Rotvåg
To July part 2: July 2007
part 2
Photos: Arild
Burud (you may use the pictures if identified).
 What
about Rotvåg
Rotvåg was a small village on the north side of Arnøy. It
was inhabited until almost 1950, even though it could be hard
to get to or from the village. It could be dangerous to dock and the
foot walk required a lot of climbing. Now a rope is fastened along most
of the steep passages. The village's site yields a very good overview
to the traffic north and south along the coast.
Climbing
The left hand picture shows the distance from Rotvåg (down) to
the caves I will tell about later.
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 World War II
Norway was occupied 1940-1945, the first major battle Hitler lost, was
in Narvik, 400 kilometer south. One or two partisans from Soviet and
one or two Norwegian partisan were hiding in a cave near Rotvåg.
They had a radio transmitter and reported to London and Moscow, what
they knew and could see about vessels and ships passing in the area. A
few months had passed, when one of the islanders told the Germans about
the partisans activities. This was March 1943. The Nazi's found, after
some trouble, the cave
in which the resistance cell were hiding, and started firing at them.
A "fortress"
The barricade our heroes used, was enough a fortress to make it
possible for the partisans to shoot back on the Germans, without
getting
hit. The occupation forces started firing grenades and using
flamethrower. Then the fight ended. Those who were not killed on the
spot, were sent of to Tromsø and executed there or sent to
concentration camps. All males from Rotvåg and some women and men
from Årviksand were captured.
A small room
Looking at the cave in 2007 (right hand picture), it's hard to
understand how tree people managed to live there the whole winter. It's
small and narrow, but have two exits. It's assumed a part of it
collapsed during the fight, but all the same, its small.
Comment: The
sources I've read and heard, vary a bit. The main story are the same. This
is the only source I've found in English, but differ a bit from most of
the other versions I've heard of the story.
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