During World War II, the German Nazis invaded Norway. To be fair, the Nazis invades several European countries, but how the Nazis treated the people of Norway and the country itself, tells us a lot about the racist mindset of the top Nazi officials all the way up to Adolf Hitler himself.
The Nazis occupied Norway for five years and planned to turn it into an example of an ideal Nazi community. (norwegianamerican.com)
Rather than destroying cities and oppressing the citizens, the Nazis wanted to be more like the Norwegians, even to the point of encouraging German military men to impregnate Norwegian girls. In these colorized photographs from the 1940s, we get a glimpse into the five years when the Nazis tried to create an Aryan utopia in Norway.
The Obsession with Racial Purity
The picture from a Nazi news report shows the swearing in of Norwegian volunteers into the "Norske Legion" of the Waffen-SS at the Eastern Front in Szczecin, Poland, January 1942. Photo: Berliner Verlag / Archive (Photo by Berliner Verlag/Archiv/picture a
Adolf Hitler had an unhealthy obsession with racial purity. Part of his many reasons for his genocide against the Jews was to rid Germany of non-Aryans. He envisioned a Germany populated with blond-haired, blue-eyed people. Hitler thought that the German people originally came from the north, from places like Norway and Sweden. In fact, he believed that the Norwegians were more racially pure and therefore superior to the Germans, despite lacking the social and cultural superiority of the Germans.
Persuading the Norwegians to Join the Nazis
Little Norwegian children were taught to honor the Nazi occupiers. (historyofyesterday.com)
The Nazi invasion of Norway and neighboring Denmark began on April 9, 1940, when Hitler launched Operation Weserubung. At first, the invasion was met with resistance but by June 10, 1940, Germany officially began their five-year occupation of Norway. Things were different with the Norwegians than they were with some of the other countries that the Nazis had invaded, such as Poland, France, and Yugoslavia. The Nazis felt a strong kinship with the Norwegians and planned to bring them into the Nazi fold. Once the Norwegians understood Hitler’s plans for his great Aryan society, the Nazis believed the Norwegians would fully support the plan.
Upgrading the Infrastructure
The Germans hoped to win over the Norwegians with the promise of modern upgrades. (thetimes.co.uk)
Even as the Nazis were tearing down bridges and train stations in other countries, they implemented plans to improve buildings and infrastructure in Norway. Hitler had extensive plans for turning Norway into his ideal community of racial purity. This ideal was called the “volksgemeinschaft”, or “people’s community”. The plan called for well-planned cities and towns with modern buildings – remember Hitler had a background as an architect – as well as bridges, highways, and railways. Hitler hoped to woo the Norwegian people with his grand plans for vast improvements.
New Trondheim
Adolf Hitler visiting the Norwegian fjords aboard a warship, Weimar Republic. (Photo by: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Hitler’s most ambitious plan was called New Trondheim. It called for the Nazis to completely upgrade and renovate the town of Trondheim and turn it into a cultural and military center. In the Trondheim Fjord, Hitler envisioned a great German naval base. Within the city itself, Hitler wanted to build an ornate opera house, a grand German art museum, a university, and a historical museum dedicated to the glorious past of the Germanic people, the Norse, and the Vikings. New Trondheim would have lavish gardens and statues for visitors to admire. New Trondheim would be a shining example of what a Nazi-led world would look like.
A Little Bit of Germany in Norway
Soldatenheime welcomed German soldiers. (garystockbridge617.getarchive.net)
Throughout Norway, the Nazis created a series of “soldatenheime”. These were recreational centers for the more than 400,000 German soldiers occupying Norway. Walking into one of these recreational centers was like walking into a German establishment. They were designed so the troops would not get homesick. They could enjoy German food, listen to German radio, watch German films, read German books and magazines, and pretend they were home in Germany. There was an ulterior motive for the creation of the “soldatenheime”. The German commanders wanted to keep the culture of Germany at the forefront of the soldiers’ minds and reinforce the idea that Germany was a superior culture. They didn’t want the soldiers to begin to assimilate into the Norwegian culture.
Improving the Genetic Line
Hundreds of babies born to Norwegian mothers were stolen and taken to Germany during WWII. (bbc.com)
The Nazis saw something else in the Norwegians that they wanted. Their genetic. Since Hitler and other Nazi leaders believed in the racial superiority of the Norwegian people, they naturally wanted to use that to bolster the German population. SS Leader Heinrich Himmler launched his “Lebensborn” program. Translating to mean “fountain of life”, the program was designed to inject the more pure Norwegian blood into the German population. How did they do that? By encouraging the German soldiers in Norway to impregnate as many Norwegian girls as possible. Birthing centers were established across Norway and provided a place where young, unwed Norwegian girls could go for prenatal care and to deliver their babies. The infants were then whisked back to Germany and adopted by prominent Nazi families. During the five years that the Nazis occupied Norway, hundreds of babies born to Norwegian mothers were shipped off to Germany in the name of racial purity.
The End of Hitler’s Grand Plans for Norway
The Nazis pulled out of Norway at the end of WWII. (spectator.com.au)
When the Allied forces finally defeated the Germans, the Nazi occupation of Norway ended on May 9, 1945. The Nazis pulled out of Norway without giving much resistance. The Norwegian children who had been sent to Germany faced a lifetime of struggles.
