Freedom Fighter Ch. 3

Winter came earlier in this area then it did in the south. By late October snow was already on the ground and the winds blew hard on our little house. Marianne and I were entering our final month of my pregnancy when the snows first fell. On November 25th I gave birth to our daughter. Harald delivered my baby. Three days later, he delivered Marianne's. She had a son, which they called Dag, after her father.

Dreng wanted to call our child Hanna, after my mother.

"Nei." I told him, "Liv. It is appropriate we name her Liv." Liv meant "life" in Norwegian.

Dreng kissed my forehead and said, "She is Liv. She is the life we both wanted to have." He was right, this was the manifestation of our love, brought forth in the form of a beautiful new life.

We listened to the radio by the fire that night. It was early December. I was nursing Liv in the corner of the living room, a blanket covered me discreetly as my child fed from my breast.

I rocked as Dreng and Harald played cards, it had been a spirited game of Whist. Suddenly they fell silent and listened to the radio. Harald understood English far better then Dreng did. I understood very little (we were listening to BBC, the English broadcast).

Harald turned pale, then smiled.

"America is in the war." He said. He stood and paced the room.

"The war will be over by next Christmas. America is very powerful. Hitler is kaput." He said.

Dreng looked over at me, "Aase, we can go home soon."

We truly believed that with America now on the side of England and Russia, the war would be over in the next year.

Our life in Trondheim changed quickly in the springtime. The Germans had brought in their largest battleship and hidden it in the Fjord. The British needed to know where it was so they could sink it. Orders were issued to the Norwegian underground to help them locate the Tirpitz, the battleship that was a sister to the long since sunken Bismarck.

Dreng left the second week in January. He and three other men went into the mountains to gather intelligence about the German forces in the area. The British had sent a convoy to Russia and it had been badly mauled by German aircraft.

Harald, Marianne and I remained. When Dreng returned two weeks later, he brought with him another man.

"Aase, I have someone here you have not seen in quite some time." He said. I looked to the doorway, the other person had his back to me, and he was removing his heavy jacket.

He turned to face me. It was my father!

"Papa?" I said, then I knew. His face became tender and he held out his arms to me. I put down Liv into her crib by the fireplace and ran to my father.

"Papa...oh Papa!" I cried as I kissed him and held him to me.

"My darling baby." He said as he held me. Tears flowed freely as we were reunited.

The resistance had hid my father for almost two years. He had held Sunday services in barns, homes and in the woods for the faithful. It had been impossible for him to return south and when word had reached him that I was missing, he feared the worst. He had not known that Dreng had found me and that we were safe. He also had not known that he had a granddaughter until I presented Liv to him.

"Poppa, this is Liv. She is your granddaughter. The Justice from Aa married Dreng and me at a refugee camp. We have been married for nineteen months. He helped me escape from the Germans when they came for you. Momma is dead. So is Triggie! Poppa...I am glad that you are well." I said. My tears still fell.

His eyes grew sad and he patted my hand.

"Aase, I am very happy for you. Everyday I grieve for your mother. I wish I could have been there for her. But I wasn't."

"Oh Poppa, you mustn't blame yourself! You were needed up here! Your mother needed you!" I said.

The reason why my father went to Trondheim was because his father had died and he was going to get his mother and bring her down to Kristiansand to stay with us when the Germans attacked. As soon as he had his father's affairs in order travel became impossible and he was stuck up north.

"Bestemor is also dead." He said. "Bestemor (grandmother) died last winter. I think she just missed my father too much."

My father sat down next to the fire. I stood behind him as he looked at his granddaughter sleep.

"She is beautiful, Aase." He said quietly.

"Takk, Poppa. We have called her Liv. It is because there is so much death all around us." I told him.

"Sir, you will stay with us. This is now your home." Dreng said.

Poppa turned to Dreng, "Takk. I am home, my son."

His face was weary he felt his losses deeply.

Throughout the next summer our small farm prospered. Other farmers had divided their livestock among themselves to keep the German troops from carry it all away . We now had two cows for milk, and ten sheep grazing in our pasture. The hard times were setting in but our little family was all healthy and fed.

Germany was being bombed daily day and night by the allies. Stalingrad had fallen and the Russians captured over 100,000 men. The battle of the North Atlantic raged fiercely as ships and men perished in the cold dark waters and Norway descended further and further into darkness but we were able to ride the tide safely.

The Germans came to our farm looking for food to take. The Poppa, Harald and Dreng saw them well before they drove up to our farm and hide safely in the woods.

Two blacks uniformed German officer’s came to the farmhouse. Soldiers scattered and began to herd the sheep and the cows towards the trucks.

Marianne went out to see what was going on and tried to plead with the Germans.

"Please!" She cried, "We have two babies and no men folk to provide for us!" She cried out.

One of the Germans in the black uniform stepped foreword and saluted her.

"Very well Frau, we leave you one cow for milk. German soldiers are dying in the east and our supplies are short here in Trondheim. But we will leave you something for your babies. You have another woman here also? You said that there were two babies? Ja?"

"Yes. My sister-in-law. She also has a child my age." Marianne said.

"Have her come out here."

"Hanna!" Marianne cried, using my alias.

I came out and froze, cold. This was the same man that had raped me in Laatefoss. His eyes met mine, but he did not recognize me.

"Frau. I am sorry that we must requisition these animals from your farm but there Germans who are hungry and I have orders to take only what is needed from farms in the area." He said.

"But you take all of our sheep." Marianne said, she instinctively knew that I was scared.

"Very well. I leave you two of them." He said and gave staccato orders to his men. Two of the sheep were pulled from the truck and let loose back into the pasture.

That was the end of it. He saluted and returned to his truck. The small convoy left and we were safe.

I was shaking as Marianne took my arm and led me back into the house.

"Aase. What is wrong?" She asked.

"The German that you were talking to. He was the one...in Laatefoss." I stuttered in a barely audible voice.

"I am sorry you had to see his face again." Her words comforted me.

Our men returned shortly after the sun had set. Marianne and I had to prepare them for the news, our present food supply would not sustain us through the winter. They received the grim news stoically but Dreng assured us that we would survive.

He also sensed that something was troubling me and asked me about it. I chose not to tell him and replied that I was concerned about the coming winter and how we would fair through it.

"Aase. You worry yourself needlessly. There is much game in the woods. Deer, pheasant, ducks. If we need to we can snare rabbits. I will provide for you." He said and wiped away my tears.

"Ja Dreng, you will, I know. I do worry needlessly." I said and kissed him. Still the German from Laatefoss, his image burned in my mind.

Winter came and went. The year 1943 was now here and Liv was one year old and crawling around the house with her cousins Lina and Dag. We did survive the winter fairly comfortably. Dreng hunted and lay out a trap line, snaring hare and shooting wild birds with a shotgun he had acquired. The war was going badly for Germany, but it still raged across Europe. Even with America against him, Hitler and his criminals still held an iron grip on all of those of us who were occupied by him.

The German Battleship Tirpitz was finally sunk by British bombers and many of the security troops who had been in Trondheim now departed for the east.

But when they left, a reign of terror descended on Trondheim when they had learned that the resistance had supplied information as to the whereabouts of the Tirpitz.

Farms were put to the torch in the night. Women were raped and left out in the bitter cold to survive on nothing. Word came to us that the Germans were working their way up the valley to our farm. At dark we fled with our children into the night into the forests and the safety of the mountains in the dead of winter.

Dreng and Harald both had Mauser rifles. German rifles. They vowed that they would use them. We made our way to north to safety. The resistance was strong in the north. They had openly fought the Germans there and the Germans were weary about venturing very far beyond the safety of their garrisons.

The second day out a blinding snowstorm halted us. We had been traveling on skis. We were able to make ten to twenty kilometers a day in the past. But now, with the rugged terrain and the deep snow, we were helpless.

Dreng huddled all of us on the leeward side of a hill. He built a small fire.

"I'll be back as soon as I find some sort of shelter. Eat and keep warm." He said and kissed me on the cheek then skied off to the north.

The four of us made the children as comfortable as possible. Harald built lean-to as my father cut spruce boughs to lay down for the babies. I was nursing Liv. Even though she was now one year old, I had not allowed my milk to dry up. Marianne and Harald had convinced me that it would be best for her if I continued to breast-feed. We did not have any bottles and nipples for the children and I had been able to eat a good diet. Now I was glad that I had milk available for her. She was cold and hungry. It would be hard for her to eat dried fish and stale biscuits.

My father sat down next to me.

"Is she all right, Aase." He asked, obviously concerned.

"Ja Poppa. She is cold, but she is hungry." I said. I had covered myself with a sleeping bag and had pulled up my sweater and underclothes to allow Liv to nurse. She was very hungry.

"Soon, Poppa, I will have no more milk to give her." I said.

I lay next to my cold child and warmed her body as she slept.

My father and Harald kept the fire fed and it was barely sufficient to keep them warm. Marianne lay next to me. We did our best to keep the three children as warm as possible. The wind was howling loudly and the wind was now blowing from the north, straight at us.

'We are going to freeze to death.' I

thought, 'Dreng, please hurry.' I pleaded to him in my mind.

Harald returned with two hares he had trapped, cleaned and skinned. We ate the steaming meat. It sustained us for the night. The next day was worse. Snow fell heavily around us. Our little stand of trees did little to shelter us from the driving wind.

Harald and Poppa did their best to make a snow house. But by nightfall the wind had blown it away. We dug down into the snow and lined it with our sleeping bags. The children were fussy, but they had remained warm.

I began to worry about Marianne. I knew she was slowing succumbing to the bitter cold. No matter how hard we tried, she shook bitterly. Warm food was given to her. This helped. But we had no more. Six dry stale biscuits were all we had between life and death.

Harald went out to hunt again. At nightfall, about 4 P.M., he returned. Nothing! Marianne broke down and cried when she realized that there was nothing to eat. But we all knew that our bodies consumed most of our calories just to produce heat. Up to this point she had been very brave and had remained silent. Now it was just too much for her.

Harald held her tightly and tried to keep her awake. But I think that he had begun to give up all hope.

It was night. The wind had not ceased it's howling. Harald made sure that we remained awake. Marianne was brave. She held Dag close to her and fed him. But the bitter cold had drained her of all energy reserves and her body did not produce any more milk. Little Dag whimpered and tried feebly to cry, but even this taxed his small body.

I must have fallen asleep. For suddenly I was warm. I heard Dreng's voice, then Bjorn laughed and said, "And how is my pretty little mother fairing?"

It was all so very surreal, I was lifted up. My body flew and then was bound.

"Dreng...Dreng, what is happening?" I mumbled to the image of him in my mind. I could not see him, my vision had failed me. It was pitch black. I thought I was blind. My baby was taken from me and I cried out.

"Aase. I have Liv. She is safe." It was Dreng.

They returned for us long after the arctic sun had set. Dreng somehow had found Bjorn. We were set in sleds and brought back to the town of Nordli, very near the Swedish border.

Marianne and I had been given lukewarm baths by several of the town's women, followed by hot broth and tea. When our circulation returned, Harald gave us all a physical examination.

"Ladies, I am very happy to announce that you are fine. Even the children are stronger then I would have guessed them to be. Dreng, we all owe our lives to you." Harald said.

Dreng smiled but would not play the hero.

"I headed north for the day. I followed the rail line and came here. At nightfall after I had eaten and gathered two men to help, guess whom I run into."

"Who?" I asked him.

"Bjorn! He got a team together quickly." Dreng said.

"I told them that there were very important people out there. This town has resisted the Germans very well. They have sent patrols here. They do not return. The Swedes stop them they we come to the border after we have already crossed it. We have an agreement with the Swedish commander." Bjorn said.

"Thank you all. Bjorn. This is my father. He is a Lutheran pastor. Where is Liv?" I asked.

Dreng sat next to me. I was wrapped in a blanket, sipping some tea.

"She is with Ragnhild. Ragnhild is a mother now, Aase." Bjorn replied.

I nodded.

"Takk Bjorn." I said, grateful for his concern.

We remained in Norli until the end of 1943. No matter how hard I may have thought that year was. The worse was still ahead. There would be great gains and bitter losses. As the Thousand-Year Reich began to disintegrate, so did my country. Vengeance was wreaked upon it savagely. Hundreds, thousands would die. Some of them very close to me. Some I loved very dearly.