Mountain Camps

As Hitler in 1942 ordered the completion of his Polarbahn within six months , an enormous amount of Soviet prisoners of war was sent to Northern Norway to help speed up the work. The main workforce was set to work around of the Polar Circle and further north. Primitive camps was erected for these poor souls who was meant to be worked to death and they would see countless horrors during their time here.
  By the Polar Circle and stretching north there was often only a few hundred meters between the different camps , and as work progressed the camps  or its population of slaves was moved further north along the planned railroad.
 Now , slave life would definately be a very hard situation for anyone , but for those in the mountain camps life was probably worse. The Norwegian mountains is high and has a very harsh climate. Even the summer can bring days or weeks with a hellish weather and the winter is a chapter for itself , and when it would be a beautiful warm day the imprisoned Red Army men would be too starved and tired to notice.
 I don`t know what weather it was that day in May 1945 when the camps was Liberated but any survivor would probably remember it as a warm sunny day.

Some clouds but a good temperature made a trip up there for me almost too comfortable when thinking about this history. Armed with my camera I had decided to visit some of the campsites and make some photos of any traces. The camps is in a protected area so no digging or picking here whatsoever. Doing that will lead to a heavy fine and prehaps a curse from the local Saami population or a ride hanging in a rope from behind one of their reindeers. 
 Finding the camps can be difficult. The area is rocky and can seem very uniform. I knew where to look but it took a while before I was able to find the location. This camp was one of the largest on the mountain and was in use until the liberation. When the Red Cross had an inspection here in May more than 80% of the prisoners was so sick and weak they could not even walk. 

The first items I found was a bunch of small ovens which was supposed to heat the drafty barracks , the times the slaves was lucky enough to have a few twigs to throw in there. I kept a sharp eye to the ground and soon I found several other dumping spots. Most of them was covered with heavy rocks but items peeked out between so I could have some pics. Here was tools , food tins , broken glass and large amounts of barbed wire. 
 The climate here preserves the different materials quite well but I was amazed to see cloth and leather in very good condition just laying on the surface. Even pieces of paper have survived here for some 70 years! 

Moving into the camp itself I stumbeled across the camp kitchen half buried between bushes and barbed wire. The camp roads and buildings would be clearly visible if it was not for the heavy vegetation but I found several entrances and small stairways between the green. The camp bathroom floor still has a nice and smooth concrete surface and there was several beds rusting away on the ground around it.

Shortly after the prisoners arrived to the camps each camp got their own burial area. Usually a few hundred meter away. After the Liberation the Soviets put up memorials of their fallen comerades and made the burial grounds into nice little cemeteries. All of these was exhumed and destroyed by the Norwegian goverment in 1951. A big shame you can read more about in one of my next articles here.