the narrow road that would take her terms: "when science goes one step tant and difficult question. I can rec-
to the truth. And since, furthermore, forward, truth goes back two steps”. ommend it to technicians in con-
she would risk to be deafened in tem- Despite this pyrrhonian pes- science“
ples where so many people make with simism, techniques are created that Locard p. V-VII in (Söderman
their larynx formidable concerts, not all magistrate turn up their nose 1928)
18Harry Söderman,
the paradigm of a
European
Student in Sweden, then Germany,
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOT
his knowledge of languages extended
to French (as evidenced by his thesis)
and English (his activities with
O'Connell in New York), a true poly-
glot he was able to communicate and
publish proficiently in all these lan-
guages (Söderman 1928; Locard,
Söderman et al. 1929; Söderman
1931; Söderman 1938; Söderman and
O'Connell 1952), this led him to Founders of the Academy: Prof Marc-A. Bischoff, prof Siegfried Türkel, C.J. van
become one of the most sought after Ledden Hülsebosch, Prof G. Popp and Dr Edmond Locard, in Lausanne, 1929.
scientist and consultant in matters of that would be identifying marks on prolific author he also travelled
forensic science and criminal investi- fired cartridge cases, and that the sys- extensively and helped set up or reor-
gation and one of the most active tem should be compulsory and gener- ganise police laboratories and organi-
forensic scientist on the international alised! It is ironical that in 2001 this sations in many countries (see Larson
scene. Made a member of the newly was (still?) debated at the UNO in (Larson 1952) besides his own.
created International Academy of New York in order to be able to trace Connections with the International
Criminalistics (seat Vienna) in firearms and their origin! Criminal Police Commission before
Lausanne (1929) at the early age of In the meantime he had founded, WWII, were revived in 1946 when he
27 (wrongly called International with others, the "Nordisk became Reporter General to the ICPC
Academy of Criminals Science from Kriminalteknis Tidskrift" in 1931 with President Louwage, Secretary
Vienna by Larson (Larson 1952)) he (Söderman 1931) and become a pro- General Ducloux and two other
became a leading European figure fessor of criminalistics at the Reporter General Howe and Müller.
with editorial responsibilities besides University of Stockholm that same He was still active with the ICPC
Locard in the official organ of the year, also publishing in Archiv für and had a working meeting with the
Academy "la Revue Internationale de Kriminologie (founded by H. Gross) Directorate of the ICPC still one
Criminalistique" (1929 - 1939). (Locard, Söderman et al. 1929). A week before his untimely death.
The name of Söderman appears as
a contributor to the second general
assembly of the Academy in Vienna
in 1930, and the typewritten summa-
ry appears on page 14 of the notes
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOT
made by Bischoff. It appears just
after a contribution by Heess
(Stuttgart) (well known in the field of
firearms identification with Mezger
and Hasslacher) and before a contri-
bution by Prof Popp (Francfort a/M).
His paper concerned methods applied
to the identification of projectiles,
cartridge cases and powders. He
made the proposal that manufacturers The last meeting of the Academy took place again in Lausanne in 1938
of firearms develop specific signs and Söderman appears in the official photograph.
19HARRY SÖDERMAN,
the doer and crafts-
man
Locard mentions that Harry
Söderman was capable of developing,
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF INGRID SÖDERMAN
from his ideas and those of others,
tools and methods useful in criminal-
istics.
One such tool was the
Hastoscope, based on Goddard's
ideas (comparison process in firearms
identification, used in the Sacco and
Vanzetti's case by Goddard and
General Assembly of Interpol, Rome 1954 with Pope Pius XII. Waite).
It is an improved comparison
microscope with a special sample
holder designed to hold bullets hori-
zontally and to turn them around their
axis to observe and compare rifling
marks. The origin of the name itself is
mysterious but my hypothesis is that
it came from a contraction of
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOT
Ha(rry)S(öderman)toscope with the
pun that it helps get results much
quicker than before (as in haste)..
This became the basis of the
development of comparison
microscopy in the identification of
firearms used in criminal activities
(Locard 1929).
Another such development, was
The Executive Committee of the ICPC with Ducloux, Harry Söderman, the creation of a dust collector con-
Nepote, Howe, Müller and Lowage in 1947 (above) and in Bern (General nected to an Electrolux vacuum
Assembly) in 1949 (with Müller and Louwage). cleaner (Söderman 1931) called
thereafter the "Söderman-Heuberger
filter", its use was adopted by Locard
in its extensive writings about dust
(Locard, Söderman et al. 1929).
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOT
20Bibliography
Larson, C. (1952). "Harry
Söderman of Stockholm: Master
Criminologist." The Journal of
Criminal Law, Criminology and
Police Science 43(1): 95-102.
Locard, E. (1929). "Graphoscope
et hastoscope." Revue Inter-
nationale de Criminalistique 1:
113-117.
Locard, E. (1931). Traité de
criminalistique Vol.I à VII. Lyon,
Joannès Desvigne et fils Editeurs.
Locard, E., H. Söderman, et al.
(1929). "Beiträge zur kriminalistis-
chen Staubuntersuchung." Archiv
für Kriminologie 92(5-6): 234-245.
Söderman, H. (1928). L'expertise
des armes à feu courtes. Lyon,
Joannès Desvigne et fils.
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF PIERRE A. MARGOT
Söderman, H. (1931). "En ny
apparat för uppsamling av damm i
förbrytares kläder." Nordisk
Kriminalteknisk Tidskrift 1.
Söderman, H. (1931). "Inifran
lasta dörrar." Nordisk Kriminal-
teknisk Tidskrift 1(1).
Söderman, H. (1938). Minnesbok
för Kriminalpolismän. Stockholm,
Stockholms Bokindustri Aktiebolag.
Söderman, H. (1956).
Harry Söderman, Harry Söderman, Policeman's Lot. A Criminologist's
missions during the regular contacts Gallery of Friends and Felons. New
war with Bischoff in York, Funk & Wagnalls Company.
There is one specific indication that Lausanne Söderman, H. (1956). Quarante
Hastoscope had a mission from the Unfortunately, personal correspon- ans de police internationale. Paris,
Swedish government in 1942, when dance of Bischoff does not exist any- Presses de la Cité.
he was sent to Switzerland. more at the IPSC. Söderman, H. and J. O'Connell
There he spent (Feb 1942) a week Bischoff himself cleared his (1952). Modern Criminal
with the chief of Intelligence in the archives when retiring in 1963, but I Investigation. New York, Funk &
Swiss army, Colonel Werner Müller could find a few tokens showing con- Wagnalls Company.
(who was to become one of the mem- tacts with Bischoff starting in 1928
bers of the directorate of the ICPC and lasting until Harry Söderman´s
too), before travelling to Geneva and death in 1956 as evidence by auto-
France where he met, for the last graphed books.
time, his friend and master Locard
(Söderman 1956; Söderman 1956)
(p. 26).
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