Norwegian police announced plans to recover and identify the remains of seven resistance fighters believed to have been executed during World War II and dumped in the Oslofjord, several Norwegian news outlets reported on Monday. The remains were discovered by the local association Æresgjeld, which works to locate Norwegians executed by occupying forces during the war.
Police Chief in the Eastern Police District, Cecilie Lilaas-Skari, commented on the discovery in a press release: "Together with other information, the police believe that what has been found is one of the two boxes with earthly remains of 14 Norwegians who were executed at Akershus Fortress on March 17, 1945."
Dagbladet reported that the executed resistance fighters were placed in wooden boxes filled with stones and dumped in the fjord off the Nesodden peninsula. The police searched for these boxes in 1945 without success, and no further search efforts had been organized by Norwegian authorities since then.
Æresgjeld contacted the police in December last year about their findings and handed over documentation, according to Aftenposten. Underwater drones have documented the discovery from half a meter away, but the remains have not yet been retrieved, VG reported.
The police plan to recover the remains and attempt to identify them using DNA analysis. "In January, police were confirmed that the earthly remains probably come from humans and that it may be possible to extract DNA for identification," Lilaas-Skari said in a press release, according to Adresseavisen.
Relatives of those executed in February and March 1945 are being contacted to inform them about the find. "The Norwegians who were executed these days paid the highest price during the war. The association Æresgjeld has done an important job of finding those executed after World War II to tell their stories. That the remains of seven of the executed are now probably located, we are very grateful for," Lilaas-Skari said, according to VG.
The executed individuals were part of Operation Betongblanding, a large sabotage operation against the railway network in Eastern Norway carried out on March 14, 1945, involving over 1,000 Norwegian resistance fighters, as reported by Nettavisen. Over 400 Norwegians were executed during the war, and several of them were never found.
Kristeligt Dagblad reported that Æresgjeld, through archival work, believes it has found earthly remains of Norwegian resistance fighters killed 80 years ago. Searches in historical archives led the association to suspect that several Norwegians were dumped in the fjord towards the end of the war.
The police do not have the equipment to raise the remains themselves and are seeking assistance from public and private entities with the capacity for this task, Kristeligt Dagblad reported. The remains have not yet been raised, but they will probably be recovered soon.
It is not yet known which of the 14 executed resistance fighters may have been found. In total, 42 Norwegians were executed at Akershus Fortress over three days in February and March 1945, and a memorial has been erected there.
Kristeligt Dagblad noted that during World War II, Akershus Fortress was used as a barracks and prison by the German occupying forces. The fortress, which has been a residence for kings, was abandoned as a fortress in 1815 but holds historical importance in Norway.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
