Lom prisoner of war camp
| Lom prisoner of war camp | |
|---|---|
| Lom krigsfangeleir | |
| Lom in Oppland | |
| Type | Prisoner-of-war camp |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Norway |
| Site history | |
| Built | 17–20 April 1940 |
| Built by | Norwegian 2nd Division |
| In use | 20–27 April 1940 |
| Materials | Loar School, barbed wire, timber, trenches |
| Events | Norwegian Campaign |
| Garrison information | |
| Past commanders |
Lieutenant Colonel Lars Dannevig |
| Garrison | 6 officers, 100 soldiers and 4 female personnel |
Lom prisoner of war camp (Norwegian: Lom krigsfangeleir) was a facility used by the Norwegian 2nd Division to hold German prisoners-of-war during the 1940 Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. The camp, which operated from 20 to 27 April 1940, also held Norwegians accused of collaborating with the Germans or the Norwegians fascists led by Vidkun Quisling.
In the morning of 27 April 1940, the camp was evacuated due to German forces advancing in the area, and the prisoners were marched westwards across the mountains to Sogn. By the time the prisoners and guards reached Sogn after an exhausting march, the resistance in South Norway was collapsing. The prisoners were soon abandoned and left to themselves by the Norwegian guards.
Nazi Germany invaded the neutral country of Norway on 9 April 1940. Fighting ensued across large areas of the country, and German military personnel started falling into Norwegian hands. This led to a need for facilities behind the front lines to contain the prisoners. In Eastern Norway the prisoners taken by the Norwegian 2nd Division were initially placed in the auxiliary prison at Sel in Oppland. Due to capacity issues this initial solution to the prisoner situation soon proved inadequate.
The task of establishing a more permanent facility for German prisoners-of-war in Eastern Norway was given to the 66-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Lars Dannevig. Dannevig had been in the Norwegian capital of Oslo when the Germans invaded on 9 April 1940, and had made his way out of the city to take part in the fighting to delay the German advance until Allied help arrived. The lieutenant colonel had made his way to still neutral Sweden and then northwards by car and train until recrossing the border at Nybergsund on 13 April. After organizing the defences in the Trysil area, and initially being given the task of leading Danish and Swedish volunteer troops in action, Dannevig was ordered by Colonel Hans Sommerfeldt Hiorth to set up a prisoner-of-war camp for up to 200 German captives. He was at the same time made commandant of the Otta Valley. After Dannevig's first choice, the agricultural school in Vågå, became unavailable because the Norwegian Army High Command wanted to use it as a hospital, Loar School in the village of Fossbergom in Lom was chosen.
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