Scandinavian American. [volume], February 01, 1945, Page 3, Image 3

About Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958

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{THE SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN
News: from Norway
Issued by the Royal Norwegian lnformatiBn
Service, Washington, D. C.
Life At Grini
The German commandant at
Grini, largest concentration camp
in Norway, has issued a new set
of rules governing the conduct of
prisoners. The first in the list
states that while prisoners are
given “great freedom of move
ment” inside the camp. any at
tempts to escape will result in
severe reprisals. Anyone caught
trying to escape will be shot, say
the rules. The camp is surrounded
by “live” electric wires and be
yond the wires are land mines.
As for saluting, the rules state
that prisoners must “greet" all
Germans, both those in uniform
and those in civilian Clothes, as
Well as all women employees. Here
is how it’s done: At a distance of
six paces the prisoner removes his
cap, marches past the German
with head erect, eyes forward.
Three paces beyond the German,
he replaces his cap. Salutes for
officers of the rank of major or
higher are fancier. requiring “Still
gestanden, Augen rechts und Au
gen links.”
Reading of books and papers
distributed by the camp command
ant is strictly prohibited during
working hours, and severe punish
ment is stipulated for the smug
gling of letters or packages out
of the camp. Prisoners guilty of
such action are to be shipped to
Germany. Prisoners who gesture
or use “finger language" to fellow
prisoners in the "open" zone are
to be punished. When a prisoner
enters a room where a camp offi
cial is present he must halt at the
door. remove his cap, stand at at
tention and shout: “Prisoner (num
ber and name) reporting."
it I! It
Sabotage
On January 15 two German
transport vessels. the Donau and
Rolandseck, arrived at Oslo. The
Donau began-immediately to take
on a cargo of horses, automobiles
and other material as well as 1,500
troops. The work of loading con
tinued throughout the night. At
1 p. m. there was an explosion on
board. The ship was run aground
near Drobak, and the Germans be
gan to work feverishly at the task
of unloading the horses, the cars,‘
the materiel and the troops. At1
8 p. m. the following day the ship
sank; it now reposes on the bot
tom with how high in the air.
As for the Rolandseck. its explo
sion came at 4 a.m. on January
17. Through heavy use of the
pumps the‘ ship was kept afloat
until the leak was sealed.
About 150 German military
guards at the Akers shipyards in
Oslo have been arrested as a re
sult of the happenings there on
November 25 when Norwegian sab
oteurs sunk or damaged 35,000
tons of German shipping. The se—l
curity police is said to be of the]
opinion that the sabotage could not‘
have been carried out without Ger-t
man aid. Now SS troops guard‘
the shipyards. ‘
t u n: 1
One-Man Torpedoes
Reports have reached Stockholm
that the Germans have recently
brought to Normay a "considera
ble number" of their so-called
“storm motor-boats," p r o b a b l y
about 175 of them. They are con
atructod like small but powerful
apeedboats with a heavy charge of
explosives in the bow. In use the
pllot (there is room for only one
man aboard) steers the boat to
wards its target, jumps out when
he is as near as he dares go. He
Is equipped with a life preserver
suit.
It is understood the ”one-man
torpedoes" which reached Norway
were shipped by rail from 0310 to
Trondheim. and this precaution by
the Germans is taken as an indi
cation that they still reckon with
the possibility of an Allied invasion
of Norway from thv West. In such
an event ih\ “storm mutiny-boats"
would serve as substitutes for sea- I
power, of which the Germans do
not have much left, particularly in
Norwegian waters. The torpedo
boats could be quickly moved by
rail to any point threatened.
* ’1‘ IR
Norwegian Airmen
Norway's flyers had another
good day January 14 when two
fighter squadrons based on the
continent shot down six enemy
planes without loss to themselves.
An RAF communique stated: "Fly
ers from two Norwegian Spitfire
squadrons of Air Vice Marshall E.
C. Huddleston's group shot down
six German planes over an airport
in the Rhine area. west of Osna
bruck on Jan. 14.
The Norwegian Spitfires dove
down upon more than 60 FW-lQOs
and MIC-1095 which were circling
over the airport. Five jet-propelled
Messerschmldts came in from the
north. and thereupon 30 more FW
1903 hurled themselves into the
battle. The Norwegians. who
were outnumbered 5 to 1. shot
down six of the enemy planes, in
cluding one jet-propelled pursuit
plane." On Jan. 12 a' Norwegian
Mosquito bomber attached to the
coastal command shot down a
Junkers 52 while on reconnaissance
along the Norwegian coast.
Norway’s Children
Stockholm newapapers recently
carried an article by Thorbjorn
'I‘hune, a teacher. on how the chil
dren of Norway are getting on.
Most of the schools, he wrote.
have been requisitioned and are
being used by the Germans for bar
racks or offices. Therefore in
struction is carried on in homes or
in such meeting places as can be
‘found. In Oslo many homes with
adequate space have assigned one
room for the use of the class to
which a child in the family be
longs. Such arrangements are.
however, always subject to change
without notice, particularly if the
family receives notice that its
house or apartment is being requi
sitioncd by the Germans.
Since most of the larger homes
are in the outskirts of the city.
considerable difficulty has been en
countered in getting children to
and from “school." For instance,
many parents were reluctant to
permit their young daughters to
iventure out on the streets alone
in a city filled with thousands of
foreign troops, where blackout
prevails, and where darkness
'comes early during the winter
months. Teachers and parents
together solved this problem by
taking turns in escorting the
youngsters home. It is no uncom
mon sight to see a teacher or some
other adult walking along with a
group of youngsters, "delivering"
one here, one there. at houses along
the street. ‘
The grave uncertainties under
which parents live places a defi
nite strain on the nerves of the
youngsters. They realize that at
any moment father or mother may
be arrested. In many homes a fam
ily member has long been under
arrest, and there is no knowing
whether he is living or dead. In
addition, there is the constant
threat that if parents are. arrested,
children may be sent to Germany.
Also. many children have brothers.
father or other relatives outside
Norway, perhaps in the Norwegian
fighting forces or merchant ma
rine. Great anxiety attaches to
every thought of them.
1 Children have not remained un
affected by labor conscription.
Boys and girls down to the age of
15 are constantly being ordered
out. There is plenty of Nazi propa
ganda directed at the youngsters.
but it makes no impression. The
NorWegian child has learned to
recognize Nazi propaganda for
what it is. If they don‘t ignore it,
they make sport of it.
Buy War Bonds!
Here and There
In Norway
With the gas works in all im
portant cities shut down. a severe
shortage of electric stoves and
plates has become evident. Nazi
iauthorities have appealed to the
‘people to help one another out,
urging those who have such electri
cal equipment to make it available
for use by neighbors during certain
hours of the day. There's also an
‘acute shortage of electric bulbs,
and bulb-snatching, particularly in
restaurants. hotels, public build
ings, etc., has reached epidemic
proportions. . . . And there's also
a shortage of glass bottles; some
retailers require a deposit of up to
five kroner ($1.25) per bottle. . . .
The National Theatre in Oslo is re
ported due to close soon because
of the lack of fuel. . . Roald Dys
1the, an NS-man who was arrested
‘last November on charges of plot
‘ting to put himself in Quisling’s
boots, has now been sentenced to
.six years' imprisonment. Prof.
Klaus Hansen, one of Dysthe's co
‘workers, has been excluded by the
NS party and ejected from the
chairmanship of the Norwegian—
German Society. . . . Large num
bers of refugees from Norway con
tinue to enter Sweden. . . . Ger
man troops are still quartered in
nearly all private homes at Trom
so, but leading quislings have for
‘the most part headed south.
First To AIM-werp
In London it was revealed re
cently that the first United Na
tions ship to anchor at Antwerp
in more than four years was the
Norwegian vessel Lysholm. It ar
rived there four days ahead of the
big convoy bringing supplies to
Belgium's civilians.
Back in 1940 when Norway was
attacked. the Lysholm lay in a
Norwegian harbor loading copper
ore intended for Holland. But
Capt. Asbjomsen, who is still mas
ter aboard. didn‘t wait for orders
or advice from the Germans. He
lset out immediately across the
North Sea and placed himself and
his ship at the service of Norwe
gian authorities in Great Britain.
He. his ship and his crew have
been busy ever since. Frequently
they have been under enemy at
tack. Once a torpedo found the
Lysholm, but the damage was
comparatively slight.
i While German air attacks on
iBritain were at the worst. the Lys
vholm was constantly in and out
’of London harbor. From D-day
up to the time of the Antwerp
‘call, the Lysholm made 13 trips
to France. On one of these trips.
when the Lysholm was carrying
American troops. her gun crew
brought down an attacking Ger
man plane.
! ll 11
Gestapo Terror
A few miles south of Bergen
lies the little village of Os. noted
for its scenic surroundings and
,_ before the wariafor a small but
thriving furniture industry. Last
ifall an RAF plane made an emer
gency landing near Os: members
of the crew destroyed the plane.
then made a clean getaway. The
Gestapo turned an accusing eye on
the people of Os. One day a
strange woman appeared in town:
she went from house to house sell«
ing religious tracts. talking and‘
listening. and she stayed several
days. When she returned it was
with the Gestapo. Then followed
two days of terror in Os. with ran
sacking and brutality, and wind
ing up with the arrest of 100 or
more men aged 18 to 65, all of.
whom were transported to Bergen i
and locked up there. j
Numerous persons have also:
been arrested recently in Rogaland 1
province, particularly at Bjerkreim j
and in Stavanger. Over a widei
area the Gestapo has carried on‘.
‘an intensive search of all farm;
‘homes. Among those known t0!
have been arrested are Pastor Uhl :
and his son. Station Master Knoph. 3
Dairy Manager \‘ikse, Teacher
Georg Mytlland. and former Lens-‘
mann (sheriff) Hovland. all of
Bjerkreim or vicinity. Also Dr.
Nils V'emmestnd. his r'ster and a‘
Miss Hjorth of~ Stavanger. Faced
with the possibility of arrest. many I
Rogaland men have elected to seek
safety by fleeing to the mountains.
It # rk
Banished Pastors
The 42 pastors and bishops who
have been living in banishment at
Lillehammer have now been trans
ferred, apparently with their fami
lies, to Helgoya. in Mjosa where
the "authorities" believe they can
exert better control over the cler
gymen. Meanwhile the explana
tion for the establishment of the
Lillehammer “pastor colony" has
become known.
1 Originally pastors banished from
their congregations were permit
ted to select their own place of
new residence. As a rule. however,
they selected communities from
which loyal pastors had previously
been banished, and thus the result
became little else than an ex
change of pastors for the individ
ual parish. To put a stop to this
the Nazis began sending all ban
ished pastors to Lillehammer. At
present there are 25 pastors in
terned at Grini concentration
camp.
* * 4K
Ting-A-Ling Bombs
In Oslo nowadays one hears
much talk of “telephone bombing."
This is one of the various forms
of “nerve war" engaged in by pa
triots and it works out like this:
A stranger telephones to a factory.
business house or a strategic build—
ing and says curtly that the place
is about to be blown to smither
eens.
Immediately there is a great
flurry of excitement. Police are
summoned, work is interrupted.
People in Norway have lately been
witnessing too much sabotage, too
many explosions to take such
warnings lightly. As a rule, how—
ever, nothing happens. In Oslo it
has been mainly the railway sta
tions, leading hotels and Nazi
newspapers that have been sub
jected to bombng per telephone.
OF ALL KINDS
We Do Printing In All The
Scandinavian Languages
Largest and best equtpped
trade newspaper plant m
the Northwest
v
Consolidated Press
PRINTING COMPANY
(5 Blocks North of Pike t
2228 First Ave” Seattle (1)
EL. 5211— 5212
3
In Northern Norway
Finnmark and Troms are the
two provinces that have thus far
been hit by German earth-scorch
ing and by compulsory evacuation
of civilians. . . . At the inland
towns of Kautokeino and Karas
jokk virtually everything has been
destroyed; in Kautokeino only a.
few houses were left unburned and
these, at latest reports, were still
being used by German rear-guard
units; at Karasjokk only a church
remains standing. . . . Laplanders
are trying to keep their reindeer
herds from falling into the hands
of the Germans. . . . Theodor
Broch, former mayor of Narvik
who lectured widely in the U. S.
during 1941-42, iS'nOW in the liber
ated section of Norway as a Nor
wegian supply officer. . . . Russian
troops and Norwegian civilians are
getting on Well together; drivers
of Red Army motor vehicles are
particularly generous in giving
rides to persons they encounter
walking along the road.
Harald Sagdahl Ready
For Overseas Duty
A well-known member of the
old “Viking" soccer club, Harald
Sagdahl, was home last week vis
itiflg his family. Harald has just
graduated from the Navy radio
technical school on Treasure Is
land, California. and is now ex
pecting orders for overseas duty.
"A Night in the
Gay Nineties"
Seattle Norwegian Ladies Cho
rus had invited more than 200 of
their friends to a masquerade in
Norway Hall. Saturday evening of
last week. The party was a. big
success—in fact. so much of a suc
cess that old-timers swear they
have not had a night like that
since “the gay nineties." The fes
tivities lasted from early Saturday
night until time for breakfast
Sunday morning.