One advantage of doing these Epic Rock episodes is that I get to go back and listen to music I love, also I learn new things every time I do them. In this case, I always thought that TNT were a Finnish Rock band. I discovered today they are Norwegian.
“10,000 Lovers (In One)” is a hit single by the Norwegian band TNT, taken from their 1987 album, Tell No Tales. It was written about a girl who TNT’s vocalist at that time, Tony Harnell, knew. The single reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart in America, peaking at number 100 and earned the band a Norwegian Grammy.
I never wanted to settle down Just a kid on a highway to nowhere Wishin’ for my girl to be real She would satisfy my soul 10 000 lovers in one 10 000 lovers in one Seems like i’ve known her a thousand Years We’we been together all through our Lives she knows the way love should be A fire burnin endlessly 10 000 lovers in one 10 000 lovers in one She’s like 10 000 lovers in one Solo 10 000 lovers in one 10 000 lovers in one 10 000 lovers 10 000 lovers 10 000 lovers in one
Ruth Maier is often referred to as Norway’s Anne Frank, I don’t agree with that. I think it takes away the value of the words of both women. Their circumstances and lifestyles were completely different. Even the way they were murdered was different. The only thing they had in common was that they were both Jewish.
Ruth Maier was born on 10 December 1920, in Vienna. She and her sister Judith, who was 1½ years younger, spent the first years of their childhood in Vienna-Döbling, in the attic apartment of an apartment building on Peter-Jordan
Starting in 1930, the municipality of Vienna built a large residential complex nearby – along Gersthofer Straße – in which the family moved into a spacious apartment on the 3rd floor (staircase 1, door 14; entrance Hockegasse 2). On the floor above, the father, the chairman of the Austrian postal union and secretary of the International Trade Union Federation of Postal, Telephone and Telegraph employees PTTI, Ludwig Maier, had his office.
Ruth liked to sit and read in her father’s study, with whom she had a close relationship. She was just 13 years old when her father died of bacterial dermatitis. Mother Irma and Grandmother Anna tried to give the two girls a happy childhood.
On her 18th birthday, Ruth witnessed the violent excesses of the Nazi mobs during the November 1938 pogrom in Vienna: Ruth Maier, who had previously had no connection to Judaism, began to confront her identity in her diary. Judith managed to escape to the United Kingdom, via the Kindertransport. Ruth was able to find refuge in Norway. She was too old for the Kindertransport.
On 30 January 1939, a family from Lillestrøm took Ruth Maier into their home: the telegraph operator Arne Strøm, an acquaintance of Ruth’s father, had vouched for the Norwegian authorities that the young refugee would not be a financial burden to the state. In August 1939 Ruth Maier was admitted to the Frogner School in Oslo, she became fluent in Norwegian within a year, completed her final exams, and befriended the future poet Gunvor Hofmo at a volunteer work camp in Biri. The two became a couple, finding lodging and work in various places in Norway.
Ruth was also one of the models for the statue “Surprised”, by Gustav Vigeland. It is on permanent display in Frogner Park in Oslo. Vigeland began work on the sculpture in about 1904. The model for the face of the sculpture was Inga Syvertsen; the sculpture was completed in 1942. Ruth was surprised by another person entering the room while she was modelling for Vigeland, and she tried to cover her naked body, which shows in her posture. The statue was eventually cast in bronze in 2002.
But even during this period, Maier repeatedly found herself overcome by a sense of loneliness and of being misunderstood, feelings which became particularly strong once the German Wehrmacht occupied Norway. They eventually led to a nervous breakdown, and in early 1941, Maier had herself committed to a psychiatric ward. Gunvor Hofmo’s visits were the only ray of hope during the seven weeks she spent there. In fact, it seems that Hofmo was the only person in Norway who cared about Maier.
Below are some excerpts from Ruth Maier’s diary.
Saturday, July 20, 1940, Lillestrøm “Lillestrøm is unbearable now. You come across German soldiers at every turn. They wink at the young girls with the same self-confidence, and the girls always smile back, bewitched by the uniform sore.”
In early January 1941, Biristrand “I can’t tell you how warm I am with Gunvor. I love her deep eyes very much. I love her way of speaking about things subtly”
Ruth’s ast note to Gunvor Hofmo
“I believe that it is good that it has come to this. Why should we not suffer, when there is so much suffering? Do not worry about me. Perhaps I would not want to trade with you.”
Norwegian police officers entered the Engelheim boarding house for girls and young women in Oslo on November 26, 1942, and took Ruth Maier away. The arrest is said to have been violent. Maier was dragged into a car and forced to board the “Donau,” a prisoner transport ship, on the very same day.
Five days later, she was murdered in the Auschwitz extermination camp along with 187 Jewish women, 42 children, and 116 men from Norway who were unable to work.
Jan Erik Vold, the editor of her diaries writes about the last hours before her deportation:
“The raid in which she was arrested took place on November 26. 300 men, members of the police, Quisling’s stormtroopers and the Gestapo took part in the operation. Taxis that had been confiscated were used to transport the arrested persons. Nunna Moum lived in the Same boarding school as Ruth. She says that the arrest happened quietly. Two Norwegian police officers led the Austrian down the stairs into the street to a waiting car. She was told to sit in the back seat, where two tearful girls were already sitting. The girls in the boarding school woke each other up and watched the scene. Someone said, ‘We can watch your gold watch until you come back.’ Ruth replied, ‘I’ll never come back.’ “
Gunvor Hofmo kept Ruth’s diaries and much of her correspondence. She approached Gyldendal to get them published in 1953 but was turned down. After she died in 1995, Jan Erik Vold went through her papers and came upon Ruth Maier’s works. After editing them for ten years, they were published in 2007. Vold was highly impressed by the literary value of the diaries, comparing Ruth Maier’s literary talent to that of Hannah Arendt and Susan Sontag. The book was translated into English by Jamie Bulloch in 2009
Gunvor Hofmo never got over the loss of her girlfriend. This traumatic experience was probably one of the reasons for the crisis Hofmo went through in the 1950s, which caused her to become a long-term patient at the Gaustad mental hospital in Oslo for two decades. In the immediate postwar period, Hofmo had suffered from obsessions which became increasingly intrusive. She heard voices and was afraid of “radiation” in her head.
In a speech issued on 27 January 2012 on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg issued an official apology for the role played by Norwegians in the deportations. As reported on the official website of the Norwegian Government, Stoltenberg delivered his speech at the dock in the capital Oslo where 532 Jews boarded the cargo ship Donau on 26 November 1942, bound for Nazi camps. Stoltenberg said:
“The Holocaust came to Norway on Thursday 26 November 1942. Ruth Maier was one of the many who were arrested that day. On 26 November, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the sound of heavy boots could be heard on the stairs of the boarding house “Englehjemmet” in Oslo. A few minutes later, the slight Jewish girl was seen by her friends being led out the door of Dalsbergstien 3. Ruth Maier was last seen being forced into a black truck by two big Norwegian policemen. Five days later the 22-year-old was dead. Murdered in the gas chamber at Auschwitz. Fortunately, it is part of being human that we learn from our mistakes. And it is never too late. More than 50 years after the war ended, the Storting decided to make a settlement, collectively and individually, for the economic liquidation of Jewish assets. By so doing the state accepted moral responsibility for the crimes committed against Norwegian Jews during the Second World War. What about the crimes against Ruth Maier and the other Jews? The murders were unquestionably carried out by the Nazis. But it was Norwegians who carried out the arrests. It was Norwegians who drove the trucks. And it happened in Norway.”
I don’t agree with the line of the speech “Fortunately, it is part of being human that we learn from our mistakes” The unfortunate truth is that we don’t, we should, but we don’t.
There will be only a few people who may not have heard of ABBA. The Swedish band shot to world fame in 1974 after winning the Eurovision Song Contest on 9 April 1974 with their song ‘Waterloo.”
However, not all of them were born in Sweden. Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad was born on 15 November 1945 in Bjørkåsen, a small village in Ballangen near Narvik, in northern Norway. Her early life was different from the other three band members born in neutral Sweden.
Lebensborn was an Aryan breeding program established in 1935 and the brainchild of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. He wanted to breed what he considered racially superior children. Himmler regarded the Norwegians with blue eyes and blond hair as pure Aryan. The aim of the program was to entrust the leadership of Norway to the new generation of Aryans after the war or to have them and their mothers move to Germany to bring more Nordic blood into the German Reich.
Anni-Frid, one of the singers of ABBA, is among the most famous of the Lebensborn children. Born to a German Nazi officer and a Norwegian mother during the German occupation of Norway, Anni-Frid belonged to the children of shame—unwanted after the Germans lost the war.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad was born to Synni Lyngstad, a Norwegian, and Alfred Haase, a German sergeant. On 15 November 1945, a few months after Germany lost the war and soon after Haase departed back to Germany. Afraid to face humiliation by fellow Norwegians, Synni Lyngstad took her baby Anni-Frid, with her mother to Sweden.
These children, as well as their mothers, were not treated nicely by the post-war Norwegian authorities. When you were born in one of the Lebensborn homes, you could be institutionalized just because of the assumption that if your mother was involved with a German, she must have been mentally ill. You might have inherited her insanity or at least her debility. This often resulted in forced adoptions and sexual abuse.
Anni-frid Lyngstad was taken to Sweden by her grandmother, where they settled in the region of Härjedalen. Her grandmother took any available jobs. Lyngstad’s mother, Synni, initially remained in Norway and worked for a period in the South of the country. Synni joined her mother and daughter in Sweden, and the three moved to Malmköping (72 km from Stockholm). Synni soon died of kidney failure at age 21, leaving Lyngstad to be raised solely by her grandmother. In June 1949, they relocated to Torshälla, just outside Eskilstuna, where Agny Lyngstad worked as a seamstress. Frida Lyngstad grew up in Torshälla and began attending school there in August 1952. Close contact with her family in Norway, notably her uncle and four aunts, continued, and Lyngstad recalled summer holidays spent with them at her birthplace. She was close to her Aunt Olive, who once stated that she saw how lonely and subdued Frida was and, as a result, always did her best to make her feel loved and welcomed during visits.
Anni-Frid believed that her biological father, Alfred Haase died on his way back to Germany since his ship was reported as sunk. However, in 1977, the German teen magazine Bravo published a poster and a biography that included details of Lyngstad’s background—the names of her mother and father. The article was read by her half-brother, Peter Haase, who went to his father and asked him if he had been in Ballangen during the war. A few months later, Lyngstad met Haase in Stockholm for the first time.
“It’s difficult…it would have been different if I had been a teenager or a child. I couldn’t connect with him or love him the way I would have if he’d been around when I was growing up.”
On July 22 2011 the thirty-two year-old Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian fascist, drove into the city center of Oslo where he placed a car bomb at the government quarter. The bomb went off at 3:25 pm killing eight people and wounding thirty others severely. The office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg from the Labor Party was badly damaged, and parts of the governmental quarter are to this day still inaccessible. Thereafter the same terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik, drove to the tiny of Island Utøya, 38 kilometers outside Oslo. Here the annual youth camp of the Labor Youth League was taking place, as it had done each year since 1950. Dressed up as a police officer he was allowed to enter the camp where he shortly after killed an unarmed police officer, the one person being in charge of the security on the Island. The next hour the youth camp was transformed into a nightmare where teenagers in hiding, or on the run, were systematically tracked down and executed. Most of them were shot in the head or in the face at close range. From 17.22 to 6:35 pm sixty-nine people, mostly teenagers were murdered at Utøya. The two youngest victims were fourteen years old.
Over the last few year the media focus has solely been on that pathetic excuse of a human being, Anders Behring Breivik, it even encouraged a few copy cats. Who fortunately were caught before they could do harm, with the exception of ,Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the perpetrator of two consecutive mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Today I will try to rebalance this by focusing more on the victims of that fatal day on July 22,2011.
Hanna Endresen, 61, Oslo
Receptionist in the security department of the Government Administration Services. She was described as a “good colleague”.
Tove Ashill Knutsen, 56, Oslo
Secretary with the electricians and information technology workers’ union. On her way to subway station when bomb exploded.
Kai Hauge, 32, Oslo
Owned a bar and restaurant in Oslo. A colleague described his death as “a great loss”.
Jon Vegard Lervag, 32, Oslo
A lawyer who worked in the justice department. He was described as “socially engaged”.
Ida Marie Hill, 34, Oslo
Originally from Grue, Hedmark county, Ida worked as an adviser to the ministry of justice. She was described as “a dear and highly-valued employee”.
Hanne Ekroll Loevlie, 30, Oslo
A senior government worker originally from Tyristrand, Buskerud county. Colleagues said she “represented the best in us”.
Anne Lise Holter, 51, Valer i Oestfold, Oestfold county
Senior consultant to Norway’s PM Jens Stoltenberg’s office. Officials sent their “warmest thoughts and sympathy” to her family and friends.
Kjersti Berg Sand, 26, Nord-Ordal
Worked on international issues in Justice Department. Colleagues said they had lost a “dear and highly valued employee”.
line Utoeya island shooting Utoeya island victims – photos of some of those who died are not available Mona Abdinur, 18, Oslo
The committed young politician was described as “a well-loved friend, who was socially engaged and interested in multicultural issues”.
Maria Maageroe Johannesen, 17, Noetteroey, Vestfold county
Student at Greve Forest High School who was interested in music, dance and drama. Described as a wonderful, conscientious girl who was a “ray of sunshine”.
Ismail Haji Ahmed 19 Hamar, Hedmark county
Better known as Isma Brown after appearing on a talent show. The dance instructor was described as a “very bubbly, happy, caring and happy boy. He was very positive with a very big heart.”
Ronja Soettar Johansen, 17, Vefsn, Nordland county
An active blogger, Ronja had a keen interest in music. Friends said she was “a person with courage, commitment and kindness”.
Thomas Margido Antonsen, 16, Oslo
A student council representative. Described by friends as “a boy who spread joy”.
Sondre Kjoeren, 17, Orkdal, Soer-Troendelag county
Described as a gentle but committed person. He was said to have been heavily involved in efforts to get a new sports hall in his village.
Porntip Ardam, 21, Oslo
Known as Pamela. She was described as talented, super-intelligent, politically active and down to earth.
Margrethe Boeyum Kloeven, 16, Baerum, Akershus county
The student council leader was described as an “active and versatile girl”.
Modupe Ellen Awoyemi, 15, Drammen, Buskerud county
Daughter of the city council politician Lola Awoyemi. Described as a kind and open girl, who was active in AUF discussions.
Syvert Knudsen, 17, Lyngdal, Vest-Agder county
The student politician is believed to have been one of the first shot on the island. His family described him as a “bubbly” boy with a keen interest in music.
Lene Maria Bergum, 19, Namsos, Nord-Troendelag
Her head teacher described her as an excellent, beautiful youth, who was sociable, interested in international issues. She had planned to start a summer job as a journalist.
Anders Kristiansen, 18, Bardu, Troms county
An active young politician and leader of the AUF in his area. He was said to be “full of initiative” with “a great desire to work in politics”.
Kevin Daae Berland, 15, Akoey, Hordaland county
Active in Askoey AUF and was involved in local politics as well as being a member of the youth council.
Elisabeth Troennes Lie, 16, Halden, Oestfold county
A board member of the Halden AUF. Described as “the sweetest person in the world”.
Trond Berntsen, 51, Oevre Eiker, Buskerud county
Crown Princess of Norway’s step-brother. The royal court said the off-duty police officer was killed while working as a security guard on the island.
Gunnar Linaker, 23, Bardu, Troms county
Regional secretary of Labour party’s youth wing. Father described him as a “calm, big teddy bear with lots of humour and lots of love”.
Sverre Flate Bjoerkavag, 28, Sula, Soer-Troendelag county
Union official concerned about justice, equality and community thinking. Described as a well-liked young man who fought for pupils and students’ rights. Was training to be a nurse.
Tamta Lipartelliani, 23, Georgia
Secretary of the international committee of the Young Socialists of Georgia.
Torjus Jakobsen Blattmann, 17, Kristiansand,Vest-Agder county
Son of former political adviser. His father said he was a boy “full of humour” who loved playing the guitar.
Eva Kathinka Lutken, 17, Sarpsborg, Oestfold county
She was described as an active politician who was well liked.
Monica Boesei, 45, Hole, Buskerud county
PM Jens Stoltenberg said: “To many of us, she was the embodiment of Utoeya. And now she is dead. Shot and killed whilst taking care of and giving joy to young people.”
Even Flugstad Malmedal, 18, Gjoevik, Oppland county
The student with an interest in politics was described as “a gentle boy who stood up for his friends”.
Carina Borgund, 18, Oslo
Friends and family said she was “kind, caring, gentle and positive. She loved life and spread joy to everyone around her”.
Tarald Kuven Mjelde, 18, Osteroey
Said to be a big fan of Chelsea football team and described as “very warm, friendly and socially engaged”.
Johannes Buoe, 14, Mandal, Vest-Agder county
“An independent boy with a good sense of humour,” his parents told NRK. He was interested in dogs, hunting, snowmobiling and took an active part in the youth community.
Ruth Benedicte Vatndal Nilsen, 15, Toensberg, Vestfold county
Described by friends as “always happy, positive, and without prejudice”.
Asta Sofie Helland Dahl, 16, Sortland, Nordland county
Teachers described her as a wonderful girl who was “open and cheerful”.
Hakon Oedegaard, 17, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Music student at Heimdal high school and member of Byasen school marching band. Described as a role model for others in the band.
Sondre Furseth Dale, 17, Haugesund, Rogaland county
Had large network of friends through music scene and politics. Described as a dedicated person who put 100% into everything he was interested in.
Emil Okkenhaug, 15, Levanger, Nord-Troendelag county
A sports lover described as modest and liked by all who knew him.
Monica Iselin Didriksen, 18, Sund, Hordaland county
Active in Sund AUF, she was described by friends as a unique and bubbly girl.
Diderik Aamodt Olsen, 19, Nesodden, Akershus county
Vice president of Nesodden AUF. He was the youngest member of editorial staff working on the organisation’s magazine.
Gizem Dogan, 17, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Described as a clever student who contributed to the cohesion of her class. Elected as central member of local AUF a month before the tragedy.
Henrik Pedersen, 27, Porsanger, Finnmark county
Leader of Porsanger AUF. Described as a “breath of fresh air” in the local community. A Labour colleague said he was very engaged and engaging.
Andreas Edvardsen, 18, Sarpsborg, Oestfold county
Director of Sarpsborg AUF and active in in the Labour youth league regional committee in Oestfold. Described as “a very caring and confident person”.
Rolf Christopher Johansen Perreau, 25, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Known as Christopher. Long-term member of the AUF and was elected to the board in October. Described as a skilled orator and a charismatic young politician.
Tore Eikeland ,21, Osteroy, Hordaland county
PM Jens Stoltenberg described him as “one of our most talented young politicians”.
Karar Mustafa Qasim, 19, Vestby, Akershus county
Originally from Iraq, Karar was with friends at summer camp when he was killed. The local mayor described his death as “an enormous tragedy”.
Bendik Rosnaes Ellingsen, 18, Rygge, Oestfold county
Had a summer job at the justice ministry before attending camp. He was secretary of Moss Regional Labour Youth, who said they had lost a caring, open and inclusive boy.
Bano Abobakar Rashid, 18, Nesodden, Akershus county
Leader of Nesodden AUF. She was said to have dedicated her life to fighting for democracy and against racism.
Aleksander Aas Eriksen, 16, Meråker, Nord-Troendelag county
Described as socially-engaged as well as “impulsive and passionate”.
Henrik Rasmussen, 18, Hadsel, Nordland county
Treasurer of Hadsel AUF. Said to be a very committed person, both in politics and culture.
Andrine Bakkene Espeland, 16, Fredrikstad, Oestfold county
Described as a politically-engaged girl who was keen to take care of the weakest.
Synne Roeyneland, 18, Oslo
A student described by friends as a “funny girl, who always had something to offer: opinions about politics and love and fun and witty comments”.
Hanne Balch Fjalestad, 43, Lunner, Oppland county
Danish government confirmed the Danish national was killed while working on the island as a first aid assistant. She was with her 20-year-old daughter, who survived the shooting.
Ida Beathe Rogne, 17, Oestre Toten, Oppland county
A keen student described as happy and funny as well as determined.
Silje Merete Fjellbu, 17, Tinn, Telemark county
Student politician described as a “wonderful girl who had much to contribute”.
Simon Saebo, 18, Salangen, Troms county
The student politician was said to be a natural leader. Those who knew him described him as trusting and kind, and a person who showed great concern for others.
Hanne Kristine Fridtun, 19 Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane county
The nursing student was the local AUF county chairman. Described as energetic with great commitment.
Marianne Sandvik, 16, Hundvag, Stavanger
The student was described as a quiet girl who always stood up for those who needed her. Her father said she was concerned with injustice in the world.
Andreas Dalby Groennesby, 17, Stange, Hedmark county
His father had exchanged text messages with him before the shooting. His father told NRK that public support had helped at a painful, terrible time.
Fredrik Lund Schjetne, 18, Eidsvoll, Akershus county
Described by friends as “a great person” whom it was “an honour” to have known.
Snorre Haller, 30, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Painter and union man. He was a board member of the Joint Association’s Central Youth Committee. Described as a “kind, quiet and generous man”.
Lejla Selaci, 17, Fredrikstad, Oestfold county
Leader of the AUF in Fredrikstad. Described as a “very happy and social girl who committed herself to what she believed in”.
Rune Havdal, 43, Oevre Eiker, Buskerud county
Worked as a security guard on the island of Utoeya.
Birgitte Smetbak, 15, Noetteroey, Vestfold county
Politicians from her local area said hearing news of her death was “a difficult day”.
Guro Vartdal Havoll, 18, Oersta, Moere og Romsdal
An active and determined politician, the young student’s family said she was inspired by Ghandi and wanted to make the world a “better place”.
Isabel Victoria Green Sogn, 17, Oslo
An enthusiastic member of the AUF who saw her future involved in politics.
Ingrid Berg Heggelund, 18, As, Akershus county
A student who said she loved going to school.
Silje Stamneshagen, 18, Askoey, Hordaland county
Active in Askoey AUF and played in school band. Classmates described her as a happy girl who lit up the school day and every day.
Karin Elena Holst, 15, Rana, Nordland county
A member of the Rana AUF, she spoke to her mother during the shooting. She had urged her daughter to hang up and hide.
Victoria Stenberg, 17, Nes, Akershus county
The oldest of three siblings, she was said to be looking forward to the youth camp.
Eivind Hovden, 15, Tokke, Telemark county
Eivind was involved in his local youth centre and was attending his first summer camp. Described as an “amazing guy, always happy, caring and helpful”.
Tina Sukuvara, 18, Vadsoe, Finnmark county
Described as “very talented and engaged” and a person who participated actively in political debates.
Jamil Rafal Mohamad Jamil, 20, Eigersund, Rogaland county
Originally from Iraq, Jamil was described as happy, attentive and curious with a strong desire to contribute.
Sharidyn Svebakk-Boehn, 14, Drammen, Buskerud county
Known as Sissi to friends and family, the schoolgirl was described as a “beautiful, caring and vibrant girl”.
Steinar Jessen, 16 Alta, Finnmark county
A keen member of the AUF. The mayor of Alta described him as “a flower that would have grown big and strong”.
Havard Vederhus, 21, Oslo
Elected leader of Oslo Labour Youth in February. Friends said he was “ambitious and fearless”.
Espen Joergensen, 17, Bodoe, Nordland county
Had recently become head of Bodoe AUF. His best friend said he was someone who could “light up the darkest days”.
Now with the Olympic Games in Rio at full swing it is a great opportunity to have a closer look at the other Rio de Janeiro, even though it bears mentioning that it has nothing to do with sports nor the 2nd largest city in Brasil.
MS Rio de Janeiro was a German steam ship and a cargo ship, owned by the shipping company Hamburg Süd and home ported in Stettin. She was launched on 3 April 1914 as Santa Ines and later renamed Rio de Janeiro. Before World War II she carried passengers and freight between Germany and South America.
She was requisitioned by Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine for transportation of troops on 7 March 1940, before Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway and Denmark, began on 9 April 1940.
The secret plan for the ship was to arrive at Bergen right after German troops had captured the town.
On board Rio de Janeiro there were a total of 50 crew and 330 soldiers. Her cargo consisted of six 2 cm FlaK 30 and four 10.5 cm FlaK 38 anti-aircraft guns, 73 horses, 71 vehicles and 292 tons of provisions, animal feed, fuel and ammunition.
The ship left Stettin on 6 April 1940 at 3 AM. Two days later, at 11.15, only hours before the attack on Norway began, a surfaced submarine was sighted off Lillesand. At first it was thought to be a German submarine, but it turned out to be the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł, serving under British command.
It had 85 A written on the tower. The submarine signalled for Rio de Janeiro to stop, and the order was followed.Captain Grudzinski, of the Polish Navy, then ordered the ship to surrender or it would be sunk, but nothing happened.
The Polish submarine then torpedoed the ship, and she took in water and began sinking. The crew and soldiers on board began to jump into the sea. At 12.00, an aircraft from the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service started circling around the sinking ship. At 12.50 the submarine torpedoed the ship a second time, from a submerged position. The torpedo hit the ammunition depot, which caused an explosion. About 180 survived the sinking, and were rescued from the sea and brought by local vessels to Lillesand and Kristiansand; roughly 200 died.
Later, on the 8th of April 1940, word of the Rio de Janeiro’s sinking reaches the newspaper office in the town of Lillehammer (today, as then, a popular skiing destination).
Outside the newspaper office, someone on the news staff posts a handwritten note about the sinking. And … there is more to report. German ships have been seen moving in the waters around Denmark.
Norwegian officials were told by survivors that the ship’s destination had been Bergen. The fact that there were horses on board and that many of the dead and survivors were wearing military uniforms, led to alerting of the central authorities. However, the government did not realize that a German invasion was imminent.
Through neglect both on the part of the Norwegian foreign minister Halvdan Koht and minister of defence Birger Ljungberg, Norway was largely unprepared for the German military invasion when it came on the night of 8–9 April 1940.
A major storm on 7 April resulted in the British Navy failing to make material contact with the German shipping.Consistent with Blitzkrieg warfare, German forces attacked Norway by sea and air as Operation Weserübung was put into action. The first wave of German attackers counted only about 10,000 men. German ships came into the Oslofjord, but were stopped when the Krupp-built artillery and torpedoes of Oscarsborg Fortress sank the German flagship Blücher and sank or damaged the other ships in the German task force.
Blücher transported the forces that would ensure control of the political apparatus in Norway, and the sinking and death of over 1,000 soldiers and crew, delayed the Germans, so that the King and government had the chance to escape from Oslo. In the other cities that were attacked, the Germans faced only weak or no resistance. The surprise, and the lack of preparedness of Norway for a large-scale invasion of this kind, gave the German forces their initial success.
It was originally thought by the German High Command that having Norway remain neutral was in its interest. As long as the Allies did not enter Norwegian waters, there would be safe passage for merchant vessels travelling along the Norwegian coast to ship the ore that Germany was importing.
Großadmiral Erich Raeder, however, argued for an invasion. He believed that the Norwegian ports would be of crucial importance for Germany in a war with the United Kingdom.
On 14 December 1939, Raeder introduced Adolf Hitler to Vidkun Quisling,
a pro-Nazi former defence minister of Norway. Quisling proposed a pan-German cooperation between Nazi-Germany and Norway. In a second meeting four days later on 18 December 1939, Quisling and Hitler discussed the threat of an Allied invasion of Norway.
After the first meeting with Quisling, Hitler ordered the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) to begin investigating possible invasion plans of Norway.Meeting Quisling was central in igniting Hitler’s interest in conquering the country.The first comprehensive German plan for the occupation of Norway,Studie Nord, ordered by Hitler on 14 December 1939, was completed by 10 January 1940. On 27 January, Hitler ordered that a new plan, namedWeserübung, be developed. Work on Weserübung began on 5 February.
The major Norwegian ports from Oslo northward to Narvik (more than 1,200 mi (1,900 km) away from Germany’s naval bases) were occupied by advance detachments of German troops, transported on destroyers. At the same time, a single parachute battalion took the Oslo and Stavanger airfields, and 800 operational aircraft overwhelmed the Norwegian population. Norwegian resistance at Narvik, Trondheim (Norway’s second city and the strategic key to Norway), Bergen, Stavanger, and Kristiansand was overcome very quickly; and Oslo’s effective resistance to the seaborne forces was nullified when German troops from the airfield entered the city. The first troops to occupy Oslo entered the city brazenly, marching behind a German military brass band.
On establishing footholds in Oslo and Trondheim, the Germans launched a ground offensive against scattered resistance inland in Norway. Allied forces attempted several counterattacks, but all failed. While resistance in Norway had little military success, it had the significant political effect of allowing the Norwegian government, including the royal family, to escape. The Blücher, which carried the main forces to occupy the capital, was sunk in the Oslofjord on the first day of the invasion. An improvised defence at Midtskogen also prevented a German raid from capturing the king and government.
Norwegian mobilisation was hampered by the loss of much of the best equipment to the Germans in the first 24 hours of the invasion, the unclear mobilisation order by the government, and the general confusion caused by the tremendous psychological shock of the German surprise attack. The Norwegian Army rallied after the initial confusion and on several occasions managed to put up a stiff fight, delaying the German advance. However, the Germans, quickly reinforced by panzer and motorised machine gun battalionsproved unstoppable due to their superior numbers, training, and equipment. The Norwegian Army therefore planned its campaign as a tactical retreat while awaiting reinforcements from Britain.
The British Navy cleared the way to Narvik on 13 April, sinking one submarine and 8 destroyers in the fjord. British and French troops began to land at Narvik on 14 April. Shortly afterward, British troops were landed also at Namsos and at Åndalsnes, to attack Trondheim from the north and from the south, respectively. The Germans, however, landed fresh troops in the rear of the British at Namsos and advanced up the Gudbrandsdal from Oslo against the force at Åndalsnes. By this time, the Germans had about 25,000 troops in Norway.
By 23 April, there was open discussions about evacuation of Allied troops, on 24 April Norwegian troops, supported by French soldiers failed to stop a panzer advance. On 26 April the British decided to evacuate Norway.
Three things had forced the Cabinet and the Chiefs-of-Staff to withdraw from Norway.
The British troops in Norway were all from infantry units and other units with different skills were needed in Norway, particularly artillery units.
The Germans threatened to cut off the British troops in Norway – loosing so many men would have had serious consequences, both militarily and psychologically, at such an early stage of the war.
The Germans dominated the air giving them complete superiority in both aerial attack and defence.
Britain only had access to long range Blenheim bombers and fighters carried on Britain’s aircraft carriers. The Fleet Air Arm’s Skuas which had succeeded in attacking the ‘Königsberg’ had been pushed to the very limits of their endurnace. German fighters and bombers could fly from the relative security of their bases in northern Denmark. Refueling and rearming them was an easy process. German planes could spend time over Norway while the planes that Britain had could not – an ironic turnaround compared to the Battle of Britain.
By 2 May, both Namsos and Åndalsnes were evacuated by the British. On 5 May, the last Norwegian resistance pockets remaining in South and Central Norway were defeated at Vinjesvingen and Hegra Fortress.
In the north, German troops engaged in a bitter fight at the Battle of Narvik, holding out against five times as many British and French troops, they were close to rebellion when finally slipping out from Narvik on 28 May. Moving east, the Germans were surprised when the British started to abandon Narvik on 3 June. By that time the German offensive in France had progressed to such an extent that the British could no longer afford any commitment in Norway, and the 25,000 Allied troops were evacuated from Narvik merely 10 days after their victory. King Haakon VII and part of his government left for England on British cruiser HMS Glasgow to establish the Norwegian government-in-exile.
Fighting continued in Northern Norway until 10 June, when the Norwegian 6th Division surrendered shortly after Allied forces had been evacuated against the background of looming defeat in France. Among German-occupied territories in Western Europe, this made Norway the country to withstand the German invasion for the longest period of time – approximately two months.
Hitler garrisoned Norway with about 300,000 troops for the rest of the war. By occupying Norway, Hitler had ensured the protection of Germany’s supply of iron ore from Sweden and had obtained naval and air bases with which to strike at Britain.
At the beginning of the occupation, there were at least 2,173 Jews in Norway. At least 775 of these were arrested, detained, and/or deported. 742 were sent to concentration camps, 23 died as a result of extrajudicial execution, murder, and suicide during the war; bringing the total of Jewish Norwegian dead to at least 765, comprising 230 complete households. In addition to the few who survived concentration camps, some also survived by fleeing the country, mostly to Sweden, but some also to the United Kingdom.
Of the Norwegians who supported the Nasjonal Samling party,
relatively few were active collaborators. Most notorious among these was Henry Oliver Rinnan, the leader of the Sonderabteilung Lola (locally known as Rinnanbanden or “the Rinnan group”), a group of informants who infiltrated the Norwegian resistance, hence managing to capture and murder many of its members.
Furthermore, about 15,000 Norwegians volunteered for combat duty on the Nazi side; of the 6,000 sent into action as part of the Germanic SS, most were sent to the Eastern front.
During the five-year occupation, several thousand Norwegian women had children fathered by German soldiers in the Lebensborn program. The mothers were ostracised and humiliated after the war both by Norwegian officialdom and the civilian population, and were called names such as tyskertøser (literally “whores/sluts of [the] Germans”).[9] Many of these women were detained at internment camps such as the one on Hovedøya, and some were even deported to Germany. The children of these unions received names like tyskerunger (children of Germans) or worse yetnaziyngel (Nazi spawn). The debate on the past treatment of these krigsbarn (war children) started with a television series in 1981, but only recently have the offspring of these unions begun to identify themselves. Fritz Moen, the victim of the only known dual miscarriage of justice in Europe, was the child of a Norwegian woman and a German soldier, as was ABBA member Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
Even before the war ended, there was debate among Norwegians about the fate of traitors and collaborators. A few favored a “night of long knives” with extrajudicial killings of known offenders. However, cooler minds prevailed, and much effort was put into assuring due process trials of accused traitors. In the end, 37 people were executed by Norwegian authorities: 25 Norwegians on the grounds of treason, and 12 Germans on the grounds of crimes against humanity. 28,750 were arrested, though most were released for lack of evidence. In the end, 20,000 Norwegians and a smaller number of Germans were given prison sentences. 77 Norwegians and 18 Germans received life sentences. A number of people were sentenced to pay heavy fines.
Quisling was executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress at 02:40 on 24 October 1945.His last words before being shot were, “I’m convicted unfairly and I die innocent.”After his death his body was cremated, leaving the ashes to be interred in Fyresdal.
The trials have been subject to some criticism in later years. It has been pointed out that sentences became more lenient with the passage of time, and that many of the charges were based on the unconstitutional and illegal retroactive application of laws
History of Sorts 
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