Helge Fossum's refugee (?) record

[Jackie K Marler]

Hei,

 

I'm curious what it exactly, the record linked to here, is about:

Image: 

Utenriksstasjonene, Legasjonen i Stockholm, Flyktningkontoret, AV/RA-S-6753/V/Va/L0014: Kjesäterkartoteket, flyktninger med registreringsnr. 34700-37855, 1940-1945, s. 2284
Brukslenke for sidevisning: https://www.digitalarkivet.no/ud20100712612340

 

Index:

https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/view/543/pc00000004869828

 

Here is the English version of the title of the base:

The Legation in Stockholm, The refugee office, Microfilm, The Kjesäter index, no. 14: Refugees with registry no. 34701-37855

 

Takk

 

 

 

[Even Stormoen]

I would guess you already know this but the Kjesäter Archives are records of Norwegian refugees fleeing to Sweeden from Nazi-occupation during WW2. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjesäter

 

I might have misunderstood your question? 

 

Reg.

Endret Februar 10 av Even Stormoen

[Jackie K Marler]

No, I wasn't aware of such an organized flight from Norway, so thanks for responding and the information.

[Even Stormoen]

Just «for the record»: There was not one single organized flight. Or flight route. Several clandestine operations all along the Norwegian-Sweedish border went on all through the war, to bring endangered people to safety. Both civilians (a.o Jews) and more or less millitary, from the resistance e.g.

No simple task at all. Life at stake for all involved.

But the Sweedish authorities indeed organized the «welcoming-committee» in several places, like Kjesäter – one of the most famous.

A lot of litterature has been written on the subject, I am not able to provide any link just now. (Sorry, not my usual "Cuppa")

Need some time to dig it up, if . . .

 

Reg

Endret Februar 10 av Even Stormoen

[Jackie K Marler]

Feel free.  Now that I'm working on the families who stayed in Norway, it's important to know what life was like during the times after my families left.  Helge's maternal grandfather was a half-brother of my great grandfather.

[Even Stormoen]

Well, I’ve tried my best to find links to relevant litterature.

 

The problem, as it turns out, lies not in finding books and articles – but to find them written in english. There are litterally hundreds of them on the subject – in norwegian and/or sweedish.

Keep in mind though, I’m not a very skilled «searcher». . .

 

All considered, I regrettably «rest my case» – throwing in the towel. Sorry.

 

All I can give you is a meager and ill-sourced Wiki article. Please take it with the usual generous amount of salt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_guide

 

Regards

[Even Stormoen]

Oh, well.

 

In the (by me) discredited article above, there are after all links that might lead to some «enlightment», provided your knowledge of the German invasion of Norway in 1940 (and the following occupation) is somewhat deficient.

Which I really doubt . . . (Phew, I am balancing on a thight rope here, presuming what you know or not, and thereby maybe insulting you gravely.)

 

But to be on the safe side:

 

Another Wiki, this time with a pletora of links concerning wartime Norway. I have not checked the links thoroughly, but they seem reliable:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_resistance_movement

 

All the best

 

[Jackie K Marler]

Well insult or no, thanks much for the discussion. 

 

I have, of course, read newspaper articles in English about the invasion.  I have also heard from a cousin who survived who told many tales about how the local folk dealt with the Germans.  Practicing, you know,  a sort of "guerilla" warfare.  One fellow was a shoemaker and for some reason Germans wanted leather goods, cheap as stolen items are.  What the shoemaker did was to hide his store of shoes under the floor boards of his cabin.  The local folks he kept shod during the war but the Germans got not one sole from him!  Stuff like that. I've also read Sigrid Undset's book about her escape Return to the Furture as well Carl Hambro's I saw it Happen in Norway .  There was an American couple who were travelling in Norway and got trapped at the time of the invasion and spent the duration in prison.

 

But I'd never heard of this database of material that Helge appeared in.  It looked like he went later in the war about 1944, so I wonder why he didn't go away sooner?  One question leads to another...

 

Mange takk.

Endret Fredag 08:44 av Jackie K Marler