UPDATED: One of Norway’s last resistance heroes from World War II will be honoured next week with a funeral to be conducted at state expense. Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen will also attend the funeral for Ragnar Leif Ulstein, who died this week at the age of 99. Ulstein was just shy of 20 when Nazi […]
Last ‘border pilot’ for refugees dies
November 18, 2019
Åge Aulie was only eight years old when he joined Norway’s resistance forces during World War II, guiding refugees over the border to safety in Sweden. He died last week at the age of 85, the country’s last so-called grenselos (literally, “border pilot”). Aulie grew up in a poor but highly engaged resistance family living at […]
New book exposes media’s Nazi past
October 4, 2019
Norwegian historians and newspaper officials have downplayed the role of the Norwegian press in spreading anti-Semitism both before, during and after World War II, claims the author of a new book provocatively entitled Det Norske Jødehatet (The Norwegian Hatred of Jews). The current editor of Norway’s biggest newspaper, Aftenposten, agrees, and has responded with a […]
Norway remembers its D-Day heroes
June 6, 2019
Prime Minister Erna Solberg was among allied government leaders invited to D-Day memorials in Portsmouth this week, because of the role exiled Nowegians played in the massive invasion 75 years ago. She said it was sad that many members of Norway’s merchant marine never received the recognition they deserved. “It’s an honour to be able […]
‘Book bomb’ blasts Resistance history
November 13, 2018
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 […]
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