Norway’s famed Resistance (Hjemmefronten) forces have long been viewed as the country’s heroes of World War II, as they sabotaged Nazi German occupiers and ultimately helped drive them out. A new book, however, reveals how some key Resistance fighters knew about plans to round up Norway’s small Jewish population and literally ship them off to […]
Lavrov likely to re-visit Finnmark next year
November 2, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t expected to take part in next year’s 75th anniversary of the Soviet liberation of Finnmark from Nazi German forces in 1944. His foreign minister Sergej Lavrov, however, is likely to attend, just like he did on the 70th anniversary in 2014. Northern Norway remains grateful to the Soviet Army for […]
War hero hailed as NATO flexed muscle
October 30, 2018
It was perhaps only fitting that the funeral ceremony for Norway’s last surviving “Hero of Telemark,” Joachim Rønneberg, was held on Tuesday at precisely the same moment that NATO forces training in Norway were putting on a highly public display of strength. The two events differed vastly in character, but both stressed the same message […]
‘Hero of Telemark’ dies at age 99
October 22, 2018
UPDATED: Joachim Rønneberg was the last surviving member of the group of Norwegian resistance fighters during World War II whose daring sabotage action in Telemark helped prevent Nazi Germany from developing an atomic bomb. Rønneberg died during the weekend, 99 years old, and he’ll be honoured with a state funeral. “Rønneberg was one of the […]
Crash site memorial offers a shady oasis
June 4, 2018
PHOTO FEATURE: Jets still fly every day over the site of a wartime plane crash in 1945 that tragically killed British liberators just before they were due to land themselves at what’s now Oslo’s main airport at Gardermoen. They came to help ensure the unconditional surrender of Nazi German forces, and now a memorial to […]
‘With respect and deep gratitude’
May 8, 2018
PHOTO FEATURE: The weather could only be described as glorious when Norwegians gathered in Oslo on Liberation Day to remember their military veterans and war heroes on the 73rd anniversary of Norway’s liberation from Nazi German occupation. Merchant marine veterans were given the credit they also deserved, at an outdoor ceremony fittingly held on the […]
Convoy heroes win overdue acclaim
May 8, 2018
Ships were decorated, canons boomed at noon, flags flew and memorials were planned all over the country when Norway celebrated both Liberation- and Veterans’ Day on Tuesday. Among those finally receiving more official attention were the thousands of Norwegian merchant seafarers who crewed the dangerous convoys that brought critical supplies to Great Britain, but who […]
Norway loses a seafarers’ hero
April 15, 2018
Jon Michelet was a journalist, newspaper editor, local politican, labour activist, TV anchor and, most of all, a best-selling author who won lots of awards. Many Norwegians were thus mourning his death from cancer during the weeknd, but heartened that he’d managed to keep writing to the bitter end. That meant that he also managed […]
Solberg confronts ‘painful’ history
November 27, 2017
Somber ceremonies attracted hundreds of people including the prime minister and crown princess on Sunday, which marked 75 years since most of Norway’s remaining Jewish population was deported to Nazi German death camps during World War II. The goal was to make sure Norwegians never forget what Prime Minister Erna Solberg called a “painful and uncomfortable” […]
Nazi party halted in Trondheim
November 13, 2017
Trondheim’s venerable student union (Studentersamfundet) was embarrassed and angry after a group of bartenders decided to host a “politically incorrect” party on Saturday night. They dressed up in SS uniforms, and neither guests nor leaders of the organization were amused. “I was shocked and upset,” 25-year-old Maja Sandström, who was visiting Trondheim from Östersund in […]
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