How Did Norwegian Rebels Resist Nazi Occupation? | Europe's Secret Armies | War Stories

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The greatest Norwegian heroes in WW2 are the sailors in the sivil merchant fleet. And they are almost always forgotten. In 1940 and 1941, during Battle of Britain, 60% of all oil and gasoline were transported to Great Britain on Norwegian tankers. The strategic value of the Norwegian merchant fleet was estimated to equal 1 million fully equiped troops by the British government.

The courage and determination of so many Norwegians during the occupation will always be a source of pride for their country.

The Norwegians definitely had and has brains and guts .My hat goes off to them

These people were true super heroes. We grew up idolizing them, I wish today's generations knew more or anything about people like these.

In WW2 my Norwegian relatives in Porsgruun, Norway, had a bus company. During the day the did normal operations. At night they transported resistance fighters.

My grandfather was 7 when the Nazis invaded. A German officer took residence (forcefully) in the upper level apartment of his family's home in Oslo (in which my family still owns and resides). At the end of the war, my grandfather was so malnourished from the food shortages that he was sent to Denmark to "fatten up" through a post-war recovery program. Years and years later, while out and about in Oslo, he ran into a former German soldier who was back visiting where he spent years stationed during the war. He asked my grandfather if he could take a picture of him and his wife. My grandfather said "absolutely not" .

At 45.30 you see a photo of a destroyed rail road bridge. It was blown up in March 1945. Bridge was located in Kjose between Larvik and Porsgrunn, just beside lake Farris. My father took over the farm in 1981 after his uncle, and the bridge still remain there. My fathers uncle was involved when they blew up the bridge in 1945 as a guard. He was also involved in fighting against Germans in 1940 when they invaded Norway. He told me that they used a fuse, and they left as soon it was lit. On his way home (500 meters away) he decided to hide his sten gun. He hid it under a root between some bushes. Some weeks later he went looking for it, but it was gone. He newer found it again. He showed me the place were he left it. He actually belived the Germans found it, but they knew war was lost and did not want to use resources on a simple man. The Germans very quickly started to rebuild the bridge. They used war prisoners from Soviet union for this. He mentioned many different Soviet nationalities. He and other people from the family smuggled food to the prisoners. They were not in a good condition,, When war ended he got a gift from the prisoners still working on the bridge. It was 2 pigeons, hand carved out from wood (peace pigeons) Parts of the pigeons are painted in a silver color, same as the metal on the bridge. They were given by what he told to be Ukrainian war prisoners, and i now have them. They are probably my most valuable items, not in money, but because of the story they have. I own this farm now. The bridge is still standing there, but they made a new rail road in 2018 between Larvik and Porsgrunn, so it is not in use anymore Uncle to my father died 2004. Funny twist,,,I got married to a Ukrainian woman in 2018,,,,,

Thank you to all those who sacrificed to fight the Nazis.

It's good to hear of these lesser known aspects of the struggle in Europe. It's especially good that they are available to the present generation. Thank you for presenting these.

We visited the Resistance Museum in Oslo . It was a poignant , and incredible display with hundreds of rifles joined together at the entrance . The Norwegian resistance fighters were heroes . Thank you , for sharing the video .

My great grandfather, Haakon Lunner, was in the resistance in WW2. He smuggled people over the border to Sweden and to safety. He worked as a cinematographer at Saga Kino right next to Aker Brygge in Oslo. He was captured and killed in a concentration camp in 1944. There's a bronze plaque of him at Saga Kino.

For a small country, Norway did its part to aid the Allies

There are a couple of things not mentioned in this video. Norway also had a "secret army" in Sweden. Somewhere between 15.000 and 20.000 Norwegians had been given "police training" by the Swedish government. What it actually meant was that they had been trained in the use of firearms. They also had actual police training of course. When the German forces surrendered, overnight, not only did the 30.000+ MILORG come out of the woodwork so to speak, but the Norwegian police troops in Sweden crossed the border already armed with rifles and light automatics. Roughly 50.000 armed Norwegians appeared in Norway overnight by the 8th of May to disarm the occupying German troops and start arresting the traitors. As well as sentry duties as mentioned in the video. The Germans troops could have resisted, they did have some plans to do so when it was clear Germany would fall in Europe, but in the end they didn't. Something often overlook is that Sweden actually trained Norwegians to help take back our country. Some malign Sweden for staying neutral, and for letting German war materiel be transported through Sweden, but Sweden played a dangerous double game keeping the Germans happy to leave them be and quietly assisting the allies. Another thing the Swedish did was alert the British Bismarck had left Germany. It was first spotted by a Swedish light cruiser and the Swedish government decided to inform the British embassy in Sweden about the sighting. While the initial interception lead to the sinking of the Hood the Swedish can hardly be blamed for that. And the Bismarck was sunk in the end. Now, I know this is a video about the Norwegian resistance, and this is sort of a tangent away from it, as a Norwegian I feel Sweden's aid should be mentioned. They took care of many Norwegian refugees and resistance fighters that had to flee the country and through Sweden several Norwegians managed to make their way to Britain. Right after the war and for a few years many Swedish people helped Norway's population by sending food. Norway had a food shortage for the first couple of years after the war, which is rarely mentioned. Not to the point there was wide-spread starvation, but food stamps and rationing was maintained for a short while after the war.

An interesting book about the German occupation of Norway was gifted to me by my older sister. She spent 1964-65 in Norway as a foreign exchange student and went back several times for extended visits. She still keeps in touch with her high school classmates. Anyway, the book is called FIRE AND ICE. It is excellent.

As a Swede, born -51, I've all my life, been ashamed of the swedish governments acting towards norwegian refugees and more exactly, the treatment of the norwegian king, when he asked for assistance to flee his country! This was the start of my lifelong disguise for swedish politicians and our "socialdemokratiska" party....

I was in Norway 10 days ago and couldn't visit the WW2 museum due to it being closed because of asbestos so I was really pleased to see this tonight.

Thank you Norway for all that you did to save freedom from evil men.

The great Heroes was the Norwegian Sailors. They was not treated like Heroes, but had to pay taxes and forgotten. My Grandfather who was a Captain had to pay tax for free housing during the war. He was not allowed to build a house for his Family, but the Sailors get together and build Houses without permission. Many of the War Sailors suffer badly after the war, but they didn't get thanks before they where old. This is a shame for Norway. ​

What an outstanding documentary! This is the story as seen through Norwegian eyes, as it was told by my Norwegian grandparents and great grandparents, and as it is taught in Norwegian schools. This is the story of the average man taking a stand.