by Kris Tualla
The following is documented historical fact:
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) trained men and women, and gathered supplies and weapons to fight alongside the Allies in any future invasion of Norway. By 1944 there were about 35,000 Norwegian men and women in Milorg.
There were 2173 Jews in Norway in 1942 and most of them lived in Oslo and Trondheim. At first the Nazi regime collected their names, registered their property, and stamped J on their identification cards. Later they arrested Jews and seized their property.
On October 24, 1942 (while Teigen was in Kirkenes) an order was issued to arrest all Jewish males over the age of fifteen and to confiscate their property. The Norwegian resistance alerted the Jews and about 850 escaped to Sweden and Britain, while others went into hiding in Norway.
On October 26, 1942 the remaining Jewish men were rounded up and sent to jails and concentration camps. A month later all Jewish women and children in Norway were arrested and transported to the death camps Auschwitz and Birkenau. Any remaining Jews in Norway were sent to Auschwitz on February 24, 1943.
Telavåg is a fishing village south west of Bergen and one of the many landing places for the Shetland Bus.
The explosion in Bergen remains one of the most tragic events of the occupation:
Against all regulations, the Dutch boat Voorbode, which does mean forewarning or omen, carried 100 tons of dynamite, 50 tons of fuses and 180,000 blasting caps. According to regulations, only ships with less than 50 tons of explosives were allowed into the Bergen harbor.
The ship arrived at 5:00pm on Sunday, April 16, 1944. The papers filed with the harbor captain did not tell exactly what was onboard, and the crew kept silent. The captain on the Voorbode did write a letter on the evening before the explosion stating: “We are of course sitting ducks, a cargo hold full of dynamite, one bullet through the hull, and you won’t find anything left of the crew or the ship.”
Two Norwegian mechanics, Lauritz Sletten and Lars Hamre, arrived in a row boat at 8:05am. Shortly after they came onboard, they saw smoke coming from the cargo hold. Sletten jumped onto the dock. Hamre dived into the sea. At 8:39am the ship exploded.
Hitler eventually lost patience with Quisling as the civilians throughout Norway were literally in revolt. Hitler gave Terboven control of the Norwegian government and any communications from Quisling to Hitler had to be directed through him.
On March 14, 1945 over a thousand Milorg and Linge men carried out Operation Cement Mixer and blew up railroad lines in over 100 places throughout Norway.
The Norwegian death toll in World War II exceeded 10,000 including approximately 4000 sailors, 2000 members of the armed forces, and 2000 resistance fighters. 3940 Norwegians were killed in concentration camps; more than half were Norwegian Jews.
THE HANSEN FAMILY TREE
Sveyn Hansen* (b. 1035 ~ Arendal, Norway)
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Rydar Hansen (b. 1324 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Grier MacInnes (b. 1328 ~ Durness, Scotland)
Eryndal Bell Hansen (b. 1327 ~ Bedford, England)
Andrew Drummond (b. 1325 ~ Falkirk, Scotland)
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Jakob Petter Hansen (b. 1485 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Avery Galaviz de Mendoza (b. 1483 ~ Madrid, Spain)
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Brander Hansen (b. 1689 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Regin Kildahl (b. 1693 ~ Hamar, Norway)
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Martin Hansen (b. 1721 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Dagne Sivertsen (b. 1725 ~ Ljan, Norway)
Reidar Hansen (b. 1750 ~ Boston, Massachusetts)
Kristen Sven (b. 1754 ~ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Nicolas Hansen (b. 1787 ~ Cheltenham, Missouri Territory)
Siobhan Sydney Bell (b. 1789 ~ Shelbyville, Kentucky)
Stefan Hansen (b. 1813 ~ Cheltenham, Missouri)
Kirsten Hansen (b. 1820 ~ Cheltenham, Missouri)
Leif Fredericksen Hansen (b. 1809 ~ Christiania, Norway)
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Tor Hansen (b. 1913 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Kyle Solberg (b. 1919 ~ Viking, Minnesota)
Teigen Hansen (b. 1915 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Selby Hovland (b. 1914 ~ Trondheim, Norway)
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*Hollis McKenna Hansen (b. Sparta, Wisconsin)
Kris Tualla is a dynamic, award-winning, and internationally published author of historical romance and suspense. She started in 2006 with nothing but a nugget of a character in mind, and has created a dynasty with The Hansen Series, and its spin-off, The Discreet Gentleman Series. Find out more at: www.KrisTualla.com
Kris is an active PAN member of Romance Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime, and was invited to be a guest instructor at the Piper Writing Center at Arizona State University.
“In the Historical Romance genre, there have been countless kilted warrior stories told. I say it's time for a new breed of heroes. Come along with me and find out why: Norway IS the new Scotland!”
