in detail
From 1940 to 1942, the village of Telavåg, west of Bergen, was the most important port for shipping traffic between Norway and Great Britain, in particular the Shetland Islands.
In April 1942, the Gestapo arrested two Norwegian agents who wanted to enter the country with military material for Norwegian resistance groups.
In the encounter, one of the agents and two Gestapo officers were killed. As a reprisal, the German occupiers destroyed the entire village in April and May 1942. The Norwegian population there was interned in the village school or sent to the concentration camps Sachsenhausen, Natzweiler-Struthof and Dachau. Of 76 deported, 31 persons died down to the end of the war. As part of the reprisal measures, 18 young men in the town were shot. The following year two more Norwegians were executed. On 17 May 1944, the men over the age of 60 still in custody and the women and children were released. They managed to find shelter with friends, relatives or in nearby communities until the end of the war.
The village of Telav åg was rebuilt from 1945 to 1949. In 1987, a first museum was opened there; it documents this unique case of National Socialist terror against a single locality. The North Sea Shipping Museum opened there in 1998 has substantially expanded the exhibition and information.
In April 1942, the Gestapo arrested twqo Norwegian agents in Telavåg; in the fracas, two Gestapo officers were killed. The German occupiers then carried out a reprisal operation in which the entire village was destroyed and its inhabitants either interned or deported. 18 young men were immediately shot.
The village was rebuilt between 1945 and 1949. In 1987, the first museum was opened in Telavåg, supplemented by the North Sea Shipping Museum opened in 1998.
April 1942
Arrest of two Norwegian agents by the Gestapo, during which operation two Gestapo officers are killed.
April and May 1942
Complete destruction of the village and internment or deportation of the population. As part of the terror measures, 18 young men are shot immediately.
1943
Execution of two more Norwegians.
17 May 1944
Release of women and children and of men over the age of 60.
1945 to 1949
Reconstruction of the village of Telavåg.
1987
Opening of the first museum in Telavåg.
1998
Official opening of the North Sea Shipping Museum.
