During the German occupation of Norway in World War II the civilian occupying authorities with the Quisling regime and the German Wehrmacht operated a number of camps in Norway. The occupancy of these camps varied throughout the war, but after the fall of 1944 they filled up, as transportation of prisoners to Germany slowed down. Combatants Allies: Soviet Union United Kingdom United States and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Franklin Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000... German battle cruisers in a Norwegian port in June 1940 The Norwegian Campaign led to the first direct confrontation between the military forces of the Allies — United Kingdom and France against Nazi Germany in World War II. The primary reason for Germany seeking the occupation of Norway was Germanys... Operation Weserübung was the German codename for Nazi Germanys assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. ... The Elverum Authorization (Elverumsfullmakten) was approved unanimously by the Norwegian Parliament on April 9, 1940 in the town of Elverum in Norway after the Norwegian royal family, executive branch, and parliament had evacuated Oslo to evade capture by German troops in the course of Operation Weserübung during World War... Starting with the invasion of April 9, 1940, Norway was under military occupation of German forces and civil rule of a German commissioner in collaboration with a Pro-german puppet government. ... Norwegian resistance to the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945 took several forms: Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled Norwegian government, and by implication the lack of legitimacy of the Quisling regime and Terboven administration The initial defense in Southern Norway, which was largely disorganized, but... Telavåg is a small village in the municipality of Sund, located 39 km south west of Bergen, Norway, with a population of about 600. ... The Norwegian heavy water sabotage was a series of actions taken by Norwegian saboteurs during World War II to prevent the Germans from acquiring heavy water which could be used to produce nuclear weapons. ... Following the general capitulation of Germany in Europe and in Norway on May 10, 1945, the legitimate Norwegian government moved quickly to prosecute individuals who were suspected of treason or war crimes during the German occupation. ... King Haakon VII King Haakon VII of Norway, Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel (August 3, 1872 - September 21, 1957) was the first King of Norway after the dissolution of the personal union with Sweden in 1905. ... Campaign poster of Johan Nygaardsvold Johan Nygaardsvold (September 6, 1879 - March 13, 1952) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. ... Carl Joachim Hambro (usually C.J. Hambro) (January 5, 1885 – 15 December 1964) was a leading politician from the Norwegian Conservative Party. ... Carl Gustav Fleischer (1883-1942) was a Norwegian general and the first allied general(actually not allied, as the allies and Norway never had any official cooperation, in writing) to win a major victory against the Germans in World War II. In 1940, as commander of the Norwegian 6th division... Otto Ruge (January 9, 1882 - 1961) was a Norwegian general. ... Jens Christian Hauge (born 1915) was the leader of the secret military organisation Milorg in WWII occupied Norway. ... Gunnar Sønsteby (born 11 January 1918) is known as a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II. Known also as Kjakan and , he participated in the resistance effort from 1940. ... Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (July 18, 1887–October 24, 1945) was a Norwegian fascist politician and officer. ... Jonas Lie (1899-1945) was a Norwegian councillor of state in the NS government of Vidkun Quisling in 1940, then acting councillor of state 1940-1941, and minister between 1941 and 1945. ... Born May 14, 1915 in Levanger, Norway Died Executed on February 1, 1947 by shooting. ... Josef Terboven Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (May 23, 1898 - May 8, 1945) was a Nazi leader most known for his brutal leadership during the Nazi occupation of Norway. ... Wilhelm Rediess (October 10, 1900 – May 8, 1945) was the German chief of secret police (General der Polizei) during the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War. ... Milorg was a secret military organization under World War II in Norway. ... Xu can be a pinyin transliteration of one of several Chinese surnames: 徐 (pinyin Xú, also spelled Hsu or Tsui or Eu) 許 (traditional) or 许 (simplified), (pinyin Xǔ, also spelled Hui or Hii) In this context it is pronounced somewhat like Shoo or simply Shh. ... Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, also Norisen) was a SOE group formed in March of 1941 for the purpose of perfoming commando raids in occupied Norway. ... The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was established in London in April 1940 to administrate the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German controlled areas. ... Nasjonal Samling (Norwegian for National Gathering or National Unification) was a fascist party in Norway before and during World War II, founded on May 17, 1933 by Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort. ... Starting with the invasion of April 9, 1940, Norway was under military occupation of German forces and civil rule of a German commissioner in collaboration with a Pro-German puppet government. ... Look up Quisling in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Quisling is the surname of Vidkun Quisling the leader of the Norwegian fascist party Nasjonal Samling (NS) and a staunch ally of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was executed by firing squad for his crimes. ... German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during the Polish Campaign of 1939 Wehrmacht (Defence force) was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ...

The Wehrmacht camps were largely POW camps and were scattered throughout the country. Some of these had extremely high mortality rates, owing to inhumane conditions and brutality. Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

Both established and improvised jails and prisons throughout the country were also used for internment by the Nazi authorities. In particular the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst headquarters in Victoria Terrasse were notorious for torture and abuse of prisoners. The Sicherheitspolizei (security police) was a term used in Nazi Germany to described the combined forces of the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst (the SD) between 1934 and 1939. ... Sicherheitsdienst (SD) sleeve insignia. ... Torture is any act by which severe pain, whether physical or psychological, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a means of intimidation, deterrence, revenge, punishment, or information gathering. ...

The designated concentration camps were not classified as "KZ-Lager" by the Nazis, but rather as ”Häftingslager” under the administration of the Nazi "security police," the SS and Gestapo. Although abuse, torture, and murder were commonplace in these camps, none of them was designated or functioned as extermination camps, nor did they reach the scale seen in camps in Germany, Poland, and Austria. It is estimated that between 38,000 and 40,000 individuals passed through this camp system, for a total of 60,000 prisoner years. SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop... The Deaths Head emblem similar to Skull and crossbones, often used as the insignia of the Gestapo The (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; secret state police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...

The camps served varying purposes, such as:

• Internment of political prisoners, especially socialists and communists, but also religious dissenters
• Internment of prisoners of war, especially Russian and Yugoslavian soldiers
• Internment of so-called "bomb hostages" - prominent Norwegians who would be executed in the event of the resistance movement bombing Nazi targets
• Transit internment of various prisoners bound for camps in Germany and Poland, including Jews, prominent political prisoners, and others

The Nazi authorities destroyed most of the records related to the camps and prisons they ran during the occupation. Some distinction was made between camps and prisons run by Norwegian Nazis and those run by German Nazi organizations, though it is safe to say that all atrocities took place under the authority of a unified command.

Effectively every local prison was used for these purposes by the Nazis, but several fully-fledged camps were also established. Though these were small compared to camps in Germany and Poland, they nevertheless represented the cruelty and lawlessness of the Nazi occupation. To this day, the term "Grini" (the name of the largest camp) has strong and horrifying associations for Norwegians.

External links

• Findings from the Eitinger commission related to, inter alia, camps in Norway