Our hikes to Oggevann and from Saga

It's almost six p.m.; my legs feel like noodles, and I am exhausted. Walter and I decided we would take the "short" hike sponsored by the Livsfaseutvalget and the Pensioners' Club, which I understood from Google translate would be brief jaunts on and off a tour bus with senior citizens, no more than a mile long, a little hike to break up the day. It turned out to be an all afternoon affair hiking up, down boulders, scraggy paths, and at one point rappelling ourselves backward via a rope down a steep precipice. Laughing wryly at the American and Norwegian version of "short hike," I took up the rear depending on the kindness of the tour leader who reminded me to bring water and wear sensible shoes next time. Having been raised on t.v. and Twinkies, this jaunt, which turned out to be 12 km, or 7.5 miles, proved an ordeal, and I was only saved when the octogenarian and a couple of the septuagenarians of the group took pity on me and gave us ride once we had entered Jegersberg, the large wilderness area near our home. Walter, of course, trotted along happily, unfazed, and once he enjoyed a few of the pastry slices that the kind and super-fit octogenarian offered at our resting place near Omvendte Båt, he skipped on ahead of me, calling back occasionally to tell me that "this exercise is good for you."

UPDATE: It turns out that the email I was sent advertising the "short hike" said the trip was to be about a Scandinavian mile, or mil, which is 10 KM or 6.2 miles. Whoops!!

Dad and Mark enjoyed a less strenuous trip, canoeing, boat making, and telling jokes, though Dad got cold, having forgotten to double up his socks.

Walter walking along an area just ahead of a dam.


An ancient burial mound in Skråstadheia.


Walter and I close to the summit. We were close to halfway at this point.


The view of the fjord and Kristiansand. I would not venture close to the edge, but others were more brave.


A map of the protected nature area north of Kristiansand where we hiked.


A young ram we met along the way who was grazing with his friend, a llama. Walter, though skittish, petted the ram, who then stuck close to him until our group departed.


Walter resting, and inching forward closer to the edge.


Mark's hike in Oggevann with his class


Birch bark boats the boys made.


The sleeping leanto where Bill literally got cold feet.


Mark happy. The boys traded jokes at one point and Mark made up two: What do you tell an egg when you want it to leave? "SCRAMble" [This joke unfortunately didn't translate well...] Mark's other joke involved a boy in an airport whose parents disciplined him after he got into trouble. When some late travelers, fearing they had missed their flight, ran up to the boy and asked him what was happening, the boy responded, "I'm grounded," and the travelers, confused, assumed their flight had been cancelled. A British/Norwegian parent translated this joke to laughter from the audience.

St. Georgsdagen, Ibsen, Knut Hamsun and Nazi Germany, and Grimstad revisited with Sarah and Karin

St. Georgsdagen, St. George's Day (celebrated April 30 this year) is the Norwegian scout movement's biggest celebration in honor of the saint knight St. George. According to legend, St. George fought a fire-breathing dragon to save the life of a princess, which symbolizes St. George's fight against evil, and struggle for the good, noble and true. Like him, all scouts should be ready to help those in need. St George's ideals are also reflected in the Scout promise. All Scouts renew their Scout promise annually - on St. George's Day.




Mark in the St. Georgsdagen parade. We finally broke down and splurged for a 3 season sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and a rucksack. We hope Mark is prepared for his camping trip to Oggevatn, which follows the parade.




Sarah with the guide at the Ibsen Museum in Grimstad where Ibsen worked for a pharmacist, from age 15-21, where he impregnated a young servant girl, and where he began his writing career.



Ibsen's writing desk while in Grimstad.


Sarah and Karin, who lives near Grimstad and who has been a dear friend to me this year.


Knut Hamsun, arguably Norway's greatest writer, published Hunger in 1890, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1920, and influenced a generation of modernist writers. Hamsun's legacy in Norway, however, is contested because of his avid support for the Nazi regime.. According to a post on the website of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "He was a literary giant of his time, but he also applauded Hitler and the Nazi ideology, and sided with the Nazi occupation of Norway for five years."

Reporter Andy McSmith, writing for the Independent, notes that Hamsun "was a life-long admirer of German culture. He backed the Germans in the First World War, supported Norway's fascist movement in the 1930s, and when Norway was under Nazi occupation, he met Hitler and gave Goebbels the Nobel Prize Medal for Literature that he had been awarded in 1920. Neither did he relent or apologize when the war was over. A week after Hitler committed suicide, Hamsun wrote an obituary praising him as "a warrior for mankind", 'a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations' and 'a reformer of the highest sort.'"

Nonetheless, Hamsun appeared on a Norwegian stamp in 2009.





Knut Hamsun's home near Grimstad, where Hamsun lived for 34 years and which is privately owned by a Hamsun descendant. Knut Hamsun moved with his family to farm outside Nørholm Grimstad in 1918. Here he lived until 1952.



Karin and Wooster

Stiftelsen Arkivet, Gestapo Headquarters in Kristiansand

Here are notes that we took from a meeting that Sarah, Bill and I had this morning with our guide, Stein Christian Salvesen, at the Stiftelsen arkivet.

Built originally as document archive for the regional government in 1935, the Arikivet building was immediately seized by German invasion forces after they came up from Kristiansand harbor on day of invasion. Building itself is located quite close to harbor. From January 1942 to May of 1945, the Arkivet functioned as Gestapo HQ, which sought to crack down on the resistance movement. Command office was located at top of building and the torture chamber was located in the basement. Norwegians who lived in Kristiansand were aware of what went on at Arkivet, and began to regard it as a house of horror.

3,547 people imprisoned at arkivet for four days or more.

308 intensely tortured mostly by beatings, burnings, and water torture. Torture instruments included whips, finger press, and a testicle compressor. In one method illustrated at the museum, the Gestapo forced the prisoner to lie down on floor and placed small heaters on either side of his head, then gradually moved them closer and closer together. At this HQ, one died directly as a result of the abuse. Located in central basement, the torture chamber had no walls on outside of building so that people outside could not hear screams of those being tortured. The Gestapo also used radio to cover the sounds of people being tortured. (I think is was for people who were being tortured in the office of the commander).




Kristiansand subjected to German bombing in April 1940 during invasion. Of the 40,000 who lived in Kristiansand in 1940, about 25,000 fled city during invasion, later returning.

Close to arkivet is the "casino," a house which functioned as brothel and bar--Germans would go from casino to work at the arkivet.



"In late January, Sipo/SD (Sicherheits-Dienst) takes over Arkivet and uses it as their regional headquarters. The take over is led by the head of the German Secret Police in Kristiansand, Rudolf Kerner." http://www.stiftelsen-arkivet.no/the_history
Kerner appears in the center here. A Norwegian collaborator also appears participated in the torture.



Arne Laudal, commander in Norwegian resistance, arrested, held in prison cell at HQ, and never speaks despite days of torture. In an effort to get Arne to talk, his fifteen and one half year-old son was beaten in his presence . While Arne Laudal did not survive the war, his son did, and to this day gives tours to students. For more on his story, see www.stiftelsen-arkivet.no/arne_laudals_story

About 8,000 Norwegians actively collaborated with Nazis. Others financially cooperated with Nazis, working for them. At end of war, women who collaborated with Nazis had their heads shaved and were paraded through the streets. The children of Norwegian women and German soldiers were vilified after the War.

Glomb--German stationed in K-sand: killed 37 Russian POWs.

1,300 Jews in Norway, 800 of which deported to concentration camps or died in concentration camps. Norwegian police assisted in this task.

Propaganda poster designed to recruit Norwegians into the Nazi party.

The alvarstider poster was published by Norwegian Department of Justice, which was controlled by Nazis.





Tek deg om--think about what they are saying to you.





Norwegians could listen to radio until end of 1941 in Norway, when the Nazis forced them to turn in their radios because they feared Allied radio broadcasts. Norwegian resistance relied heavily on radios to send data to Allies. By the end of war, Germans had gotten proficient at rapidly detecting radio transmissions from resistance radio sets, so resistance by that time could only use sets for a few hours. Norwegians transmitted information about German ship movements to Allies.



Memorial plaque downtown of swastika being smashed by hammer is a memorial to Norwegians who died on the transport Westphalen--they were being transported to mainland continent when was sunk by French submarine in 1944. One of the bodies floated back to Norway, near his summer home.

The End of the War and After

The Norwegian king, when he returned to Norway, was regaled as a hero because he had urged others to resist German occupation and did political work on behalf of resistance.


After the war, a Norwegian who actively helped the Gestapo was arrested and executed.



At end of war, Germans who held leadership positions at arkivet disguised themselves as ordinary military
personnel, and tried to return to Germany with the rest of the German servicemen. Allied occupation forces, however, had a screening process, with Norwegians who viewed the departing Germans, identifying those who were involved in war crimes. This was the way Germans who had played key roles at arkivet were identified--they were given trials and imprisoned. Then in the 1950s, the Norwegian parliament allowed them to return to Germany. Circa 1960 Norwegian reporter sought out one of the German commanders who had been allowed to go back to Germany. The Nazi war criminal in question fled before the reporter arrived, but his wife stayed and met the reporter. Wife complained of his imprisonment at hands of Norwegians but didn't talk about role husband had played in torturing Norwegians during the war.

Arkivet continued to function as regular archives after the war, then a new archives opened up in new location (in Presteheia), so old arkivet became a museum, which opened 8 May 2001, and a learning center about human rights.

Prisoners of War

130,000 Russian POWs stationed in Germany during the war. More Russians died in Norway during the war than Norwegians.

Near Bodø, people today say that for every distance of road, there is a dead Russian POW.

Russian prisoners helped build current airport in Kristiansand. Some Germans who guarded Russian POW's humane, turned their backs so Norwegians could supply food to Russian POWs.

Russian POW's made toys, artistic creations to thank Norwegians for their help.




Instrument--balalaika--made by Russian POW[s] during war, then taken back to Russia, then returned to Kristiansand again after the war.

On the 5th of May at 10:00 memorial to Russian POWs.

Current uses of building

Large tapestry done years after the war, funded by students who raised money for it.





This part of the tapestry includes the final words of Norwegian members of the resistance who were killed by the Nazis. The final words of Pål Eiken, a member of the Norwegian resistance, "Forgive them for they know not what they do."


The number of men and women arrested in Kristiansand by the Nazis for being members of the resistance


Memorial to members of the Norwegian resistance killed in Nazi concentration camps.


Currently, thousands of students from school tours visit the building each year; the guides impressed upon that their goal is to not just be a museum, but to help people learn from the past, so that they can make better decisions about human rights today.

They are expanding the building, adjacent to the building, to provide additional space.

At the end of the tour, he gave each of us a children's book about the wartime experience in Norway.

Easter, Stavanger and the Petroleum Museum with Aunt Sarah

Hi All,

Here are pics that Mark and Aunt Sarah took of Easter egg dyeing and their trip to Stavanger. They didn't attempt to reach Preikestolen ("Pulpit Rock"), the last pic, but had a wonderful time nonetheless. The estimated 6-hour-plus round trip to Preikestolen would have entailed a ferry trip from Stavanger to Tau, bus to Jorpeland, taxi (or hitchhiking) to the base of Preikestolen, and then a 2-hour hike up to the top--and then back again. They settled for the ferry and bus to Jorpeland where they found a scenic path along a river and ate their Norwegian-style sandwiches. Mark was quite the shutterbug on the trip.

Dyeing Easter eggs with Aunt Sarah.


Mark with his blue Easter egg.


Walter with his soccer-themed Easter egg.


All the eggs. Cate, can you figure out all of the soccer references?


Mark near the Kristiansand train station before trip to Stavanger, April 25.


On the ferry to Tau from Stavanger, April 26.


Bus stop in Jørpeland, a short bus ride from Tau.


Outside of Jørpeland.


Mark taking picture, on hike in Jørpeland.


Illustration in Stavanger's Petroleum Museum depicting Norway's wealth and relative happiness following the discovery of oil in the 1969. The caption translates to: "Now I am so satisfied that I'm getting seriously annoyed"


Map of Stavanger.


At the Petroleum Museum, Stavanger.


At the Stavanger docks.


Preikestolen, Pulpit Rock, outside of Stavanger.