VI ER FRI! MAY 7, 1945

We are free! Norge er fri! Norway is free! King Haakon VII and the Royal Family arrive at Oslo on 7th June 1945. The little boy with the flag is today's King Harald V ---------------------------------------

After 2,076 days of horror and destruction, news of the unconditional surrender of Germany spread throughout Europe. Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Reims, France May 7th. The happy news broke in the West and in Norway on May 8th and celebrations erupted. The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion on April 9th, 1940, beginning "Five long years of enemy occupation" of Norway and the other Scandinavian countries. Pictured is Germany's Keitel signing the surrender document. May 8th was the first day of freedom for Norway in five years.

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During this period of occupation, each Scandinavian country dealt with harsh situations in various ways. Finland began this period already fighting with Russian forces before Germany began to be involved. Finland began combining efforts with Germany, and began a co-existence with the later occupying German force. As time went on, this relationship became strained and resistance began in earnest. Sweden decided to remain neutral, and German forces found a mutual relationship while buying iron ore for the needed ball-bearings for war equipment, and fish to feed the German occupiers. In turn, Sweden enjoyed relative calm and cooperation. Denmark seemed of little interest to the Germans and along with Sweden, appeared to be stepping stones into Norway. Both countries maintained cooperation with the occupiers and both governments remained "in power".

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Then, Germany invaded Norway on April 9th, 1940. After the first few days of the war, there was not much military resistance in Norway. The police were controlled by the Nazis and a new Nazi government was installed.The Germans demanded that Norway would accept the "protection of the Reich". This was rebuffed by the Norwegian government with the statement "Vi gir oss ikke frivillig kampen er allcrede i gang". "We will not submit voluntarily; The struggle is already underway". The Norwegian King left for England, resistance began and grew for five long years. ------------------------ Germany invaders had one formidable obstacle to overcome. The Akerhus fortress had never been successfully captured by a foreign enemy. This fortress was strategically important for the Norwegian capital, and therefore, Norway. Whoever ruled Akerhus fortress ruled Norway. However, this time, it had to be surrendered without combat in 1940 when the Norwegian government evacuated the capital. After the war, eight Norwegian traitors were tried for warcrimes and executed at the fortress. Akershus fortress remains open to the public. Several Norwegian Royalty have been buried in the Royal Mausoleum in the castle. They include King Sigurd I, King Haakon V, Queen Maud, King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha. The sarcophagi of King Haakon, queen Maud ( the White sarcophagus, King Olav and Crown Princess Märtha (the green sarcophagus). --------------------------------- In the decades after the war, a number of reforms were introduced improving the lives of everyone. Working hours were shortened, and holidays grew longer. The National Insurance Act was introduced to ensure financial security for all citizens, including the old and the ill.

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During the summer of 1945, debate raged concerning punishment of war criminals. While many spoke of retaliation, others argued against the death penalty as a "drawback for a civilized community". Those urging the death penalty were deemed to be "The ice front". Those people against the death penalty were labeled "The silk front".

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To this day, Norway justice seems to lean to the side of the more humanitarian "Silk Front".

Through sleet or snow, the mail must go..

Happy Birthday, John. You were quite a guy!

John Thompson was born in Tinn ( Telemark County) Norway April 30th, 1827. Actually, John is his American name, he was born Jon Torstein Rui in Norway. His father died when he was two years old. When he was 10, the family moved to America, where he grew to be the picture of a Norse Viking: 6 feet tall with a heavy, muscular build, blue eyes, and with blond hair and beard.

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The immigrants settled on a farm in Illinois, moving later to Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin, finally deciding on California to settle. It was just 3 years after gold had been discovered, and the mountains were crawling with recent arrivals. In 1851, Thompson migrated to California and settled in Hangtown (Placerville), mining in Coon Hollow and at Kelsey's Diggings, but, as a miner, he was unsuccessful. Four years later, Thompson noticed an ad in the Sacramento Union which read: "People lost to the world. Uncle Sam needs mail carrier." He decided to give it a try. During the summers, Thompson drove stages and delivered mail and supplies to remote mining camps. By the mid-1850’s, mail was being transported over the Sierra Nevada by horseback and mule and later by wagon. The mail and supplies were carried by wagons pulled by horses until the snows closed the mountain passes and deliveries were stopped for the long winters. All contact with the Eastern US ceased.

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Struck by a bolt of inspiration, Thompson saw a need for continuing the deliveries to these isolated people. He knew he could ski over the mountainous country. Using his skiing skills, he quickly grabbed an ax and chopped down an oak tree, and before long, had carved a pair of skis, each weighing over 12 pounds. These primitive skis were cumbersome, but he was strong and used to heavy physical exertion. His route took him 90 miles over snowdrifts up to 50 feet high and through blizzards with up to 80 mile per hour winds, delivering mail to those living in isolation. His mail sack often weighed up to 100 pounds: carrying medicine, emergency supplies, clothing, books, tools, pots and pans. He was the sole link between California and the Atlantic states during the long winter months..

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By day, he was guided by the trees and the rocks, for Thompson was a student of the mountains. He had a sixth sense about where he was, and never got lost. During the night, he looked up to the stars sliding over the drifts with his long wooden skis, pushing himself along with a single wood pole on ten-foot skis, this single, sturdy pole generally held in both hands . He knew this version of cross-country skiing from his native Norway. At nights, he built a large fire, lay on a bed of pine boughs and used his mail sack for a pillow. "He would stretch himself upon this fragrant couch," wrote Hubert Howe Bancroft, a west coast historian, "and with his feet to the blaze and his face to the stars slept soundly and safely."John carried the mail and supplies over the snowy Sierras for 20 winters. Typically, he covered the 90 mile one-way trip in about 3 days, traveling during the day as well as at night from Placerville to Mormon Station, Utah (Nevada's first town, later called Genoa when Nevada became a state). ------------------------------------------ Legend has it that he saved the lives of seven people who were snowbound in mountain cabins. In 1869 the completion of the transcontinental railroad put him out of the mail delivery business, but he continued to carry packages and express for private parties. Retiring from the mail delivery business, Thompson sought to obtain a small pension for his 20-years of services, services that he had provided for free to the residents of Tahoe and Carson Valley, the sum of $6000. Although everyone seemed to support his request, he never received one red cent. Thompson was never paid for his services delivering the United States Mail.

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Thompson's arduous life took its toll. Snowshoe Thompson died of appendicitis which developed into pneumonia on May 15, 1876, when he died and was buried in the cemetery in Genoa, Nevada. 90 miles over mountains on skis...No planes, delivery trucks....Three day delivery for 20 years!

No pension?...Thank you, John! Happy Birthday!

What Is Happening??

It was a very unusual winter. Areas expecting the usual, often heavy amounts of snowfall received very little and at unusual times this past winter. Other areas, especially parts of Europe received an heavy over-abundance of snow, and unexpected unusually extreme cold temperatures. “Climate Change” explains some, while others just say “Cyclical conditions. Just wait.”A new study by NASA scientist Joey Comiso has found that the oldest and thickest Arctic sea ice is disappearing at a faster rate than the younger and thinner ice at the edges of the ice cap. The rapid disappearance of "older ice" makes the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice cap more vulnerable to further decline.

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Microwave sensors on NASA’s Nimbus-7 satellite and by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program have photographed images of the polar ice. These two images are of 1980 and another of 2011. These photos show ice coverage throughout the last thirty years. Multi-year ice is shown in bright white, while average sea ice cover is shown in light blue to milky white. The images show a marked reduction in the ice-cover. According to the latest study by NASA scientist Comiso “The Arctic sea ice cover is getting thinner, because it’s rapidly losing its thick component. At the same time, the surface temperature in the Arctic is going up, which results in a shorter ice-forming season”.

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Norwegians are losing artifacts to this “climate change”.

Ice layers once covering Norwegian mountain summits are melting so fast, archaeologists cannot keep pace with the newly exposed land, and are rushing to preserve the number of emerging discoveries. Earlier, ice glaciers covered the mountain...... But conditions are changing! The front edge of Jotunheimen’s Jovfonna ice sheet has retreated about 18 meters, uncovering objects from the Dark and Viking Ages dating as far back as 1,500 years. Early inhabitants used various hunting techniques that are coming to light. Danish scientist Lars Pilø and his team of archaeologists work to recover and preserve reindeer hunting equipment used by the Vikings’ ancestors. Shown are "hunting sticks" used by groups of hunters to scare and herd reindeer in their hunts. Ice layers once covering Norwegian mountain summits are melting so fast, archaeologists cannot keep pace with the newly exposed land, and rush to preserve the number of emerging discoveries. The team has found hunting sticks, bows, arrows and even this 3.400-year-old leather shoe left by the mythological Norse “Ice Giants.” in the Jotunheimen Mountains since 2006 alone.Recently, the archeologists have uncovered no less than 600 important preserved hunting artifacts. "It's like a time machine...the ice has not been this small for many, many centuries," Pilø told Reuters News.

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The melting ice is uncovering the artifacts, but the air causes them to disintegrate. If not retrieved and kept in refrigeration/ice for study, they will be lost, and archaeolgists race against time.It is the opinion of many weather-scientists that rapidly shrinking Arctic sea ice could be behind the recent unusually cold and snowy winters in the Northern Hemisphere. Studies continue. David Rind, a climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City predicts that as the climate continues to warm, unusual weather phenomena will become more common. The challenge, Rind said, will be determining whether these anomalies are part of global warming or natural variability.

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Perhaps our "unusual weather" might become the norm? Stay tuned..

A Viking Adventure

Norwegian adventurer Jarle Andhøy has been arrested off the coast of Chile, being charged an unsanctioned trip to the Antarctica earlier this year. The travelers were looking for traces of a yacht which sank in a huge storm in February, 2011 - with the loss of three lives - and a strange story. Their sailing vessel was named after the famous legendary Scandanivian warrior-

-A Berserker.

Readers of Scandinavian history know that the Berserker warrior would fight with furious rage wearing no armor, except a bearskin, and create panic amongst enemy troops by his exceptional skill, rage and daring. This vessel named Berserk was a simple 48 foot steel yacht heavily loaded with supplies, little weather-proofing and carrying four-wheeled ATVs lashed to the deck. Two self-proclaimed "Vikings", one being skipper Jarle Andhøy had been to Antarctica before, then, in a 27-foot sailing boat. The young crew on-board Berserk wished to revive the old Norsemen traditions, being opposed to today's so-called “civilized” and often artificial way of living. Instead of being a part of the "playstation-generation" in a 7–4 life with computers and electronics , they wished to seek adventure and exploration in the spirit of the ancient vikings. Their expedition started in the fall of 2009 from the top of the world (Northwest Passage) and was to be completed at the bottom by a five member crew of the “Pizzageneration” that was crewing the Berserk.Tours into and through the wild country were advertised on their web-site.

This time, leaving the Berserk on their northern voyage when the ice flow forced them to stop, Andrøy, 34, and his Norwegian companion Samuel Massie, 19, set off on ATVs to complete their trek to the South Pole. Their intention was to be the first expedition to commemorate Roald Amundsen's successful trip 100 years ago.Soon after the two left the ship, a hurricane struck the area, causing huge waves and threatening conditions for the Berserk and the three on-board sailors. The ship’s distress signal was picked up by monitoring vessels, but before they could come to the doomed ship’s aid, no traces of the yacht could be found. Only a ruined life-raft was recovered by search vessels. Berserk, a Norway-flagged 45m-long yacht with three men aboard disappeared in McMurdo Sound, 33km north of Scott Base. Receiving reports of the ship’s sinking, the two ATV-explorers were forced to change course to a near-by base. After finding no trace of Berserk or the ship’s-crew, they were forced to answer their critics. The colorful and youthful duo had things to explain. -------------------------------------- Skipper Jarle Andhøy was a highly publicized sailor in Norway, having appeared on several TV shows and in the news. At one time, he was fined, and sentenced in Norway for trying to ”talk to the Polar Bears” on Svalbard Island during an earlier expedition. Now, one year later, the urge to revisit the site of the doomed Berserk caused the two survivors to experiment with another yacht that soon became named BerserkII.

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Test voyages on a Russian-registered yacht named "Nilaya" became uncharted without permission, to sail in various areas until a call was received from the "new Berserk" that they were headed into the Antarctic area once again, resulting in authorities seeking their arrest. Learning this, the expedition ended. After finding nothing and calling off the search for the original Berserk, this crew of three decided against sailing to New Zealand, believing they could face prosecution there, and instead headed for South America. They now became fugitives..

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In April, 2012, Norway News has reported that Norwegian adventurer Jarle Andhøy had been arrested off the coast of Chile. Mr Andhøy and fellow Norwegian Samuel Massie are being charged with the second unsanctioned trip to the Antarctic.In a recent news release: "The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), whose membership includes many charter yacht owners, issued a press statement on 3 March; this stated that the Berserk operators had not secured the necessary authorization or permits, and that "...the Norwegian Polar Institute, as the competent authority, has decided to formally report the leader of the Berserk expedition to Norwegian prosecuting authorities for violations of Antarctic regulations..."

Their odessy was over, but their problems still prove to be rough waters.

Holy Week

Travel to Scandinavia during the Easter holidays and find countries filled with the energy of Spring!

Easter in Iceland begins with Holy Thursday when generally all businesses are closed. However, movie theaters remain open on the Icelandic Easter holidays. A lot of people go out of town that day for a short trip, and return home after Easter. Sweden's Easter traditions indicate that the family feast is on Easter Saturday (Holy Saturday) - not on Sunday, as in the other countries. Denmark's Easter traditions include a fish or lamb feast and anonymous letters. Finland's Easter traditions combine traditional beliefs with lots of children's fun.

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Easter in Finland is a mix of traditions brought together for the religious festival. Borrowed from an old spring festival are the cutting and decorating of pussy willows. On Palm Sunday, children around Finland dress up as witches, paint their faces to match, and on Saturday morning, go door to door in a version of trick-or-treat, exchanging the willows for sweets, small toys or coins.--- Chocolate eggs are not delivered by the more famous Easter bunny, but a rooster, and eggs may be hidden around the house or under the bed. In most parts of Finland, it would be still too cold to go out to hunt for Easter eggs in the garden. The garden might be covered in snow, anyway.There is a unique Danish Easter tradition: The custom of sending teaser letters. A few weeks before Easter (begun on Valentine's Day?), Danes cut out letters on which they write a secret poem. They send the letter anonymously and only sign it with dots for their name. If the recipient can guess or find out who sent the Easter poem, he or she receives a reward in form of an egg at Easter. A quite peculiar national trait in Norway is solving crimes during Easter. Publishers churn out series of books known as "Easter-Thrillers" or Påskekrimmen.

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Here, in the USA, Easter Bunnies deliver eggs and candy in a basket while many adults attend church services. Churches are filled with color and joy of the Resurrection. Clerical vestments have changed from somber to bright colors that serve to adorn the worship space, calling attention to the nature of the season or festival being celebrated. Blue is used for its references to "hope". It originated in Scandinavia, -probably because purple dye was too expensive for churches to use. This being Holy Week, Clerical stoles , the neck-piece or scarf-like cloth represents the color of the seasons in the Church Year with appropriate Christian symbols adorning it. Ash Wednesday has black being the preferred color, since it is the color of the ashes to which we will all return. Purple is the alternate color for this day. Scarlet is the preferred color of this first day of Holy Week, as it suggests the deep color of blood. For the fourth day of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday is celebrated as the institution of the Lord’s Supper, and vestments will be scarlet or white . ----------------------------------------------------- Early European clergy wore basic black, often with a “Ruff Collar”. The “ruff” or collar is peculiar to the Danes and Norwegian customs.It was the badge of the nobility, later of the king’s appointees. The Swedes and Germans do not seem to have worn the “ruff". While this collar diminished in size, it probably was most uncomfortable until it was replaced in time. These Norwegian clergy are gathered at a funeral. Note the ruff collars in this grainy photo taken long ago.

-------------------------------------- Wherever you may be, we wish you the very best of Easter Greetings!

"Could Happen!"

Tired of constantly being broke & stuck in an unhappy marriage, a young husband decided to solve both problems by taking out a large insurance policy on his wife, with himself as the beneficiary, and then arranging to have her killed. A 'friend of a friend' put him in touch with a nefarious dark-side underworld figure who went by the name of 'Artie.' Artie explained to the husband that his going price for snuffing out a spouse was $5,000. The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he wouldn't have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife's insurance money. Artie insisted on being paid at least something up front, so the man opened his wallet, displaying the single dollar bill that rested inside. Artie sighed, rolled his eyes, & reluctantly agreed to accept the dollar as down payment for the dirty deed. A few days later, Artie followed the man's wife to the local Super Wal-Mart Store. There, he surprised her in the produce department & proceeded to strangle her with his gloved hands. As the poor unsuspecting woman drew her last breath & slumped to the floor, the manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the murder scene. Unwilling to leave any living witnesses behind, ol' Artie had no choice but to strangle the produce manager as well. However, unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by the hidden security cameras & observed by the store's security guard, who immediately called the police. Artie was caught and arrested before he could even leave the store. Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie revealed the whole sordid plan, including his unusual financial arrangements with the hapless husband, who was also quickly arrested. The next day in the newspaper, the headline declared...

(You're going to hate me for this...)

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'ARTIE CHOKES 2 for $1.00 @ WAL-MART! APRIL FOOL!