3. Tjøtta International War Cemetery

Tjøtta International War Cemetery

    First stop on our field-trip was not far away from Sandnessjøen. We visited International War Cemetery. This place is literally in the middle of nowhere. You are driving through nature and sometimes you can see houses or huts, but in that place you can find big field with straight column and memorial plaques.
 This place should remind prisoners of war who tragically died on 27 November 1944 while they were transported on ship Riegel to the south. This ship was bombed by british planes, because they though the ship carriages tanks and other weapons. Around 2 600 people dead. This ship - the ruins of it were on the coast till seventies and no one took care. But not only soldiers from this ship are burried here. Also other prisoners who died in camps in horrible conditions (mainly Russian soldiers arrested by Germans). We also heard that around this cemetery is strange atmosphere. During cold war Norwegian government wanted to replace all graves and bodies of death Russian soldiers on one place - here in Tjøtta. It was quite controversial topic.

 For me it was interesting moment, when I realized, that still there are historical facts, which are difficult and it is hard to cope with them. I mean especially topics from second world war and it is not case only of one country. Here we can see, that one of the biggest tragedy is almost forgotten. But for me is important, that those people who died and they are buried here, they were normal people like us today. It is always governments who are fighting - it can be for power, for money, for religion.... But those soldiers sometimes didn't have any choice, they had to go to war and I think we should honor their memory regardless of political situation.