Narvikfjellene in Narvik protected by the National Heritage Board – WWII war history in Ofoten – NRK

Cans, shoes, skis and holsters.

These are some of the 700 soldiers found in the war who were left during the battles between Germans and Allies in the mountains along the Swedish border in the Narvik Mountains in Ofoten, in the extreme north of Nordland.

On June 8 it was announced, and today it was marked:

The 27 square kilometer area of ​​historical war landscape in the Narvik Mountains is now protected.

– This means that we give the area a status of national value. It is part of our common history. It also means that the things that lie there will remain, says Hanna Geiran, National Heritage.

This makes it the largest land conservation area in Norway.

Looted remains

This summer, the police stopped a German van at the border of the region. In the rear of the fully loaded car of the German men, they found remains of several German fighter jets.

With this protection, such looting will become more difficult.

– Our experience is that such objectsothers withdraw from the area. Protection reinforces this protection, Geiran says.

Read from the newspapers: – Very strong

Today, the national heritage was in the mountains themselves.

They spent part of the day reading aloud the diaries the soldiers wrote during the battles in the Arctic terrain.

– I think this is very strong. There are guys who describe what it was like to be here, says Geiran.

– They write about bullets that splash their ears, about colleagues who die. By being here, you experience it in a different way than reading it in a book.

She, like many others, believes this to be a poorly reported story from WWII.

– The area will be a source of knowledge for everyone in the future, he says.

At the same time, such protection could give more attention to the area.

– Are you not worried about the increase in tourism here now?

– We are not. It is positive that people go here. This is a hiking area, and it is good that cultural areas are experienced. That’s what we want.

The National Heritage Board has previously said that the area is special because it has been intact for all these 80 years.

– There have been no modern interventions. The objects and these little constructions and shooting positions can be experienced to a great extent as it was in 1940.

Soon no more contemporary witnesses

– There were fierce battles and hand-to-hand battles here where they almost fought with grenades and bayonets with each other, says Kristoffer Østnes. He is a mediator at the Narvik War Museum.

A larger entourage marched up the mountain on Thursday. Including Sveinung Rotevatn, Minister of Climate and Environment (V).

– The last generations that remember the war are about to disappear. So it becomes even more important to take care of physical memories. And we find them here, he says.

Colonel John Olav Fuglem emphasizes the importance to the military, veterans and the education of future leaders and recruits.

– The young people who were here made a huge effort for the country, he says.