Grini
Grini fangeleir is the name of a
Nazi concentration camp located outside of
Oslo,
Norway in the municipality of
Bærum. It was originally built as a women's prison in
1939, but was put into use as a concentration camp, primarily for Norwegian
political prisoners on
May 2,
1941. The prisoner inducted on that day was Andreas Møll Hansen, a student in the Norwegian underground.
Altogether, 20 000 prisoners passed through Grini, and at most there were 5 000 inmates at any time. It is not known how many were killed there, though the
Gestapo and police often used the area for purposes of
torture.
Executions commonly took place at
Akershus festning.
After the war, the prison was used for Norwegians convicted of
treason and renamed
Ilebu. It was closed in
1950, and reopened in
1952 as
Ila landsfengsel og sikringsanstalt for long-term prisoners.
Famous inmates included:
*
Einar Gerhardsen, Norwegian
Prime Minister for most of the period
1945 -
1965*
Johan Borgen, author
*
Birger Ruud, ski jumper
*
Petter Hugsted, ski jumper