The Price of Freedom
On Norway’s Constitution Day, on May 17th, we look back on an event at Hafsrød and are reminded of how lucky we are to live in a free country.
With the entry of Nazism in Norway during World War II, many Norwegians joined the resistance organization Milorg. Milorg had a lot of activity in Halden, and from old photos we can see a combined excursion and Milorg gathering at one of Hafsrød’s forest cabins by Sørvannet, taken on Easter Monday in 1944.
Halden’s border with Sweden made it natural that courier and refugee routes were established, where one of these went via Hafsrød, along lake Store Erte and towards the border.
Route R4 was one of the most used routes in the Halden district, and ended at Budalsvika on the Norwegian side. In the book “Flyktningelos i grenseland” by Aase Berger, it tells of arduous journeys from Lake Store Erte to Budalsvika, a route where there was no room for long breaks. The route was originally intended to be a route for couriers, but the flow of refugees was large and many were guided through this route.
The cabin Budalsvika still exists today, and is run by the tourist organization Tistedalen Friluftslag.
Two of the resistance men in Halden were Erik Olsen and Arne Erlandsen. Through the management of the home front, it was planned that depots with military equipment would be established along the Swedish border, and one of these depots was intended to be located in Ankerfjella. Ankerfjella is an area east of Hafsrød. Together with Knut Svendsen, the leader of Milorg in Halden, Erik Olsen and Arne Erlandsen became part of the organization that was to establish this depot.
On September 27th 1944, Knut Svendsen, Erik Olsen and Arne Erlandsen left Rävmarken, an illegal Milorg base in Sweden, with the aim of finding a suitable depot in the Ankerfjella area. Milorg leader Svendsen visited the farm manager at Hafsrød, named Stangebråten, who said that Nazis were in the area. Olsen and Erlandsen, who were waiting further away, were notified too late and were discovered by border police who were on a moose hunt in the area. The two Norwegians were killed, 25 and 26 years old.
Every year since 1946 on Norway’s National Day, the two fallen men have been honored here at the memorial “Støtta” at Hafsrød. The ceremony is held by Halden Ski Club. Flowers were laid on May 8th each year by members of the Rävmark gang, until the last member died.
The war left its mark on all of Norway, and after the end of the war a memorial site was erected in honor of the victims of the war in the center of Halden, at Rødsfjellet. Great-grandfather Fritz Anker-Rasch participated, where he gave a speech at the unveiling of the memorial site.
With his well-chosen words, we wish you all a wonderful Constition Day celebration, where we celebrate freedom and independence.
We must seek to create a happy Norway - and a happy Norway presupposes a free Norway.
Sources
- Fritz Anker-Rasch’s speech at the unveiling of the memorial site in Halden, at Rødsfjellet
- Flyktningelos i grenseland, by Aase Berger (1998)
- Grenseland i ufredsår…, by Arvid Johanson (1985)
ingeborg
19 April 2024
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