Bredtveit Prison (formally Bredtveit Prison Service, Custody and Supervision Unit, ) is a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

located in the neighborhood of Bredtvet in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was a concentration camp.

Pre-World War II

It originated at Bredtvet farm as a learning home (''lærehjem'') for young boys, erected 1918 and in use from 1919 to 1923. In 1923 the state took over the property from ''Det norske lærehjem- og verneforbund''. In 1929 it was proposed that the property be turned into a juvenile center teaching labour skills; the proposal accepted in 1939. This plan did not materialize, as the construction of the facility was halted by war.

Concentration camp

In 1940, Norway was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany. Beginning in 1941 the Nazi collaborationist party

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...

used Bredtveit as a political prison. It bore a similarity to

Falstad concentration camp Falstad concentration camp ( or ) was situated in the village of Ekne in what was Skogn Municipality (now part of Levanger Municipality in Trøndelag county) in Norway. It was used mostly for political prisoners from Nazism, Nazi-occupied territor ...

, via the original purpose of the facility. People incarcerated at Bredtveit during the war included several professors arrested during the crackdown on the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

in October 1943: Johan Christian Schreiner, Odd Hassel,

Ragnar Frisch Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch (3 March 1895 – 31 January 1973) was an influential Norwegian economist and econometrician known for being one of the major contributors to establishing economics as a quantitative and statistically informed science ...

, Johannes Andenæs, Carl Jacob Arnholm, Bjørn Føyn, Eiliv Skard, Harald K. Schjelderup and Anatol Heintz. Also, a group of Jewish prisoners that arrived in Oslo after the departure of SS ''Donau'' were held at Bredtveit. They left Bredtveit on 24 February 1943, and were shipped towards

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

on the following day. Personnel in the camp included physician Hans Eng.

Post-World War II

In 1945, after the war was over, Bredtveit was used as a prison for women whom awaited trial for collaboration, as a part of the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The legal purge in Norway after World War II (; ) took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was found to have Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborated with the German occupation of Norway, German occupat ...

. Later, politician Aaslaug Aasland served as prison director in the initial period. From 1949 it was a general

women's prison Approximately 741,000 women are incarcerated in correctional facilities, a 17% increase since 2010 and the female prison population has been increasing across all continents.forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

. Forced labour ceased to exist in Norway in 1970, whereupon the prison was renamed ''Bredtveit fengsel og sikringsanstalt''. It is one of three women's prisons in Norway, the others being Sandefjord and Ravneberget. It has a capacity of 54 inmates. Amongst the people incarcerated at Bredtveit after the war were included Veronica Orderud and Kristin Kirkemo, who were convicted in the Orderud murder case.

References

{{Reflist Prisons in Norway Buildings and structures in Oslo Bredtvedt concentration camp Government buildings completed in 1918 Nazi concentration camps in Norway Women's prisons no:Bredtveit fengsel, forvarings- og sikringsanstalt