Beisfjord is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

Narvik Municipality ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ba ...

in Nordland county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The village is located about southeast of the town of Narvik, at the southeastern end of the long Beisfjorden (an arm off of the large

Ofotfjorden Ofotfjord ( or ) is a fjord in Nordland county, Norway. It is an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, located about north of the Arctic Circle. The long Ofotfjord is Norway's 12th longest fjord and it is also the 18th deepest, with a maximum depth of . ...

). The village sits in a valley surrounded by steep mountains, with the Lakselva river flowing through it and emptying into the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...

. The village has a population (2021) of 828.

History

Beisfjord was the location of one of the most notorious

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in Norway. It was called ''"Lager 1 Beisfjord"'' (meaning Camp #1 Beisfjord). This was a concentration camp for Yugoslav (mostly

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

) prisoners of war, and later for Soviet POWs . The Yugoslavians consisted of about 900 men, 88 of whom were between 14 and 18 years of age. They were housed there for about six months, until the survivors were transferred out in October 1942. During one three-week period in July 1942, 311 men died, some from

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

, but most on one day when the German high command ordered all 287 prisoners in the sick quarters to be executed, citing concerns over health risks. All but about 100 were marched to a prepared mass grave and shot (this was known as the

Beisfjord massacre The Beisfjord massacre ( no, Beisfjord-massakren) was a massacre on 18 July 1942 at Beisfjord Camp No.1 (; no, Beisfjord fangeleir, link=no) in Beisfjord, Norway of 288 political prisoners. The massacre had been ordered a few days earlier by Jos ...

). Those who were not yet dead were buried alive. When the remaining 100 prisoners refused to leave the barracks, the Germans doused the place with gasoline and set it on fire. Those who did not burn to death were shot as they tried to escape. In all, during the six-month stay in Beisfjord, about 83% (>700 prisoners) of the Yugoslavians died. After the remaining Yugoslavians were transferred out in October 1942, Russian prisoners were brought to Beisfjord and kept there until 1945. In all, 3,500–4,000 Russians had passed through the camp by the war's end.

References

{{authority control Narvik Villages in Nordland Populated places of Arctic Norway Nazi concentration camps in Norway