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The new NRK series “Frontkjempere” receives rave reviews before it even airs on television. Norwegian SS soldiers are being whitewashed for a long time, historians claim.
– I work in a center that investigates the Holocaust. So I can’t stand out as an investigator in a documentary series where the main trend is an attempted sort of excuse for the murders of Norwegian SS soldiers on the Eastern Front, Terje Emberland tells Dagsavisen. He is one of several historians attacking the new documentary series “Front Fighters,” where the first of four episodes will be screened on April 6.
– They portray the front fighters as naive young people who have just fought against communism and who reached a hell over which they had no control. They portray themselves as exempt from complicity in the genocide that took place on the Eastern Front, says Emberland, who is a researcher at the Center for Holocaust and Religious Minority Studies (HL Center). He tells Dagsavisen that the “front fighters” can be seen largely in an attempt to “whitewash history.”
[ Debatten om NRK-serien «Atlantic Crossing» ]
They wanted to fight for a Nazi Norway.
– Terje Emberland, historian
Feeling overwhelmed
Emberland is one of seven historians who have contributed to the series. After seeing the end result, four of them should be very critical. The series, which is produced by the NRK Film Department, is based on interviews with seven wrestlers who tell their stories. These stories are dramatized and the recordings are mainly made in Lithuania and Norway with more than a hundred extras. “A wide range of professional historians helps put the stories of the front-line fighters in context,” he says in NRK’s coverage of the series. Known war historians such as Terje Emberland and Lars Borgersrud now believe they cannot vouch for the series. They arrived early with critical objections to director Alexander Kristiansen, who later brought in two more historians. Emberland believes the entire process has been complicated and uncomfortable, and says historians are overwhelmed.
– We have some critical perspectives on the first episodes, but especially the last episodes are a dramatization of battles and wars. The filmmakers show they have a lot to do with German tanks, rifles and front sections, but they obviously have no idea of Nazism, says Emberland.
– I suspect that the filmmakers, after interviewing several combatants from the front, have gained a naive belief in their own stories: “We were not Nazis, we are only fighting communism.” The filmmakers do not have enough professional weight to correct this image with other sources. I have also interviewed combatants on the front lines, and my experience is that some of them have repressed and adapted the story afterwards, in order to live with the fateful decisions they made during the war, says Emberland.
– Nazis convinced
[ – Slik skal vi ikke diskutere ]
Emberland is particularly critical of the series’ final episode:
– The last episode is an attempt to problematize the fact that people called the combatants at the front “traitors”, something that they themselves felt was rape. Here is an impression that the front fighters were not traitors, they did not betray their country. What then completely disappears is that the motive for volunteering as a vanguard fighter was that they wanted to fight for Hitler. Yes, they wanted to fight for Norway, but they wanted to fight for a Nazi Norway and for a Nazi Europe. The overwhelming majority of those who voluntarily enlisted were convinced Nazis and members of the National Assembly (NS), says Emberland, who has written several books on Nazism and the period of occupation in Norway. Together with another of the critical historians, Sigurd Sørlie, he has been researching front fighters for 9 years in a history project in central HL.
– We have reviewed 30 to 40 files in 20 countries, and then our experience and our conclusions are neutralized by appearing in a context that we cannot defend, he says. Dagsavisen has also spoken with historian Lars Borgersrud, who supports Emberland’s criticism of the NRK series.
– Surprised
Alexander Kristiansen, who has directed the NRK series, is surprised that “a historian does not have a greater understanding of journalistic integrity and editorial decisions,” he writes in an email to Dagsavisen.
– In general, it seems that Emberland does not tolerate the inclusion of two other historians in the series, who have a slightly different view of history than yours. In my opinion, it is a strength for the series to see the story from different perspectives. Fortunately, other contributing historians have not reacted in the same way, says Kristiansen, who instead believes that the process with critical historians has been “very orderly,” coordinated with NRK and also quality assured by the NRK ethics editor. .
– Emberland and the other historians have been able to influence the series to a much greater degree than usual. and many of its inputs are included in the series. In a production like this, it is important to maintain journalistic integrity, and unfortunately it is not the case that the professionals can dictate the content, writes Kristiansen, who also thinks that Emberland uses “a poorly concealed government technique” when it accuses the filmmakers. of not having professional weight.
– It is rare that the documentary makers themselves have the professional weight. Precisely for this reason, seven different historians are included in the series and closely interwoven throughout all the episodes. Emberland has a lot of screen time on the show to present their views. Furthermore, Emberland says that “we” have no idea about Nazism. Fortunately, in the series, it is mainly the seven historians who deal with Nazism, including Emberland. In the latest episode, the front fighters come with their views on the seal as traitors and on the court agreement. They should be allowed to do so, says Kristiansen, who is happy with the latest episode.
– I think that the part about the judicial agreement is balanced and many speak. It’s good that the story is lit from different sides, but here it seems that Emberland wants us to muzzle the combatants on the front lines and kill their opinions, with one-sided criticism from a homogeneous group of historians.
[ «Det er et ekstremt fett privilegium vi innrømmer våre rikeste og minst trengende» ]
– The fighters are masters of their own history.
Historian Knut Flovik Thoresen has also contributed to the production of the new series. For several years he has researched and written books on the front fighters, and does not share Emberland’s views on the outcome.
– That the seven contributing historians have a different approach is a strength for the series and the theme of the story itself. This is not an exact science, and it is important that the different views on the story fit together. The views of the front fighters emerge on what they tell themselves, only to be problematized by historians, he tells Dagsavisen. He thinks it would be wrong not to let the front fighters make their presentation.
– It would be special not to give space to the historical actors, not to let the fighters from the front tell their story. The combatants at the front are masters of their own history. They should be allowed to accompany you, says Flovik Thoresen. The historian emphasizes that the reasons why some chose to become front fighters are complex, and he believes that not everything can be due to ideological convictions.
– We cannot attribute complex Nazi motives to the majority. Many were young and a 17-18 year old has not developed a complex ideology. This is not a defense of Nazi motives. It is about bringing out the differences and nuances, says the historian, who without having studied it in detail, is satisfied with how the NRK series has become.
– We will try to approach the story objectively. As Emberland himself says in the first episode: try to understand, not condemn
Facts about the front fighters
- The front fighters were Norwegian citizens who volunteered for German war service during World War II.
- Around 5,000 Norwegians fought on the side of Hitler’s Germany against the Soviet Union on the eastern front, including several hundred sisters from the front.
- Norwegian Waffen-SS volunteers are documented to have participated in massacres against civilians on the eastern front.
- The Norwegian front fighters were convicted of treason after the war.
