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ORGANISATION TODT AND FORCED LABOUR IN NORWAY 1940-45 GROSSRAUM THE NORWEGIAN MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONTENTS PREFACE.............................................................................................................................. 3 GROSSRAUM – ORGANISATION TODT AND FORCED LABOUR IN NORWAY 1940-45 .... 5 THE ATLANTIC WALL ....................................................................................................... 8 TECHNOLOGY AS PROPAGANDA ............................................................................13 DEPORTATION ................................................................................................................ 23 OT IN NORWAY .............................................................................................................. 27 Project leader Concept Texts Translation Financial sponsors Ketil Gjølme Andersen Ketil Gjølme Andersen Ketil Gjølme Andersen Lene Luck EVZ Alejandra Mendez Ramirez Caspar Barth NTNU Project group Research and advice Elisabeth Kristoffersen Fritt Ord Ingebjørg Eidhammer Design Hans Otto Frøland Phil Loring Statens Vegvesen Alejandra Mendez Ramirez Alejandra Mendez Ramirez Gunnar D. Hatlehol Sarah Zorica Mitic Norges Forskningsråd Geir Christiansen (main designer) Torgeir Sæveraas Safina de Klerk Kulturrådet Henning Sandsdalen Carle Lange Michael Stokke Ilda Resulovic Marlijn Noback Serge von Arx Hege Roll-Hansen Special thanks to Viktoria Hesselberg Siri Langdalen Mats Ingulstad Partners Torstein Hansen Geirr Olav Gram Hazel Barstow Ingebjørg Eidhammer Michael Stokke Rigmor Dava Frode Myhr Marie de Testa Ketil Gjølme Andersen Eirik Audunson Skaar Peder Borgen Sverre Høst Jan Hustak Emil Gustafsson Eling Borgen Tobias Messenbrink Maret Tamme Building of exhibition Narviksenteret Tarjei Leer-Salvesen Sebastian Hungerer Victoria Hesselberg Geir Christiansen Nordlandsmuseet Bjørn Engvik Lars Klemmensen (head constructor) Falstadsenteret Kåre Olsen Hallgeir Skogstad Film and photo editing Sverre Høst Romsdalsmuseet Ingrid Thomassen Carle Lange Ingebjørg Eidhammer (leder) Frode Myhr HL-senteret Walter Goertz Elisabeth Kristoffersen Thomas Fjærtoft Tobias Messenbrink Norsk Vegmuseum Gisela Goertz Hanne Skagmo Tobias Messenbrink Sebastian Hungerer Norsk Jernbanemuseum Relsen Larsen Endre Fodstad Sverre Høst Lars Klemmensen NTNU David Hauer Henrik Treimo Hallgeir Skogstad Riksarkivet Trond Melen Thomas Fjærtoft Photo Carle Lange Riksantikvaren Steinar Hansen Caspar Barth Håkon Bergseth Igor Di Tota Akershus Byggtekniske Gro Synnøve Ellefsen Ingrid Aas Julius Winger Forretning Kathrine Daniloff Morten Andre Hjerpeseth Tunge Ting Conservation of artefacts Grønn Emballasje Hanne Skagmo Endre Fodstad ISBN: 978-82-90115-51-2 • Text: Ketil G. Andersen • Photo editing: Ingebjørg Eidhammer • Facilitation: Kathrine Daniloff • Design and layout: Mr. Who • Print: 07 Media AS NTM / photographer: Håkon Bergseth / photographer: Håkon NTM GROSSRAUM | 3 PREFACE Unorganized for almost 70 years, the so-called Todt archives Theatre Academy at Østfold University College. Alejandra were opened for research in 2011. The archives consist Mendez Ramirez has been the main designer. An important of 440 shelf meters of historical records, retained at the ambition has been to develop new methods of combining Norwegian National Archives in Oslo. This was the starting research, dissemination and collection management. point from which The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, in co-operation with historians at The Norwegian From day one, dissemination and outreach activities has University of Science and Technology, initiated a larger been a priority. For example, the museum has organized research project about Organisation Todt and forced labour debates and workshops, and contributed to a documentary in Norway during World War 2. The Research Council of about forced labour. In addition, eighteen months before the Norway financed the project. exhibition was opened, a small part of it was made accessible to the public with the ambition of bringing scientists, affected The exhibition Grossraum was developed within the frames parties and visitors into the exhibition before it was finished. of the research project and opened in Oslo, February 2017. In this way the museum hopes to engage the public in a One of the museum’s goals has been to widen the scope from committing dialogue about the exhibition and its topic. the original research project. People from several different disciplines, areas and traditions were included in the preparation I wish to thank The Norwegian University of Technology and for the exhibition: The museum has co-operated with Science, The Fritt Ord foundation, The National Roadworks, archaeologists, architects, museologists, and artists, in addition and The Foundation Rememberance, Responsibility and to historians of different disciplines. The installation “Forgotten Future who have supported the exhibition financially. spades” by the artist Eirik Audunson Skaar, is included as an independent piece in the exhibition. The design is the result of Ketil Gjølme Andersen close co-operation with scenographers from The Norwegian Project leader NTM / photographer: Håkon Bergseth / photographer: Håkon NTM GROSSRAUM | 4 Constructing the Arctic railway: Soviet prisoners of war in Nordland county. Nordlandsmuseet, SLH.F.009177-00043 / Photographer: Johannes Martin Hennig Johannes Martin / Photographer: SLH.F.009177-00043 Nordlandsmuseet, GROSSRAUM | 5 GROSSRAUM ORGANISATION TODT AND FORCED LABOUR IN NORWAY 1940-45 Foreign prisoners of war and forced labour built the country. When the war was over and the occupying Nazis left, they had built roads, bridges, airports, railroads, docks, power stations, buildings for industry and fortifications by using forced labour. Much of this infrastructure is still in use. The exhibition Grossraum shows how Norway became part OT was a semi-military construction organisation, which of an economic system completely dependent on forced situated itself within a proud German engineering tradition. labour. As many as 20 million people, primarily from the To begin with, OT recruited volunteer workers, but as Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, were exploited in the the war progressed, the organisation became increasingly Nazi forced labour economy. In relation to population size, dependent on forced labour, both prisoners of war and civil Norway is probably the occupied country that had the largest forced labourers. While the prisoners of war received brutal contingency of forced labourers. More than 130 000 treatment, the civil forced labourers had better conditions. people were forcibly sent to work at German construction They received salary and, at least to start with, had some social sites in Norway. Approximately 17 000 of these died. rights. After the deportation of the Norwegian Jews, the fates of these prisoners of war and forced labourers create the OT promoted collaboration and the exhibition demonstrates most apparent connection between Norway and the Nazi how German and Norwegian construction companies profited extermination policy. in this system. OT provided prisoners of war to German companies, and in some rare cases to Norwegian companies Historically, forced labour has had little or no part in the as well. Formally, the Wehrmacht was responsible for the Norwegian understanding about the war. We know little about prisoners, but in practice part of this responsibility was given the prisoners of war, and even less about the civil forced to OT and their private partners. As such, private construction labourers who were on Norwegian soil. We do not even know companies and ordinary civilians, had a direct influence on the much about the largest entrepreneur on the German side, prisoner’s living conditions. Organisation Todt (OT). The exhibition and the research project which it is part of, is an attempt to remedy this. Nordlandsmuseet, SLH.F.009177-00043 / Photographer: Johannes Martin Hennig Johannes Martin / Photographer: SLH.F.009177-00043 Nordlandsmuseet, GROSSRAUM | 6 Prisoners of war at a OT construction site in northern Norway Sør-Troms Museum, TD.F-13282 / photographer: Unknown TD.F-13282 Museum, Sør-Troms GROSSRAUM | 7 FORCED LABOUR Organisation Todt Forced labour is not a Nazi invention. Involuntary labour in various forms has played an important role throughout During World War 2, Organisation Todt (OT) was European history. In the 19th century, European states used responsible for large construction projects in Germany forced labour liberally to build roads and railroads in their and in the territories occupied by Germany. OT built colonies overseas. During The First World War, prisoners of roads, railroads, power stations and several different war were used as forced labourers on both sides of the front. fortifications. Established in 1938, the organisation was named after its first leader, the engineer Fritz Todt. However, due to the racist ideology embedded in Nazism, OT planned and organised the constructions, but let the use of forced labour during World War 2 reached an private contractors construct the installations. At its unprecedented scale and brutality. Towards the end of the peak, OT controlled a workforce counting 1,5 million war, foreign prisoners of war and forced labourers constituted people. Some enrolled voluntarily, but the vast majority almost a quarter of the workforce in the Third Reich. were forcibly recruited. Taking the number of inhabitants into account, Norway is In the