Ulven detention camp (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Polizeihäftlingslager Ulven,'' ("''Ulven"'' means "the wolf")) was a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

that was located in what was

Os Municipality Os is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Os i Ø ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

county (now part of Bjørnafjorden Municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

county). It was located just outside the village of Osøyro, south of the city of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. Originally a military training camp built by the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

in 1876, it was converted into a prison camp in June 1940 during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, and it was the first Nazi prison camp in the country. It was designated a ' (police detention camp), under the administration of the Nazi "security police" (

Sicherheitspolizei The often abbreviated as SiPo, is a German term meaning "security police". In the Nazi Germany, Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agency, security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of ...

, SIPO). Initially, prisoners were

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

s, but a broader array of members from prosecuted groups began arriving at the camp. Conditions were relatively benign until 1942, when Otmar Holenia, nicknamed "the Storm", took command and imposed harsher conditions. Ulven was used for purposes of executing individuals for various reasons. It is not known how many were murdered in the camp. In the course of the summer of 1943, the prisoners at Ulven were used as

slave labor Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

to build the

Espeland concentration camp Espeland detention camp (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Espeland fangeleir'', German language, German: ''Polizeihäftlingslager Espeland'') was an internment camp opened in 1943 by Nazi Germany in German occupation of Norway, occupied Norway ne ...

in Bergen, to which the prisoners were transferred. The camp is now a training ground for the

Bergenhus Bergenhus is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of ...

home guard.

References

Nazi concentration camps in Norway Bjørnafjorden {{Vestland-geo-stub

See also

References