Rapport 231145 

Initiativ for å sende krigsbarn til Australia.

Report of the Commonwealth Immigration Advisory Committee. 

Norway. 

Our first interview with Foreign Office and migration officials took place at Oslo. From the outset the Norwegians were co-operative and anxious to give us all the information within their power. The official and government attitude is to discourage migration even to the point of prohibition, which would be done with reluctance, if key personnel desired to go overseas in any great numbers. The people favour migration enthusiastically. 

Norway had a terrific mauling at the hands of the German. Her northern areas were almost completely destroyed by the retreating Germans. It is very obvious that Norway was marked down for annexation as part of the Third Reich and as in Holland the technique was pitiless and brutally savage. 

Hitler’s personal disappointment at the failure of Quisling to swing the Norwegians into full co-operation with the Germans accounts in a great degree for the rapine in Norway. There are still about 20,000 members of Quisling’s party n prison. Yet, before the war at the elections, the traitor’s party polled 1.4 per cent. Of the total votes, and not one  candidate secured a seat in Parliament. 

The liberation has released terrific hatreads and Norway is well on the way with a general clean-up of Fascist forces. The Government is Socialist an extremely pro-British and pro-ally. The people are solid and good. In this we mean they have the basic virtues of reserve and detachment, but on acquaintance prove very warm-hearted indeed. In the many talks and social occasions we had with the Norwegians, we found the mutual respect and friendship very firmly based. 

Norway has a population of approximately 3,000,000 people and is facing a tremendous job of reconstruction. In the north almost every house is damaged and every factory and shipyard, even in remote inaccessible fiords, has been blasted by the Germans. 

Norway had no meat at the time of the Committee’s visit – the people were living on fish. There was very little warm material for clothes. The Norwegian had turned his suit and patched and sewn to remain respectable. He is proud and generous enough to share cheerfully what little he has. 

The Norwegians authorities are trying to cope with the reconstruction problem as well as the desire on the part of many people – particularly young people – to get out of the country. It is significant that overwhelmingly it is Australia as first choice for their new home. 

The main reason for this is the existence of a group of young people called the Australian Migrants Club. These people are extremely active and have a splendid organization actively canvassing for migrants. So strong has their influence been and so disturbed has the Government become that on the day of our arrival at Oslo the newspapers carried editorials on ”Australia Fever”, and counselled the young people to remain at home and not become ”adventure mad”. 

The minister for Social Affairs, Mr. Offatel (Oftedal?), in a public statement, asked for time to do all the things in Norway that required doing and asked the young people not to fall victims to the typical ”wanderlust” of their nation.  

Cartoons appeared in the newspaper showing a kangaroo jumping back to Australia with a pouch full of Norwegians. In the foreground were emus running round the Australians landscapes ridden by Norwegians migrants. The caption said ”Off to Australia” and the block lines referred to the rush to go to Australia and the current outbreak of ”Australia Fever”.

It is significant that no other country is mentioned so much as Australia as the future home (others being the British dominions) and that the agitation for permission to go overseas is predominantly on the part of the young. There is definite conflict between the Government and the Australia Migrants’ Club on this issue. 

The Club is run by two young men, Andersen and Pedersen, both splendid well-educated lads. On arrival at Oslo we interviewed them on the aims of their Club. The Committee was rather overwhelmed by the desire of these young people to emigrate to Australia and very touched by their obvious sincerity. They said they were determined to get to Australia and hoped we soon would have a plan for them. They were eager to come a once and try their luck and said they would organize concerts and plays to pay their own fares.

They are, for the most part, well-educated and many speak English. The President (Mr.Pedersen) teaches the club members English four nights a week. He is a policeman and switches shifts with his companions to have the evenings free. There are no Nazi elements in the group and a thorough investigation is made of the member before his acceptance. 

The Committee was invited to see a screening of three Australian short features at their club rooms. One was a Department of information film, the other two were out-of-date films but very interesting to the club members. They cheered the screenings with great enthusiasm. The Committee was deeply impressed with the type of young person present. They were all very interested in the Committee. They all said they wanted to go to Australia because they admired the Commonwealth and its war effort. They said were tired of Europe and if Australia would not take them they would go to Canada or South Africa, but they preferred Australia. 

We mentioned the subject of the Australian Club to the Norwegian Government and the Committee suggested recognition of this body. The Government has agreed to talk the matter over. 

Before leaving this aspect of Norway, the Committee wants to record the fact that these youngsters are well balanced, not at all hysterical and physically of good type. Many have been commandos in the Norwegian Resistance Movement. 

In conversation with these young people they showed an earnest desire to know everything about Australia and extracted a promise from the Committee that they would have publicity sent to them by the Department of Information. They have decided to run a newspaper and produce plays to provide money for their journey to Australia. In all their correspondence with the Committee they signed themselves “The Australian Colony on the Continent”. 

Norway has a problem with her war orphans. 

The Foreign Office at Oslo invited us to see the children born of Norwegian mothers and German fathers during the war years. This is the greatest problem of the war with which Norway has to deal. The story is simple and infinitely pathetic. There are over 9,000 children in Norway, aged between four years and nine months, who are known throughout Norway, if a little euphony is applied, as “Hitler’s Children”. 

These babies are the innocent victims of Nazi philosophy for the creation of German races in other than Germany itself. The German records in the Social Welfare Centre at Oslo show that the Germans encouraged the couples to have children out of wedlock on the theory that the first child of passion was a better fighter and hater than the child born of a normal marriage. The records carefully tabulated the births and a record of health of child and mother. The translations read to the Committee included the statement that the children would provide 30 divisions eventually for the protection of Germany’s living space in Norway. 

Most of the babies were born in the far north of Norway where the Germans were stationed for four years. The country is sparsely settled, snowbound for the greater part of the year, and with only farmhouses and a few small villages. The German boys were billeted in farmhouses, and in close proximity with the girls. In many cases, from the outset they shared rooms. The outcome was inevitable. Despite the protests of the parents and the brothers of the girls, this mass rape went on. Protesting brothers and fathers were sent away as slave labour. Some were shot. The girls were aged from fifteen to twenty at most. Some of course accepted the inevitable. The German youths were the conquerors and the Germans had taken over their country – there was money and protection in having a German child. Others were fiercely patriotic, as befits a strong and sturdy race, but they yielded to Hitler’s superman theory and became stud-maidens to this soldiers. 

The Committee motored some miles out of Oslo to see several hundreds of these children in a big hospital the Norwegians have made available for the care of these youngsters. By a curious irony the name of the place was GAADHUP – Norwegian for Good Hope. The Norwegians have done a good job for the children – they are wonderfully cared for. 

The mothers, ostracised by the Norwegian populace, find employment at the various institutions housing the children. Many of the grandmothers, defying popular outcry, have taken their daughters’ child to bring up as Norwegian. Social security payments are made by the Norwegian Government to the mothers and babes.  

The Committee was deeply moved by the visit to these children and feels here that it must pay tribute to the magnificent work of the Norwegian Government in its efforts for these children. Judge Debes, of the Norwegian Government, is in charge of the welfare of these children. He asked the Committee to meet him and discuss the position. His report follows:  

REPORT BY JUDGE DEBES ON GERMAN CHILDREN 

I will give a brief summary of the problems we have to deal with in this country regarding illegitimate children with German fathers and Norwegian mothers. But firstly I shall briefly mention how we treat our illegitimate children. For children born out of wedlock an Act of 1915 ensures the same legal status as for those born in wedlock. If it can be determined who the father is the child has the right to the fahter’s name and heritage and the father is bound to contribute to the child’s maintenance and education. In other cases, the person who might have been the father according to the order of nature, may be charged with the maintenance of the child. A number of counties – among them this city (Oslo) – have provided pensions at definite rates for widows, divorced wives and unmarried mothers when they have children to maintain. The teachers of he elementary schools in Oslo have been asked how illegitimate children are generally treated by their schoolfellows. They answered that in their opinion the illegitimate children were just treated like other children by their comrades and perhaps the law just mentioned may have contributed to bring about this result.  

But the general attitude towards children born out of wedlock and with German fathers is quite another thing. The countryside rings with the slogan – Send them to Germany – and the general attitude to them and their mothers was, and still is, hostile. The mothers belong to every social class, their ages ranging from fourteen (the majority between eighteen and twenty-five) married and unmarried. If the mothers suffered from venereal disease or tuberculosis, or had previously illegitimate children, or were of undesirable race, German paternity was not established. There are now almost 9,000 of these children but almost 7,000 of them are not on the Norwegian registers of birth, only on the German ones (Lebensborn – Source of Life). They had, many of them, German christian names and they were treated as Germans. But according to our laws they are Norwegian citizens and consequently we cannot send them to Germany – and at all events, we cannot do it now. 

A committee had been dealing with these problems and it has just finished its work.  It will recommend to transfer the children to Norwegian register of birth and give them Norwegian names. If the children live with their mothers, their grandparents or other relations, or are adopted by people who treat them well, they may remain where they are. But we do not want them to grove up in a hostile atmosphere, and if the general attitude towards them is not good, they will perhaps have to be removed, with their mothers or without them, to places where the people do not know who their fathers are. 

And we have hoped that other countries which have not, in a direct sense suffered through the presence of German occupants, might in some way or other help these innocent children if we cannot make them happy in our country. But before any adoption can eventually take place, and before we send the children out of the country, they will, of course, be physically and mentally examined, and all available information will be given. And when adoption has taken place with the consent of the mother or in a case where the mother has left her child, the children may be treated like orphans and adopt names generally used in the countries they are sent to. Some of these children have been adopted in Sweden. The Committee does not think it advisable to lay claim to any payment from the German fathers. It has been thought better to cut all ties between them and the children. The Committee does not want Norway to deny all responsibility towards these unfortunate children. But we are afraid that they have a rather hard time of it in this country if the attitude against them cannot be changed. So much depends upon environment and education and we hope that these poor children – half German half Norwegian – might, under altered conditions, get a fresh start in life an develop into good citizens of their new country. 

Conclusions.

Norway will be a great source of migrants in Europe. The types offering over a wide range, industrial, rural, commercial. Landing money will need to be reduced as most, Norwegians are poor. An inter-government agreement might be negotiated (as with Holland) since thousands of Norwegians are seeking a home i Australia. Norwegians shipbuilders are anxious to come to Australia. Timber workers and experts in forestry work also will seek their chance here.  

Kilde: Norges forskningsråd. Hjemmeside: http://www.forskningsradet.no/

Tilrettelagt for internett av Norges Krigsbarnforbund (NKBF). Homepage: http://www.nkbf.no