Their daughter, Liv, told Haug that her father never wanted to talk about what had happened in the fjords. By his third day wandering alone, he was hallucinating, hearing the voices of the men of the Brattholm he had left behind. The Gronvoll children, now all grown up, invite me for lunch in their home in Furuflaten, where Baalsrud made his final visit. stated in. Piece details HS 2/161Special Operations Executive: Group C, Scandinavia: Registered FilesNorwayOperation MARTIN; list of Norwegian refugees; Lt Jan Siguard Baalsrud's report, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jan_Baalsrud&oldid=1137082465, Chairman of the Norwegian Disabled Veterans Union (1957 1964), This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 18:22. Now unable to walk unaided, he wondered if he would be best to end his suffering and ease the risk to those helping him. You've probably heard about the Norwegian minority who welcomed the Nazis Vidkun Quisling's name became a well-known synonym for traitor after his outspoken support for Hitler landed him a position as head of state. A kind fisherman gave him new boots and a pair of skis. Then came a blizzard. His feet frozen, he spent three days wandering aimlessly in the blizzard. He was entombed alive in snow for another four days and abandoned under open skies for five more. Dagmar's aunt sent a small boat to fetch them to her own place across the fjord. Jan Baalsrud og de som reddet ham (Norwegian Edition) Norwegian Edition | by Tore Haug | Jan 1, 2000. by David Howarth, Stuart Langton, et al. A normal man in many ways, he had a genius for survival. Then WWII broke out. Norwegian SOE personnel. The goal of this operation was to use 8 tons of explosives to destroy critical assets at a German air base in the town of Bardufoss in northern Norway. A blizzard set in. Jan Sigurd Baalsrud, MBE (December 13, 1917 in Kristiania, Norway - December 30, 1988 in Kongsvinger, Norway) was a commando in the Norwegian resistance trained by the British during World War II. At the top of the ridge, Haug says, there is a large boulder about five metres high, six metres wide and flat on one side. The Gronvoll family's barn, where Baalsrud, snow-blind and lame, recovered after the avalanche, is still standing just up the road. As the Germans opened fire on the dinghy, Baalsrud dove into the frigid Arctic water and swam to shore. Norway has a mild reputation, now, as a beneficent social democracy, so rich with oil that it's almost unseemly, its finances largely walled off from the calamities within the European Union. As of 2018 Jan Baalsrud is 71 years (age at death) years old. Baalsruds final wish before he died in 1988 was to be buried in the churchyard in Manndalen. In 2001, he and a co-author, Astrid Karlsen Scott, published Defiant Courage, a day-by-day reconstruction of Baalsrud's story that exhaustively praises the people of the fjords who smuggled him past German patrols, ministered to his frostbitten feet and hid him in lofts, barns and sheds. Jan Sigurd Baalsrud died in Oslo on December 30th, 1988. Haug is Baalsrud's second cousin, but he met the man only once, as a boy; he remembers Baalsrud refusing to talk with his relatives about his wartime experiences. "I don't know," Baalsrud said. Eventually, through the support of local villagers who put their own lives in danger to help him, he found freedom and went on to live a relatively normal life until his death in 1988 at the age of 71. A map of Baalsrud's journey. Even now, it's a 90-minute walk from the nearest village, on a steep mountainside with a little overhang, open to the elements. Jan Sigurd Baalsrud, MBE (13 December 1917 30 December 1988) was a commando in the Norwegian resistance trained by the British during World War II. Jan Baalsrud and the Norwegian Coast Norwegian World War II soldier Jan Sigurd Baalsrud found himself in quite the predicament during the German invasion of Norway. The Germans opened fire, sinking the dinghy, forcing all the men overboard into the freezing Norwegian water. Despite this, she described his sensitivity, courtesy, and grateful attitude towards her family as they helped him. He was deposited into the care of the British Red Cross, weighing barely 35kg. His deteriorating physical condition forced him to rely on the assistance of Norwegian patriots. Advertisement His ultimate goal was to cross the border into Sweden, where he'd have a better chance of escaping to an allied nation until the search was called off. Norway wanted to stay neutral, but Britain wanted Norway to join its blockade of Germany and to transport British goods at cheap rates. Eventually, traveling by reindeer sleigh, with his pursuers now hot on his tail, he made it through Nazi-occupied Finland to Sweden. Jan Baalsrud was born in Kristiania on the 13th December 1917. Over the next weeks, local villagers coordinated to assist him safely from place to place. After a long struggle to learn to walk without his toes, Baalsrud eventually was sent to Norway as an agent at his request. According to his wishes, his ashes were buried with Aslak Fossvoll, one of the Norwegian resistance members who aided him on his journey. So, they coordinated to transport him to another island first on a concealed stretcher, then on an improvised sled, and finally in a rowboat across the fjord. Legendary Norwegian veteran of WW2, whose fantastic escape from the Germans across 200 kilometres of rugged terrain and through snow and blizzards, got himself across the border to neutral Sweden. kinci Dnya Sava esnasnda Nazi igali altndaki Norve'te direniin simgesi olan komando Jan Baalsrud'un '12th Man' adl filme dahi konu olan destans hikayesi. That man promptly reported the conversation to the Gestapo. Han dde i 1988 og hans. Before he died on December 30, 1988, he was moved to a rehabilitation centre near Oslo that his own donations and support had helped to create. An unimaginable strength and resilience had taken hold of Baalsrud. We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance. He ran. 1 reference. He had been bold enough to swim in the same icy waters that they had crossed by boat. One soldier threw up his arms and dropped to the ground, dead; another fell wounded. "My father had two sisters," Are says, "and he sent them away" for the duration of the war. None of them did, as Haug and Karlsen Scott recount in their book, and many did more than just offer shelter. Jan Sigurd Baalsrud, 1917 - 1988 Jan Sigurd Baalsrud was born on month day 1917, at birth place, to Nils Julius Baalsrud and Hansine "Lilla" Baalsrud. Jan Baalsruds fantastiske flukt fra tyskerne i Troms vren 1943 ble internasjonalt kjent gjennom filmen Ni liv, basert p Baalsruds egen beretning i David Howarths bok We die alone. In the now abandoned Haugland farm on the island of Hersya, Jan Baalsrud was given shelter and food for the first time. The lone survivor of an ambush, he survived an avalanche, severe frostbite and snow blindness, having to amputate his own toes, and being relentlessly pursued by Germans for nine weeks before being whisked to safety in Sweden by locals. The movie centers around Baalsrud's relationship with his Norwegian countrymen, who helped him survive in the wilderness and reach neutral Sweden while being tracked down by the Gestapo. It took six months in a Swedish hospital for Baalsrud to climb back from the brink, overcoming the loss of his toes, putting weight back on, regaining his eyesight. Not satisfied with these versions of the story, Haug worked on a book of his own. Suffering from snowblindness and frostbite, more than sixty people of the Troms District risk their lives to help Baalsrud to freedom. The threat of gangrene increased every day, forcing Baalsrud to do the unfathomable: He used a pocket knife to slice off the tips of his toes and amputated his big toe to save the rest of his feet from infection. Instead, in a remarkably co-ordinated effort, many in the village came together to help harbour the fugitive and get him on his way, all without the Germans noticing. The main house is still there. Instead, they travelled a bit, then set up another shelter for him while they went to find more help. Mother of Private. When he awoke, he was still snow-blind. Baalsrud was appointed honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire by the British. When the weather finally cleared, he was snowblind, hallucinating, and crippled with frostbite in his toes. "He wondered, 'If Marius is caught, who should help me?' By the end, Baalsrud was less a hero than a package in need of safe delivery, out of Nazi hands. The rudder of the MS Bratholm is also on display. Dagmar Idrupsen is one of the last people still living who saw Baalsrud during his escape. One scene sees Stage testing the water's temperature to see how long his target could have lasted in . They kept running, to the shore on the east side of the island, and shouted for help. Not long after that, Baalsrud was left on a high plateau, on a stretcher in the snow, where he was supposed to be collected by the Norwegian resistance. 00. Baalsrud's feet froze solid. Seint om ettermiddagen, fredag 2. april 1943 blei tte motstandsmenn avretta av tyskarane p skytebana p Grnnsen nord p Tromsya. The story of his escape is absolutely incredible. Are, who has an uncanny resemblance to the pictures I saw of his father, works in the local fish-feed industry. The year was 1943, and Norway was under German occupation. He never settled in one place, and compartmentalized these interactions by refusing to disclose who he had visited previously or where he was headed next. The war and the occupation aren't prominent parts of the national identity the way they once were, yet up in the fjords there are signposts marked with a red letter B that are left unexplained to hikers. Director Tom Edvindsen Writer Tom Edvindsen Stars Jan Baalsrud (voice) Ronny Bratli Rune Gjeldnes He was very poorly clothed and had a gunshot wound on his foot. Jan Baalsrud(fdd 13. desember1917i Christiania, daud 30. desember1988i Kongsvinger) var ein norsk instrumentmakar og motstandsmann under andre verdskrigen. Every year at the end of July, the Jan Baalsrud March takes place. From here, it is a 4-kilometre walk to Toftefjorden. By 1938, he had completed his military service and became an instrument-maker. From behind the rock, he saw the soldiers getting closer, within range. To help know which direction in which to walk without falling off a cliff, he made snowballs, listening to the sound they made as they hit the ground. He had just one boot, having lost the other in the water. The house belonged to the sister of Marius Gronvoll, an active member of the resistance. Not far beneath us, at the bottom of the bay, still lies some of the wreckage of the Brattholm. He turned up toward the hill, planted one bootless foot in the snow and ran. He was 71 years old. Jan Baalsrud was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway and moved with his family to Kolbotn in the early 1930s. Like many other boys of his time, he came from modest means - the son of an instrument maker. Finally, his luck began to improve, when stumbled on Furuflaten, a small village between Mt. Han ble fdt i Oslo 13.desember 1917. A 30 minutes audio programme by Jim Mayer retracing Jan's route, including interviews with some of those who helped him escape. There was the father, still mourning the loss of his young son, who rowed Baalsrud in a dinghy through rocky waters in the middle of the night, avoiding German sentries, to deposit him on another shore. . Haug shuts the door. In the footsteps of Jan Baalsrud The Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) in co-operation with Norwegian Armed Forces and Rune Gjeldnes and Ronny Brattli has finished the filming and editing of Jan Baalsruds amazing escape from the Nazi in Northern Norway during WW2. However, as was also true of other legendary wartime survivors, he was not content to live this sedentary life while his countrymen were still fighting. In early 1943, he, three other commandos and the boat crew of eight, all Norwegians, embarked on a dangerous mission to destroy a German air control tower. human. he returned to the life he had started with his wife . Disclosure: These links are affiliate links. Baalsrud vokste opp i Oslo, men 1934, ret etter at moren dde, flyttet familien til Kolbotn. There was the man who warded off a neighbour, known to be on the German payroll, who came by while Baalsrud was inside. It is not currently marked, but the GPS coordinates are as follows:69.467396, 20.325756 There is a reasonable parking area next to the fjord, and you then follow a short path down to the cabin. richard matvichuk wifeinternational service dog laws. Only he had managed to escape and he would certainly be killed if caught. A small museum in Furuflaten commemorates Baalsrud. Today, there is no evidence to indicate what happened here, but many people have written in the notebook which is used as a visitors book. He lay tied to a stretcher as they stealthily took him through fiords and dragged him up and down snowy mountains. He even boldly whizzed past a group of German soldiers on their way to breakfast, vanishing from view before they thought to wonder who he was. When we arrive, we almost miss the place: the Hotel Savoy is almost an afterthought, sitting along the side of a highway, unmarked. He is not dating anyone. This is a museum devoted to the successful keeping of a secret. It remains all but impassable in winter. While driving their reindeer on spring passage, they pulled him on a sled across Finland and into neutral Sweden. His remaining toes were succumbing to frostbite, risking severe infection. Baalsrud began to see the signs of gangrene in his frost-damaged feet, so he sterilized his pocket knife in the flame of a lantern and did what he knew he had to do. This was where Baalsrud was left for nine more days, lying buried in a cave of snow most of the time, waiting for help to return. From Furuflaten, Marius and his three friends had rowed Baalsrud across the fjord to a hamlet called Revdal. And there is a replica of the sled that transported Baalsrud, with a mannequin of Baalsrud himself lying on top. sex or gender. Specifically: His ashes are buried in Manndalen in a grave shared with Aslak Aslaksen Fossvoll (1900-1943), one of the local men who helped him escape to Sweden. Jan Sigurd Baalsrud; Statements. Po skonen vlky Jan Baalsrud byl lenem Unie norskch vlench invalid a v letech 1957 a 1964 byl jejm pedsedou. At 71 years old, Jan Baalsrud height not available right now. June 24, 2022 . "Most young people, they don't know the story.". A team of helpers finally found him again, taking him further south to the Skaidijonni Valley, where he would spend another 17 days in a cave, awaiting another team to transport him across the Swedish border. During winter, the route has proved impossible to travel: When two commandos once tried, they needed to be airlifted out partway through their journey. These leapfrog journeys continued five days in one location, seventeen in another. The hole is a slight exaggeration; Baalsrudhula is actually just a crack in the rock. At the end of March 1943, Jan Baalsrud and 11 other intelligence officers from Kompani Linge and crew were sailing to Troms on the MS Bratholm to organise teams of saboteurs in occupied Norway. Dagmar saw the man's gun the snub-nosed Colt and a shiver of fear ran through her. Norwegian Jan Baalsrud: A Incredible Survivor In WWII War History Online, Following in the Tracks of Jan Baalsrud Nord Norge, RECOILweb: Behavioral Cues for Avoiding a Fight , Video: Knife Expert Analyzes Movie Knife Fights, Letter from the Editor: All Restraints Are Temporary, Outlast on Netflix: New TV Show Blends Alone with Lord of the Flies. Over the course of a few months, Jan Baalsrud (Thomas Gullestad) survives the harshest weather of the Arctic Circle as he flees a cruel and relentless German soldier, Kurt Stage (Jonathan Rhys. F r senere dd ogs " Evie ". A few framed black-and-white photos of Baalsrud's earlier visit in the 1950s, during production of Ni Liv, hang on the wall of the parlour. Their mission that March was to establish a presence near the northern port city, Tromso, where they would sabotage anything the Germans were using to fortify the Axis troops on the Russian front. But in warmer weather, anyone can walk the trail, or most of it. Trivia (4) richard matvichuk wife. He lived there until the 1950s. But the family promised to help him. They lit a time-delay fuse, piled into a dinghy, and attempted yet again to escape. Although the restored cabin looks quite idyllic when the weather is good, one can only imagine how freezing it must have been on ice-cold April nights. In 1943, he was 25 years old, a cartography instrument maker from Oslo. His soaked uniform was crystallising, hardening into a shell of ice. In addition, he was chairman of the Norwegian Disabled Veterans Union from 1957 to 1964. The film The 12th Man, which depicts Jan Baalsrud's dramatic escape from the Germans during World War II, premiered on Christmas Day 2017. Only Jan Baalsrud, the 12th man, managed to get away, escaping across Nord-Troms from 30 March to 1 June. "Jan was also depressed after the war; I heard from his brother," Haug says. He yanked out the magazine and tossed out the first two rounds. File:Jan Sigurd Baalsrud (1917- 1988) (47953919208).jpg From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository Jump to navigationJump to search File File history File usage on Commons File usage on other wikis Metadata Size of this preview: 486 599 pixels. Many Norwegians have been fascinated by the gripping story of the Norwegian resistance fighter. . Unknown Binding. An ambulance plane took him to Oslo University Hospital, but it was too late. instance of. Further away, others in his unit were being rounded up or killed by the Germans. The teacher made it in pieces, and it was assembled on the other side of the fjord. From Kilpisjrvi, in northern Finland, Baalsrud was collected by a Red Cross seaplane and flown to Boden. But in a cruel twist of fate, he ended up speaking to a shopkeeper with the same name some reports indicate he may have been a German imposter. Their fishing boat, the Brattholm, carried a secret cargo of bombs and explosive devices. So, in April 1940, the Blitzkrieg came to Norway. At the end of March 1943, Jan Baalsrud and 11 other intelligence officers from Kompani Linge and crew were sailing to Troms on the MS Bratholm to organise teams of saboteurs in occupied Norway. At the place where eight of the 11 onboard the MS Brattholm were executed stands a memorial today. He joined Linge Company, a group of young Norwegians who trained with the Allies in special ops and then sailed back on stealth missions, across the North Sea from Shetland, Scotland, and into occupied Norway, using the maze of fjords as cover. Jan Baalsrud is a well known Celebrity. His assignments: swim underwater, fastening explosive devices (limpets, or magnetic bombs) to German seaplanes, and to recruit Norwegian resistance fighters. Thomas Gullestad plays steely-eyed survivor Jan Sigurd Baalsrud in 'The 12th Man.' (YouTube) NEW YORK Many arts journals and news outlets "grade" movies with a star system. Zemel 30. prosince 1988 ve vku 71 let. Through the kindness of his fellow Norwegians, Baalsrud received food, shelter, new boots and bandages for his badly-frostbitten feet, and some skis. Historien ble verdensbermt gjennom boka og filmen Ni Liv. If the Germans ever caught this man, he would be tortured, then killed. He evaded capture for approximately two months, suffering from frostbite and snow blindness. He had no map, no food, no water and no plan. He did, however, have a gun: a small Colt, still snapped in its holster. enterprise vienna airport; kuding tea and kidney disease. The new film about the drama, The 12th Man, is generating considerable interest in the story, so we sought out the locations where it all happened. Jovelyn ("Evie") Miller (1.1.1925-15.5.1963) var Jan Baalsruds frste kone. Baalsrud, 25, had three years of military experience behind him when he set off with 11 other men on a covert mission to Norway. +47 957 34 949) will gladly help you when she is available. The march takes eight days and you can do either walk the entire route or just part of it. . 1 reference. Etter den annen verdenskrig var Baalsrud virksom for krigsinvalidenes sak. Next, an avalanche swept him down into a valley, buried up to his neck and stripped of his skis and boots. | It houses a few of his recovered possessions, including his skis which were found in 1943 at the bottom of a gully, and hidden until the end of the war. The file points out that he left a wife and four small daughters under the age of nine. Over the next nine weeks, Baalsrud was the subject of a nationwide manhunt by the Germans. | Jan Sigurd Baalsrud was born on December 13, 1917, in Kristiana (now Oslo) in Norway. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. Source: The New York Times. Dette dokumentarprogrammet forteller hva som virkelig skjedde i 1943 da Jan Baalsrud mtte flykte fra Toftefjorden i Troms til Sverige. Contact: Jan Lindrupsen on +47 906 13 455. Throughout 12th Man, Baalsrud is doggedly pursued by Kurt Stage (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a member of the Gestapo whose ashen face suggests the man has seen a ghostand, indeed, he spends most of the film chasing one.His peers, convinced of Baalsrud's death, look at him as if he were mad. Upon learning that Operation Martin had failed, the twelve men quickly returned to the fishing boat that was packed with their explosives and attempted to escape. After consulting on the production of Ni Liv, he returned to the life he had started with his wife, Evie, an American from a wealthy family. When he left, Agnete was bereft. Wife of Jan Sigurd Baalsrud He graduated as a cartographical instrument-maker in 1939. Howarth, a journalist and Royal Navy officer, wrote We Die Alone based largely on the Norwegian military report on the escape that Baalsrud filed during his recovery and interviews with Baalsrud himself. His later visit in 1987 was less triumphant, more poignant. A desperate Baalsrud banged on the door of a house, uncertain whether friend or foe lay behind it. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. This particular effort, however, was a complete failure. By Dagney McKinney. But the frostbite had taken hold, and Baalsrud was no longer able to walk on his own. In peacetime, Baalsrud was made an MBE, and raised a family with his American wife, Evie, while working in his father's import business. Virtual International Authority File. Their only option was to scuttle the boat. SOLUND (NRK): 1. juledag er det premiere p den nye filmen om krigshelten Jan Baalsrud. From Mikkelvik/Mariagrden, a ferry sails to Bromnes on the island of Rebbenesya. Two special soldiers relives Jan Baalsrud's miraculous flight from the Nazi's during harsh winter, when he survived and after the war became famous as the man with nine lives, known through the films Nine Lives (1957) and 12th Man (2017). Publisert 22. feb. 2016 kl. The quiet is unnerving but not unusual in the fjords, where a tranquil sense of isolation easily co-exists with all the intense, momentous visual drama around you: brilliant green and turquoise rivers, as smooth as glass, reflecting the sun so you can barely see; craggy, sharp-angled, purple-capped mountains erupting straight out of those rivers at right angles. The Scandinavian country had been neutral during the entirety of the First World War, and maintained this position as Hitler's grip began to tighten on continental Europe. Not far from the shore is a small shed, about two by three metres, where they left him on a wooden platform, unable to walk, but within reach of food, water, a knife and a bottle of homemade hard liquor. Baalsrud was born in Norways capital city (now Oslo) in 1917. Ballsruds ashes are buried in a grave in Manndalen that he shares with one of the local men who helped him escape. This was when Baalsrud's journey took its grimmest turn yet. This organised walk is 200 km long and crosses the islands of Rebbenesya and Ringvassya, the Lyngen peninsula and the mainland east of the Lyngenfjord. Once his country was liberated in 1945, he was reunited with his family in Oslo for the first time in five years. Fearing it would spread, he cut off his big toe and the infected bit of the index toe. Fearing for his life, the man reported them to German authorities. The captain cuts the motor. He lived there until his death on 30 December 1988, aged 71. Slowly, the Gronvolls brought Baalsrud back to life. When Baalsrud spotted German ships moving into the cove, he knew the mission was finished. Connect to 5,000+ Miller profiles on Geni, Jan 1 1924 - New York City, New York, United States, May 15 1963 - Tacoronte, Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Charles Duncan Miller, Evelyn Spencer Miller (born Witherbee). " Baalsrud sterilised the knife in the flame of the lamp, then washed his feet with liquor and took a swig before cutting. www.opendialoguemediations.com. The northern Norwegian fjord where a crippled Jan Baalsrud was taken across on a stretcher to a shed he called the "Hotel Savoy". They had one child. Baalsruds feet froze solid. His last wish was to be buried in the fjords, in the village of Mandal, alongside the grave of Aslak Fossvoll, a Norwegian resistance leader who visited Baalsrud in the cave at Skaidijonni, only to die of diphtheria four weeks after Baalsrud made it safely to Sweden. At the end of the war, he returned to Norway to witness his country's liberation first-hand. Kjellaug still lives in Furuflaten, working as a nurse in a neighbouring town. He completed military service at 19, and when World War II broke out, he went to serve his country. Haug is among the many Norwegians of his generation who grew up on the tale of Baalsrud's escape. Baalsrud was a 25-year-old son of an instrument maker who escaped his country after the German invasion in 1940 and returned three years later as a saboteur. An elegant pedestrian bridge has been constructed across the river, almost at the end of the trial. It is 200 kilometres long and crosses the islands of Rebbenesya and Ringvassya, the Lyngen peninsula and the mainland east of Lyngenfjorden. 1 talking about this. Find the editorial stock photo of Jan Baalsrud 37yo Norwegian Former Secret, and more photos in the Shutterstock collection of editorial photography. Winston Churchill had always maintained that control of the North Sea would be essential to any Allied victory. Jan Baalsrud facts. He died on December 30, 1988 in Breia, Norway. (The file notes were written at the time of the accident). Jan Baalsrud Jan Sigurd Baalsrud, fdd 13 december 1917 i Kristiania ( Oslo ), dd 30 december 1988 i Kongsvinger, Norge, var en norsk instrumentmakare och motstndsman under andra vrldskriget . When the terrain on the other side proved too steep to negotiate with a stretcher, Marius hid Baalsrud in a small shed and returned to Furuflaten, where he convinced a local schoolteacher with carpentry skills to make a sled no small feat, considering the school was where all the soldiers congregated. During the German invasion of Norway in 1940, Baalsrud fought in Vestfold. But he was all right, more or less, until the avalanche. The gun jammed. The men lit a fuse, waiting until the last minute to jump before the Brattholm exploded.