Fear of Nazi Spies

The Norwegian people generally were shocked when Nazi Germany invaded their peaceful country on April 9, 1940. They believed Norway could stay out of the war being waged across the southern North Sea in mainland Europe, just like it did in World War I. The Norwegian government had formally declared its neutrality following Germany’s conquests of Czechoslovakia and Poland and unrestrained move into Austria. By then Great Britain and France had declared war on the Nazis.

The invasion had caught the Norwegian populace completely by surprise and set off widespread panic. By the hordes, people fled the capital city of Oslo, and west coast port city of Bergen and other key points of the German attack for more peaceful rural settings. But deep anxiety existed there as well.

Here are two examples that underscore the fear. It was told by a former country sheriff who I interviewed in May 1984. I ran across a transcript of the interview and wanted to share it with you here. You’ll never read it anywhere else:

“People around here heard all kinds of stories. They thought there were German spies all over. At Hosanger, some people called me and reported that there must be a spy near where they lived. They had seen some flashes of light, some long flashes and some short as if a code was being sent. I went up there to find out. I found that it was caused by a woman who had a habit of going from her house to her barn at night carrying a lantern. As she walked, her legs blocked the light so neighbors seeing it from a distance thought it was flashing a signal.”

“Then I also had to go to Modalen up in the fjord. A shoemaker there said two spies had come over the mountain and showed up there. As I was questioning him, two fellows came by his place, and the shoemaker knew who they were. We asked them where they were from. They said, ‘we came over Vikafjellet mountains from Eksingdalen.’ So they were the ones who were supposed to be the spies. It was crazy then. Everybody was so afraid.”