Scan Magazine – August 2018

Issue 115 | August 2018 | 101

Scan Magazine | Museum of the Month | Norway

“Eriksen was from Lofoten, and it is
therefore particularly special to have his
cap,” Hakvaag says.

The Lofoten raid

• the first victory against Germany

It is no coincidence that the museum is
located in Lofoten in northern Norway.
The place played an important role dur-
ing the war at the centre of Operation
Claymore, often referred to as the
Lofoten raid. On 4 March 1941, the allied
forces, with the United Kingdom in the
lead, carried out the raid on the Lofoten
islands. It was soon considered the first
total victory against Germany during the
war, and it was a massive morale boost
for British and Norwegian troops. It did,
however, lead to the enormous fortifica-
tion of Svolvær in Lofoten, and not least
it opened German eyes to the north.

As a direct consequence of the raid,

the Gestapo established their regional

headquarters in Svolvær, alongside a

considerable increase in German sol-

diers in the area.

Hitler behind the scenes

• an artist and vegetarian
  Adolf Hitler is probably one of history’s
  most talked about men, and there is no
  lack of biographies. Most people are
  struck by his brutality, while others are
  also fascinated by the man behind the
  public appearance. It is a well-known fact
  that he was an eager artist, and it has
  been argued that the whole war might
  have been avoided if he had been admit-
  ted into the Vienna Academy of Art. With
  this in mind, Hakvaag bought a painting
  by Hitler for 200 Euros. What neither he
  nor the vendor knew was that behind the

paintings there were five drawings of

dwarfs from Snow White, all signed by

Hitler. “He was an artist by nature, which

one could also see in his behaviour as

a leader. He did not follow the rules of

the game and did things that no rational

leader would do: for example, sending his

troops to Russia without winter clothes,”

Hakvaag says. While obviously portraying

Hitler as the leader of the war, the mu-

seum is also trying to show the person

behind the scenes, who was a vegetarian

and a non-smoker. “He was a hard-line

psychopath, who may not have struck

people as the dangerous person he really

was at first. This is all part of our desire

to make people think for themselves and

gain a new insight into history.”

Web: http://www.lofotenkrigmus.no

The museum exhibits a range of original artefacts from World War II, including clothes and equipment as well as five watercolour paintings painted by Adolf Hitler. The
painting of the farm house had a double back – a hidden compartment – where four other images painted by Hitler were hidden.