By Berent LaBrecque
The Nazi occupation of Norway started on April 9th 1940
This is a historical fact
But I do not like to rely on rote memorization of dates
So it will not be on the test
What is important is the application and analysis of facts
I do not care if you know when the Nazi occupation started
I do care that you know that the Nazis tried to uproot public-facing institutions like teachers and the police
I do care that you know that the Norwegian police did not resist Nazification
More than half of them became members of the Nazi party
Some students may see parallels between this act and some aspects of modern policing
What can be learnt from this?
The teachers, however
refused loyalty to the Nazi party
Would not teach the newly prescribed curriculum
Continued to teach in secret
Preserved Norwegian culture and identity in the face of evil
Signed a letter of refusal, officially going on strike
The number of teachers who did so ranges from eight thousand
To ten thousand
To twelve thousand
Out of the anywhere between twelve thousand
To fourteen thousand teachers throughout the country
This is why I do not like relying on sheer numbers
They will not be on the test
It is enough that you know it was “most”
Even if the numbers are fuzzy
This is a historical fact
It is also a historical fact that over one thousand teachers were arrested
Sent up north to forced labor camps
Or, depending on the source and translation,
To prisoner of war camps
Or, depending on the source and translation,
To concentration camps
What is indisputable is that some died
What is also indisputable is that they won
The occupation government gave up
Facing unyielding resistance and the oncoming snows
It is not the first or last time the Germans would be defeated by winter
Nor the first or last time that ordinary people would make a difference in the face of extraordinary events
What can be learnt from this?
I do not like teaching Great Man History,
But it is important that you know the name Einar Høigård
A Norwegian teacher and historian
Who wrote the letter that circulated back to the Nazis
Signed however many thousand strong
It is important that you know that rather than betray his colleagues while under arrest
-which here we should read as under torture-
he jumped out of a window and
As the translation says
He became 36 years old
He was named after the einherjar,
ghostly warriors in Norse mythology
Those who have died in battle and are brought to Valhalla by Valkyries
Literally “those who fight alone”
Perhaps there is something lost in translation
A more modern way of looking at his name is that it relates to the words meaning “bold” and “valor”
Or perhaps he decided his name did not have to be his destiny
He did not have to die in battle
become a ghost
But he did
He was supposed to fight alone
But he didn’t
The details will not be on the test
But some things we learn just because they are important
This is a historical fact
What can be learnt from this?
Berent LaBrecque (he/him/his) is a history teacher who currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he spends most of his time sending love into the universe and also eating snacks. His work can be found in BOMBFIRE, Gingerbread Ritual, Ethel, and Thirteen Myna Birds, and he has a chapbook called “Sometimes It Rains.” He thinks third person bios are weird, and probably misses you.
