The Klipfish Code (19 page)

When Quisling's new government passed laws to establish a Nazi teachers' association, as well as a national youth organization, similar to the Nazi Youth in Germany, both were met with great protests. The Nazi Youth organizations in Germany had been highly successful in molding young minds toward a Nazi philosophy. By making every Norwegian boy and girl between the ages of ten and eighteen attend such meetings and activities, the Nazis hoped to have similar success in Norway. The Church of Norway objected. More than 200,000 parents wrote letters refusing to allow their children to participate in the "Nazi Youth" organizations. The teachers, too, rallied together in this struggle to protect the freedoms of teachers and students. In short, when the Nazi leadership ordered teachers across Norway to instruct students in "the new spirit" of Nazi philosophy, the teachers refused.

The retaliation toward teachers was severe.

One out of every ten teachers—just like Miss Halversen—was rounded up and sent to a concentration camp. To make an example of them, the Nazis crammed five hundred of these teachers in a ship in nightmarish, slavelike conditions and shipped them sixteen hundred miles up the frigid northern coast to a concentration camp. Some did not survive the voyage.

Despite such harsh tactics against teachers, the teachers who remained behind stood firm and refused to give
in to the Nazis' demands. Eventually, the Nazi leadership relented and said the teachers had "misunderstood" their earlier demands. Though I do not know of any individual teachers who escaped en route to the camps or from them, it is certainly plausible that a teacher such as Miss Halversen might have been helped by the Resistance. In the end, the teachers won this battle against the Nazis and were left to teach according to their conscience.

Roughly 50,000 Norwegians were arrested by Nazis during the occupation. Of these, some 9,000 were sent to Nazi concentration camps in Norway that offered woeful living conditions: lack of decent food and drinking water, and hard labor. Some died and many became sick. About 9,000 Norwegians were sent to German concentration camps in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, France, and Germany, where conditions were inhuman. Fourteen hundred Norwegians died at these camps—half of them of Jewish ancestry, and of these, most perished in gas chambers.

"The Shetland Bus" was the term used to describe the efforts of fishermen and boat captains who ferried refugees
out
of the country. The term "refugee" could have included almost anyone fleeing for safety: families whose homes might have been bombed in a Nazi reprisal, individuals suspected of aiding the Allies, Jews and non-Jews, or anyone who went against the Germans in any way. The bus also helped bring Allied weapons, supplies, and agents
into
Norway. Scotland's Shetland Islands lay roughly two hundred miles away from the middle of Norway's western coast, and boats traveled these waters at great risk in the dark arctic months. Ålesund and its surrounding islands, including Godøy, harbored numerous Shetland Bus operations.

Some 3,300 people escaped from Norway via small boats—with heavy losses—and close to 50,000 people crossed the border on foot, largely into Sweden.

After five bitter years of German occupation in Norway, Winston Churchill declared over British radio that peace had come at last to Europe. On May 8, 1945, bells rang out joyously across Norway. The Norwegian flag shot up every flagpole. Radios came out of hiding. On May 17, children marched throughout Norway in their annual Children's Parade on Independence Day, which had been banned since the occupation. Finally, on June 7, fireworks filled the sky as Norwegians celebrated their greatest symbol of freedom—the long-awaited return of their exiled king.

Norwegian Words:

alt for Norge (ahlt forr nor-geh)
all for Norway

Bestemor (behss-tah-moor)
Grandmother

Bestefar (behss-tah-faar)
Grandfather

bunad (boo-nahd)
traditional costume of Norway, consisting of blouse, vest, and skirt for women and girls; and shirt, vest, and knickers for men and boys

dyne (dee-nah)
a down-filled quilt, or eiderdown filled duvet

fattigmann (faht-tih-mahn)
twisted and fried dough flavored with cinnamon and cardamon seed

frokost (froo-kost)
breakfast

God Jul (goo-yewl)
Merry Christmas

god morgen (goo-maw-ern)
good morning

god natt (goo-nahtt)
good night

hei (hay)
a greeting; hey there

hytte (hit-ah)
cabin

ja (ya)
yes

jakke (yak-keh)
jacket or coat

jøssing (yuhs-sing)
a Norwegian patriot

Julaften (yewleh-ahf-tern)
Christmas Eve

Juletid (yewleh-teed)
Christmastime

kaffe (kahf-feh)
coffee

Kaptain (kahp-tayn)
captain

klippfisk (klip-fisk)
klipfish; split, salted, and dried cod

kraken (krah-ken)
a sea monster of Norwegian folklore, an enormous octopus/crab creature said to pull ships down with its tentacles

krumkake (kroom-kah-keh)
a cone-shaped cookie baked on an iron, similar to a waffle iron

lefse (lef-sah)
a thin potato pancake

lutefisk (loo-teh-fisk)
a type of dish made from air-dried whitefish, prepared with lye, soaked many hours, and served with butter

Marit (Mahr-it)
a first name

Mor (moor)
Mother

Nasjonal Samling (NS) (nah-shoo-naal sahm-ling)
national gathering; or Norwegian Nazi Party

nei (nay)
no

nisselue (nissah-luah)
red stocking cap

Norge (nor-geh)
Norway

pensum (pen-summ)
syllabus of classwork

quisling (quiz-ling)
a traitor; a term used for Norwegians who collaborated with the Nazis, so named because of Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian who worked with Nazis during the occupation

risengrot (rees-ehn-gruht)
warm rice pudding sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar

sandkaker (sahn-kaa-ker)
almond cookies in fluted tins

sølje (suhl-yeh)
type of Norwegian silver broach

takk (tahkk)
thank you

tekopp
(teh-kopp) teacup

tusen takk
(two-sehn tahkk) a thousand thanks, or many thanks

uff da
(oohf-dah) an exclamation of dismay

vaffel
(vahff-ell) waffle

vel
(vehl)
well!

velkommen
(vehl-kom-mehn) Welcome

vesla
(vehs-lah) "little one"

Norwegian Places:

Ålesund
(ohleh-sunn) city on the western coast of Norway

Alnes
(ahl-nes) fishing village on the north of Godøy Island

Åndalnes
(ohn-dahl-nes) a city at the end of Romsdal Fjord in west-central Norway

Giske
(gih-skeh) an island off Norway's western coast near Ålesund

Godøy
(goo-dey) an island off Norway's western coast near Ålesund

Isfjorden
(ees-fjorh-ehn) a village at the end of Romsdal Fjord

German Words:

Fräulein
(froy-leyen, or froy-line) girl; miss

Gestapo
(Geh-stah-poh) Germany's secret police

Halt! Was ist los?
(Halt, pronounced as in English; Vahs ist lohs) Stop! What's the matter?

Heil
(heyel, or hile) Hail

Herr
(hehrr) man; mister

Reich
(rahyk) empire; German Nazi state

Was ist das?
(Vahs ist dahs) What is that?

Folklore Fights the Nazis: Humor in Occupied Norway
by Kathleen Stokker
Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995

Norway 1940
by François Kersaudy
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990

Norway 1940–45: The Resistance Movement
by Olav Riste and Berit Nokleby
Oslo: Tanum-Norli, 1970

The Shetland Bus
by David Howarth
New York: Lyons Press, 1951

Snow Treasure
by Marie McSwigan
New York: E. P. Dutton, 1942

War and Innocence:
A Young Girl's Life in Occupied Norway
by Hanna Aasvik Helmersen
Seattle: Hara Publishing, 2000

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