Norway’s teacher resistance in World War Two

When Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940, a collaborative government led by Norwegian Vidkun Quisling was put in place.

Quisling believed that Norwegians would become more receptive to Nazi ideology if the education system was controlled.

However, thousands of the country’s teachers resisted joining a new union. More than 1,000 of them were sent to concentration camps for their refusal.

Mr Roll Hansen taught in Norway during the occupation. He told the BBC in 1944 about what it was like working in those conditions.

This edition of Witness History is produced and presented by Tim O’Callaghan in collaboration with the BBC Archives.

Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.

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(Photo: Nazi German soldiers parade through Oslo during the occupation of Norway. Credit: Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

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