Events » Valhall Lodge Presents: “Norway’s Untold Stories, 1940-1945”
Valhall Lodge Presents: “Norway’s Untold Stories, 1940-1945”
June 8th, 2024
Stockholm Inn. 2420 Charles St. Rockford, IL 61108
Social / Cultural Director Kirsten Johnson email emskmg365@aol.com
Additional Information:
10:00 am - noon
10:00 AM Breakfast buffet or order off the menu (Dutch treat)
Speakers: Jan and Miriam Hansen
Program: “Norway’s Untold Stories, 1940-1945”
Jan, a native of Norway, is Professor Emeritus of Economics at UW-EC. Miriam is a former librarian and
teacher. Together they’ve been involved with international education, and have taught and traveled in
several foreign countries. Their love of Scandinavia and its culture resulted in research on a variety of
topics from economics, the occupation of Norway during WWII, to travel and architecture.
The Hansens have been active in the Ager Historical Association in Eau Claire. They now live in
Middleton, Wisconsin.
Program Description: “Norway’s Untold Stories, 1940-1945”
The Occupation of Norway that began in 1940 lasted five long and frightening years. Stories
about insurgent actions, sabotage, heroism, and escapes have been told and retold, but Jan
Hansen’s boyhood stories and those of his family, the encounters with POWs, the escapes to
Sweden, and the everyday fears are memories that continue through a lifetime. Here is history
remembered, but also many untold stories: the disappearance of a neighbor, the deceit and
tactics of Vidkun Quisling’s National Samling Party, the Nazi prisons, the POW and labor camps,
the stories of Kirkenes and the “scorched earth” in northern Norway. These stories are the focus
of this lecture and PowerPoint presentation.
RSVP by June 3, 2024
Contact: Social / Cultural Director Kirsten Johnson email emskmg365@aol.com
Public is Welcome. Free Will Offering
10:00 AM Breakfast buffet or order off the menu (Dutch treat)
Speakers: Jan and Miriam Hansen
Program: “Norway’s Untold Stories, 1940-1945”
Jan, a native of Norway, is Professor Emeritus of Economics at UW-EC. Miriam is a former librarian and
teacher. Together they’ve been involved with international education, and have taught and traveled in
several foreign countries. Their love of Scandinavia and its culture resulted in research on a variety of
topics from economics, the occupation of Norway during WWII, to travel and architecture.
The Hansens have been active in the Ager Historical Association in Eau Claire. They now live in
Middleton, Wisconsin.
Program Description: “Norway’s Untold Stories, 1940-1945”
The Occupation of Norway that began in 1940 lasted five long and frightening years. Stories
about insurgent actions, sabotage, heroism, and escapes have been told and retold, but Jan
Hansen’s boyhood stories and those of his family, the encounters with POWs, the escapes to
Sweden, and the everyday fears are memories that continue through a lifetime. Here is history
remembered, but also many untold stories: the disappearance of a neighbor, the deceit and
tactics of Vidkun Quisling’s National Samling Party, the Nazi prisons, the POW and labor camps,
the stories of Kirkenes and the “scorched earth” in northern Norway. These stories are the focus
of this lecture and PowerPoint presentation.
RSVP by June 3, 2024
Contact: Social / Cultural Director Kirsten Johnson email emskmg365@aol.com
Public is Welcome. Free Will Offering
