DRAFT. Nordic American Voices Nordic Heritage Museum. Interview of Knut and Haldis Einarsen April 16, 2011 Seattle, Washington

Transcription

1 Nordic American Voices Nordic Heritage Museum Interview of Knut and Haldis Einarsen April 16, 2011 Seattle, Washington Interviewers: Gordon Strand; Mari-Ann Kind Jackson PART ONE OF TWO Gordon Strand: [0:05] It s working. Mari-Ann Kind Jackson: [0:06] Yeah. Knut Einarsen: [0:07] We [inaudible 0:07 0:09]. Haldis Einarsen: [0:10] [Laughter] [Inaudible 0:10 0:11] Knut: [0:11] If we sit too far away, we [inaudible 0:13] should be sitting down. Haldis: [0:14] [Inaudible 0:14 0:15] Knut: [0:17] [Inaudible 0:17] Haldis: [0:19] You re starting with him? Gordon: [0:20] Yeah, maybe that maybe you should sit there. That s better. Mari-Ann: [0:28] I ll come closer. Knut: [0:28] Yeah, that will be better. That would be better. Nordic American Voices Page 1 of 40

2 Mari-Ann: [0:30] Yeah. Okay. And the microphone is right here. Okay. This is an interview for the Nordic American Voices oral history project. Today is April 16, 2011, and we will be interviewing Knut and Haldis Einarsen. We are at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington. My name is Mari-Ann Kind Jackson, and my co-interviewer is Gordon Strand. Welcome. Haldis: [1:03] Thank you. Mari-Ann: [1:04] Now, we hope you will start by stating your full names, and when you were born and where you were born. Knut: [1:15] My name is Knut Einarsen, and I was born in 1914 in [inaudible 1:23]- in Skarstad, in [inaudible 1:25]. [Inaudible 1:27 1:31] Skarstad was a little place close to the [inaudible 1:36]. So and we immigrated to this country in [1:48] I had a brother that was here. He came in 1935, and he guaranteed for me. He said [inaudible 2:01 2:03] have to put up the house and the money and everything for guaranteeing. But after five years, then he was released. Then he didn t have any more responsibility. I got my citizen papers, and he was released. [Crosstalk 2:21 2:30] Gordon: [2:31] Tell us about yourself, Haldis. Haldis: [2:32] I was born in Vik I Helgeland. But I am just born there. Then my mom and dad lived in Kjøpsvik, [inaudible 2:42]. That s a little place. But my grandma was in Narvik; my mom s parents were in Narvik. And she owned the Grand Hotel in Narvik, the biggest one in the northern part of Norway. And she was a very business woman. [3:02] The week when I came to this country, then a man [inaudible 3:08 3:09] came up to me, and he said, Are you related to Ingeborg? Yeah. He said, Just a minute, and then he disappeared. Then he came down, he went home, and he got a piece of paper, in Narvik s paper. Ingebrorg in Narvik [inaudible 3:30 3:31]. So, but the Germans fixed that. They bombed the hotel. So, she got a Nordic American Voices Page 2 of 40

3 very good insurance. And she bought the Grand Hotel hotel in Oslo. Gordon: [3:48] Oh. Haldis. [3:49] Yeah. But then.. Knut: [3:50] Then [inaudible 3:51], she bought the hotel, and I used to get acquainted with Haldis. Then the grandma, she said, You have to come to Oslo. Haldis: [4:01] To help. Knut: [4:02] But Haldis, she was listening to me. I said, Don t go to Oslo, because if you re going to Oslo, then I ve lost you. Haldis: [4:10] [Laughter] Gordon: [4:13] What was Ingeborg s name? What was her last name? Haldis: [4:16] Her first name was Ingeborg. Norbakken. Gordon: [4:19] Okay, we ll have to [inaudible 4:20 4:21] Haldis: [4:23] She was a very business. So, that s and then she had my sister, her daughter. But she had one of those on born with that. So, she died. Knut: [4:41] [Inaudible 4:41 4:43]] daughter. She was totally without her. Haldis: [4:46] Yeah. She s dead. So, but anyway Mari-Ann: [4:52] What did you say? She had? Haldis: [4:55] [Inaudible 4:55 4:58] Nordic American Voices Page 3 of 40

4 Mari-Ann: [4:58] [Speaking Norwegian 4:58 4:59] Haldis: [4:59] [Speaking Norwegian 4:59 5:01] Mari-Ann: [5:01] [Speaking Norwegian 5:01] A bump on her back Haldis: [5:04] That was my aunt, that was my yeah. Gordon: [5:07] Yeah. Mari-Ann: [5:07] Okay. So, did your grandmother run the Grand Hotel in Oslo for quite some time? Haldis: [5:16] Not too long, because she didn t want to be alone, you know. So she wasn t too long with that, but she got it. We were sleeping at the Grand Hotel when we came to this country. Mari-Ann: [5:35] Very nice. Well, Knut, talk to us about your childhood and your family. Knut: [5:48] [Inaudible 5:48 5:49] We were seven brothers. And my Dad, he had a boat, so we were [inaudible 6:00] on the coast, you know. So we had to be with him on the boat, when we were growing bigger Haldis: [6:12] A pretty good-sized boat. Knut: [6:13] And when we started we had to cook. Cooking. Gordon: [6:19] Oh, cooking. Yeah. Knut: [6:21] And then we grew up, and then we had a little farm, so one of us always have to be home in the summertime, so we had to change around to get home with Mami, and help her on the farm. So Nordic American Voices Page 4 of 40

5 Gordon: [6:47] Talk about the boat. Tell us about the boat, how big it was, and Haldis: [6:51] Do tell about the boat. How big it was. Pretty good-sized. Knut: [6:56] The boat, it was sixty-five feet long. But it was deep and wide, so we took about eighty tons. So, [inaudible 7:10 7:12] we went to The only cement factory in Norge was where Haldis came from, Kjøpsvik. So we came down into Kjøpsvik once a week and loaded cement. [7:28] Once we came in the middle of the night, and I just got acquainted with Haldis, and I came in the middle of the night, and I told her... You said In the morning we start loading and when we were loading we took off, so I thought I had to talk to Haldis. So, I walked up to the house, and I know she was laying upstairs, so I took a rock and threw it at her window. I hit the wrong window. The mother came out. Mari-Ann: [7:59] [Laughter] Knut: [8:01] She said, What do you want? Well, I said, I d like to talk to Haldis. She came. She got her daughter. She came out. Oh yeah, that was a big cement factory down in... It was the next biggest after the southern part of Norge. Cement factory. Gordon: [8:31] So, it wasn t a fishing boat, then? Haldis: [8:32] No. He never fished. They were [inaudible 8:36]. That was a nice boat, I can tell you that. Clean. If the people like to have take the boat [inaudible 8:47] they always were wondering if it was clean. Knut: [8:50] Yeah. One [inaudible 8:52] Haldis: [8:53] So, that can Knut: [8:54] [Inaudible 8:54] Nordic American Voices Page 5 of 40

6 Haldis: [8:55] [Inaudible / speaking Norwegian 8:55 8:59] [Pause] Gordon: [9:06] Okay. Knut: [9:09] When the war broke out, we were laying in the harbor in Narvik. [Inaudible 9:14 9:15] with the cement. And we came in on Saturday. And they don t have no [inaudible 9:24 9:25] so we couldn t unload the cement, so we had to wait until Monday morning, and you see, Monday morning, the war broke out. Gordon: [9:35] You mean the invasion of Norway? Haldis: [9:38] He was in the Marines. I had to help. He was in the Marines, so they let them go. He was supposed to be in Narvik, and he was on They gave him the day off. He could meet [inaudible 9:52] in Narvik. So, if Knut had been where he should have been, he d have been dead. He d have been All of them [inaudible 10:01 10:02] Knut [inaudible 10:03 10:05]. Knut: [10:04] There were three hundred and fifty people on that battleship at Narvik. Haldis: [10:08] Narvik. Knut: [10:09] Battleship in Narvik. Was eight that were saved. Gordon: [10:14] Oh. Knut: [10:15] The rest of them drowned. Gordon: [10:17] And you would have been on that ship. Haldis: [10:19] Oh, yeah. He had one day Knut: [10:20] I was on the [inaudible 10:22] for three days, so [inaudible 10:25 10:27] on the ship. Nordic American Voices Page 6 of 40

7 I m looking. Yeah. Haldis: [10:33] So he was standing on his ship. Knut: [10:34] Thirty ships that were laying on the harbor sank. On the harbor. They were ore ships for laying down, waiting to load ore, you see. Narvik is a big ore place, ore coming from Sweden, and they load it on the ship. Then, you see, then you ride out in the Atlantic. So. Haldis: [11:03] So, he was standing on his own boat when they came in. Saw them go down. Gordon: [11:14] So, it was aircraft? Haldis: [11:17] What? Gordon: [11:03] You mean, they were bombed from the air, or what? Knut: [11:19] Oh, no. Haldis: [11:19] No, they were Knut: [11:22] The Germans sank them. Haldis: [11:03] You see, Narvik Harbor was just [inaudible 11:24 11:25]. Knut: [11:27] The Germans shot them down. Haldis: [11:33] [Inaudible 11:33 11:35] Knut: [11:36] But they don t bother me so much when you say, German. But if you say it in Norwegian, you say it Norwegian, we call it [inaudible 11:45 11:46]. Mari-Ann: [11:47] Yeah. Nordic American Voices Page 7 of 40

8 Knut: [11:47] When they say, [inaudible 11:48] then they come to [inaudible 11:51] more to it. Haldis: [11:54] I shouldn t say it, but there s German in me. [Laughter] My grandfather Knut: [12:02] Yeah, mine, too, is German. Gordon: [12:04] Oh. So, what happened next? Can you tell us after that day? Knut: [12:13] Yeah. We had to leave. There were six of us in the boat. We had to leave there. And my brother, he was a bus driver, so we got on the bus and got away from Narvik, and we left the boat there. So because the main thing was to get away from the [inaudible 12:41]. [12:42] But then there was somewhere in the fjord there is a little fjord in Narvik. They call it the Beisfjord. We knew those people were living in the bottom of the fjord. And they got a hold of on the boat, and they took the boat, and they put the [inaudible 13:03] into the bottom, on the fjord, so we saved the boat. [Inaudible 13:07 13:09] Haldis: [13:07] [Inaudible 13:07 13:09] Knut: [13:09] No, the war was no, I mean, after the commotion in Møre. Four or five days after, then we got the boat back. Gordon: [13:18] Oh. Knut: [13:18] So, we were lucky. We saved the boat. Haldis: [13:23] And then you had the Him and [inaudible 13:26] partner Then after they grew older, then there were two of them. So, him and one of the older boys were the partners that got the boat, after. He was.. then Knut: [13:45] [Inaudible 13:45-13:46] Nordic American Voices Page 8 of 40

9 Mari-Ann: [13:49] What happened then, when you went on the bus? Where did you go? Knut: [13:55] Narvik. Mari-Ann: [13:56] On the bus. When you and your brother were got away from Narvik. You got on a bus. Where did you go then? Knut: [14:06] We went home, to Skarstad. [Inaudible 14:09] Mari-Ann: [14:09] Oh, okay. Mm hm. Knut: [14:10] Yeah. So, then the Germans, they wanted the boat, [inaudible 14:20] after [inaudible 14:22] we got the boat back. Haldis: [14:25] Mm hm. [Inaudible 14:26] Knut: [14:27] And to our home place. So then the Germans wanted the boat. And I don t want to. So, I know the shipyard in Narvik, so I took the boat and went into Narvik, and I knew the boss in the shipyard. And I got him to write a piece of paper that the boat was rotten in the bow, so we had to get it fixed before we could start running. So, I got away with it. So, we went home with the boat, and we were laying in the harbor. So And then I got [inaudible 15:18] somebody in the [inaudible 15:21 15:23] German [inaudible 15:25 15:26] was a lie. Everything was lying. [15:29] So, then I got a telephone call I was working on a little farm. Then my Mami, she came; she said, Knut, you have to come to the telephone. The Germans want to talk to you. It was on a Saturday evening. So, I went to the phone, and the German, he told me, You are to be in Narvik on Monday morning. [15:58] And Haldis- she was over at her parents at that time. So, I called Haldis in the Saturday evening, and said, Haldis, you ought to fix yourselves clothes and stuff. I will see you Sunday. So, Sunday I went back to where Haldis was living, and then we went to Sweden. So, we were two, Nordic American Voices Page 9 of 40

10 almost two and a half years in Sweden. Haldis: [16:34] No, [inaudible 16:35] had to go [inaudible 16:36]. Knut: [16:36] Huh? Haldis: [16:37] You had to go and tell them what happened. You told them for me to take [inaudible 16:42 16:44]. I had no idea what he was going to do. Mari-Ann: [16:47] So, he just told you to pack some bedding and your clothing Haldis: [16:50] No. [Inaudible 16:51 16:52]. He didn t say that. But then we had a loose that was supposed to take us, shot in front of us. Knut: [17:03] Yeah, the Germans, they had a boat in the [inaudible 17:08] fjord, going back and forth, so they don t want no people to go into to Sweden, you see. So, they were patrolling in the middle of the fjord. When they were on one side, then we went into the fjord on the other side. So... in the dark, in the nighttime, so they couldn t see us. Mari-Ann: [17:31] Did you go by boat? Haldis: [17:33] Yeah. Knut: [17:33] We went in the bottom of the fjord Mari-Ann: [17:36] Yeah. Haldis: [17:36] [Inaudible 17:36 17:37] Mari-Ann: [17:38] Was it just the two of you, then? Haldis: [17:40] No. Then all of them was on the boat. Nordic American Voices Page 10 of 40

11 Mari-Ann: [17:43] Oh. Hm. Haldis: [17:44] [Inaudible 17:44] Gordon: [17:47] His brothers? Haldis: [17:48] No. Knut: [17:48] It took us forty-eight hours before [inaudible 17:51 17:52] in Sweden. Haldis: [17:51] Without eating, without sleeping. Knut: [17:55] We rowed in forty-eight hours, in the wintertime, March. It was so cold. Oh, boy. Gordon: [18:02] So, how long were you on the boat, then? Haldis: [18:05] [Inaudible 18:05-18:06]. His boat was laying in Skarstad. We had the other one. Gordon: [18:11] Right. Mari-Ann: [18:12] But it was just a short boat ride in to there? Haldis: [18:14] Yeah, it wasn t too long. Mari-Ann: [18:16] Okay. Haldis: [18:17] It was a bad life. Mari-Ann: [18:20] You mentioned that you had a loose, a guide who was going to guide you across to Sweden. Nordic American Voices Page 11 of 40

12 Haldis: [18:27] Yeah, [inaudible 18:28]. Mari-Ann: [18:28] Where did you meet him? Haldis: [18:30] He came to Skarstad. Knut: [18:31] [Inaudible 18:31 18:32] have a pilot to take us over the border to Haldis: [18:36] [Inaudible 18:36-18:38] Knut: [18:38] The Germans got hold of him, and they shot him, so we didn t have no pilot. Haldis: [18:44] They shot [inaudible 18:45] Knut: [18:45] We had a map, so we went by the map, by ourselves. We were twenty-two, together. Haldis: [18:54] [Inaudible 18:54 18:56] Knut: [18:56] We were twenty-two together. But there were sixty-thousand Norwegians in Sweden, during the war. Went over the border. Mari-Ann: [19:06] Did any of your brothers go with you? Haldis: [19:09] No, he was shot then. The Germans had shot him, and he died in his arms. Mari-Ann: [19:16] How and when did that happen? Haldis: [19:18] That happened right after they found out about [inaudible 19:24]. The boat [inaudible 19:26]. So, when they got home so then they shot him. Mari-Ann: [19:32] Where Knut, where were you and your brother when the Germans shot your brother? Nordic American Voices Page 12 of 40

13 Haldis: [19:39] In the fjord. In Skarstad. In Skarstad, in the fjord. Mari-Ann: [19:45] Okay. Haldis: [19:45] And he was there, and the Germans came over the mountain, and then they shot him, and he died in his arms. Gordon: [19:53] Was this while you were escaping, or before? Haldis: [19:56] What? Gordon: [19:56] Was this while you were escaping? Haldis: [19:58] No. He was awake. They just shot him. Mari-Ann: [20:03] It was before. Before they escaped. Haldis: [20:07] Oh, [inaudible 20:08] that was the [inaudible 20:12] just a few days. But they wanted both of them. They were lying, and the Germans wanted to kill them. Gordon: [20:20] Oh. So Knut: [20:24] And here I got married to a German. [Laughter] Haldis: [20:27] Yeah. [inaudible 20:29]. Gordon: [20:31] But I m trying to Saturday, you got the phone call from the German. Haldis: [20:36] Yeah. Gordon: [20:37] Saturday. Nordic American Voices Page 13 of 40

14 Haldis: [20:37] Yeah. Gordon: [20:38] And you re supposed to report Monday. Haldis: [20:41] The boat, and him. Gordon: [20:42] The boat and him. But when did his brother get shot? Haldis: [20:49] A couple of days before. Gordon: [20:51] Oh, before the... Haldis: [20:52] Yeah. Gordon: [20:52] Oh. Haldis: [20:53] He was already gone. Gordon: [20:55] Okay. When he got the phone call. Haldis: [20:58] When the boat was leaving for Skarstad. Gordon: [21:02] Uh huh. Haldis: [21:02] Two and a half years. And he [inaudible 21:05] Knut: [21:05] In the harbor. Haldis: [21:06] He took the motor. Knut: [21:07] You see, I took the [inaudible 21:10] system out of the motor, and hid it onshore. So Nordic American Voices Page 14 of 40

15 you couldn t use the motor. Gordon: [21:17] Okay. Yeah. Haldis: [21:21] But they wanted the boat so bad. The Germans. Mari-Ann: [21:27] So, then you started walking with twenty-two, or with twenty other people? Haldis: [21:35] Some could It wasn t that many. Knut: [21:38] Huh? Haldis: [21:38] It wasn t that many [inaudible 21:40] the border. Knut: [21:42] Over the border? Haldis: [21:43] Yeah. Knut: [21:44] To Sweden? Haldis: [21:44] Yeah. Knut: [21:45] It was sixty-thousand. Haldis: [21:47] In Sweden, yeah. But some of us went in our craft. Knut: [21:51] We were twenty-four, together. Haldis: [21:53] Yeah. Some of us, they wanted to get rid of. Mari-Ann: [21:58] Yeah. So, were you walking with backpacks on your backs, then? Nordic American Voices Page 15 of 40

16 Haldis: [22:02] Yeah. And the German lights were over us, so we just had to hide in the snow, in the mush, and that was Knut: [22:11] We had to All of us, twenty-four, had to have white clothes so we looked like snow, so they couldn t see us so good. So, we wore white clothes, all of us. On the mountain it was cold. Boy, it was cold. Haldis: [22:32] And we had no food. All must be frozen. We ate some frozen food, and Knut: [22:41] Haldis [inaudible 22:41 22:42] rope, because she got so tired. She was sitting down, so cold. You froze to death. When she sat down. You have to keep on going. Gordon: [22:58] But you had no guide. You just had a map. Haldis: [23:01] No. The guide got shot. Gordon: [23:03] Yeah. Haldis: [23:04] Yeah. Gordon: [23:04] But you had a map. Haldis: [23:06] Yeah. [Inaudible 23:07] Knut: [23:06] Yeah, we had a map. We went by the map. So we The first people we met in Sweden were loggers. And then we got all right when we met them. Then we took us food from them. Eating. So then we were all right. Haldis: [23:28] But how many but forty-eight hours without sleep, and nothing to eat. Knut: [23:32] Yeah. So then we were they came with a big dump truck, so we were sitting on the dump truck and they took us about fifty miles from there. And I m telling you, it was cold on the Nordic American Voices Page 16 of 40

17 dump truck. It was cold. So, I was working in the furniture factory in Sweden. And Haldis, she was working for the Danish tailor. Haldis: [24:08] A Jew. Knut: [24:08] A Jew. Gordon: [24:11] Uh huh. Knut: [24:12] And he was coming from Denmark. He [inaudible 24:14 24:15] from Denmark. Gordon: [24:16] Oh. Haldis: [24:17] He escaped from Denmark, so he was [inaudible 24:20 24:22]. Gordon: [24:22] Ah. Where was this in Sweden? What town? Haldis: [24:27] Ljungby. Ljungby. Close to Skåne. Knut: [24:30] Ljungby. Yeah. That is up in [inaudible 24:33 24:34], Sweden, yeah. Gordon: [24:34] Oh, yeah. Haldis: [24:36] Nice. We had nothing to complain about in Sweden. No. Knut: [24:44] [Inaudible 24:44 24:47] Then, that first place I was working in Sweden, it was up in [24:54]. Then he closed up because the winter came. So, then I got a job in the southern part of Sweden in a furniture factory. And I had never been working on shore before. So, I got to know that Norwegians working in the sawmill. So, I went to him and asked him [inaudible 25:21 25:23]. No, he said, I don t think they re being hired. [25:28] But he said, Why you don t go into there s a furniture factory close by here. Why you Nordic American Voices Page 17 of 40

18 don t go in and ask for a job? I said, Yeah, I ve never been working on shore before, so I went to the door, and I got cold feet, and I didn t go in. So then I went home, and then Haldis said, How d it went? So I told her I went to the door and I got cold. [25:56] So, Haldis she said, [Inaudible 25:59 26:00] kind of darn chicken that you don t go in. And I got mad that she called me for a chicken. So, I went back. So, I went in to the office, and I talked to this guy. No, he said, We are [inaudible 26:17] four or five Norwegians, and we had a lot of trouble with them. Haldis: [26:21] Drinking. Knut: [26:23] So, I almost went to the door. But he said, Wait a minute. I ll maybe take you on trial tomorrow. Haldis: [26:31] Trial. Knut: [26:32] Try you out. So, I got the job. I worked there until the war was over. Almost two years, I worked. Haldis: [26:43] Two and a half. Knut: [26:44] And the war was over, and then I told the boss, I said, I m going home now. No, no, no, he said. Don t go home. You stay here, he said. But I said, No, we wanted to go home. But he treated me nice, very nice. [Inaudible 27:03] to work. But that was all right. Gordon: [27:08] Huh. Knut: [27:09] So Haldis, she got a good job with a Danish Haldis: [27:13] Danish Jew. Knut: [27:15] Jew. Nordic American Voices Page 18 of 40

19 Gordon: [27:16] It was a tailor, you said? Haldis: [27:18] Yeah. Mari-Ann: [27:18] A Jew. A Danish Jew. Haldis: [27:19] Yeah. He was a Juden. He was a Jew. Gordon: [27:24] Yeah. But I mean, a tailor? Haldis: [27:27] Yeah. Gordon: [27:31] Yeah. And you worked there the whole Knut: [27:33] Sweden. We did all right in Sweden. It was not Gordon: [27:38] Did he tell you much about his story of escape, or Haldis: [27:41] What? Gordon: [27:42] Did he tell you about his escape, or Haldis: [27:44] Oh, yeah. He escaped on a boat. Gordon: [27:48] Uh huh. Haldis: [27:50] The [inaudible 21:52] Knut: [27:52] When we came home to Norway, then Haldis, she don t like me to be as much on the boat, because I was too much away. So, then the Germans [inaudible 28:10] with the Norwegians. Sold some trucks after the Germans. So, I heard about that, so I never knew how to drive a car or Nordic American Voices Page 19 of 40

20 nothing. I had no license. So, I went to my brother. He lived close by, so the Norwegians sold the trucks. [28:38] So, I went to him, and I was working in the cement factory down there. Haldis So I got three days, three, so I went in time. So I told my brother, you are to go with me and we are going to buy see if we can buy us a truck, dump truck. So we went there. And I bought a diesel dump truck, and I didn t know how to drive it. So my brother, he was a truck driver he was bus driver. [29:12] So, he took the truck, took it to his place. So then I went back to work, and then I worked for a while, and then I said to Haldis, [Inaudible 29:26 29:28] take my driver s license. So Haldis said, Don t quit on the cement truck. I went so I went to start to learn how to drive. Three days I was driving, and by golly, I made it. I made the license. So I went home, and I said to Haldis, I got a job for the truck in the middle of Norway. And I quit. I don t work any more on the [inaudible 30:07 30:08]. Haldis: [30:08] [Laughter] My dad was the head of that. So, he knew he was nuts to quit that job. Knut: [30:14] But I was a poor driver, you see. And I had to get [inaudible 30:20] before I go south, there was a fire. Haldis: [30:23] Big fire. Knut: [30:24] And I came to the fire. There was [inaudible 30:28 30:29] and it was deep down. [Inaudible 30:32 30:34] driving. So, I got the bus driver. I said, Will you be so kind to take the truck, because if I take the truck, I ll maybe go overboard. So the bus driver, he took the truck. There was no trouble with that. And then I drove south. And I worked for the railroad for three years. Haldis: [30:59] Well, anyway. Mari-Ann: [31:02] So, you were living in the southern part of Norway, then? Nordic American Voices Page 20 of 40

21 Haldis: [31:07] No. Knut: [31:08] Mo i Rana. Mari-Ann: [31:09] Mo i Rana. Okay. And Haldis was staying at home? Haldis: [31:14] Yeah, I was at Mo i Rana then. Mari-Ann: [31:15] Oh, you moved to Mo i Rana too. Haldis: [31:17] Yeah. Mari-Ann: [31:18] Okay. Haldis: [31:19] But no, we were not no. END OF PART ONE PART TWO Gordon: [0:04] Okay. Mari-Ann: [0:07] Okay. Knut: [0:08] Well, I think it was more easier being in Norway. There were hard living with halibut fishing here, up in Alaska. Mari-Ann: [0:18] So, you came when did you come to this area, then? Haldis: [0:23] What year 48. Knut: [0:25] 48. Nordic American Voices Page 21 of 40

22 Mari-Ann: [0:26] 1948, you came to this country. Knut: [0:28] Yeah. My brother guaranteed for me. Mari-Ann: [0:32] Okay. And you started halibut fishing. Knut: [0:35] Then I started Haldis: [0:36] Oh, no, then [inaudible 0:37] Knut: [0:37] No, I couldn t [inaudible 0:38] out on the halibut, because nobody wanted to hire you, because I was not used to fishing, nobody wanted to hire you. So I started out in construction, working on the construction in downtown. So then I got a job fishing on the Sound. Seine salmon seining on the Sound. Gordon: [1:04] Salmon. Haldis: [1:05] You heard about the boat Polaris? Mari-Ann: [1:08] Mm hm. Gordon: [1:08] Polaris? Knut: [1:09] So then, so I told this he was from Kristiansund, the skipper. So I told them I could go halibut seining. There was not much money I was making. He said, I ll see what I can do for you. Around Christmastime he called me, and said I got you a job on the halibut. So then I started doing halibut. Gordon: [1:39] What boat? Knut: [1:40] [Inaudible 1:40] I fished halibut. Thirty-four years. Nordic American Voices Page 22 of 40

23 Haldis: [1:41] [Inaudible 1:41] On the boat Polaris. Mari-Ann: [1:45] For how many years? Knut: [1:47] Thirty-four years. Mari-Ann: [1:48] Oh, my. Knut: [1:50] Went to Alasks. Haldis [inaudible 1:51 1:52] home. [Inaudible 1:55] Haldis: [1:53] And he never saw the skipper raise his voice. He never was mad. Nicest crew person you could get. You can tell that when you ve been that many years on a boat. Knut: [2:08] So, it wasn t easy for her to be alone with two kids. Haldis: [2:14] Yeah. It wasn t. Gordon: [2:16] But that s the life of a halibut fisherman. Haldis: [2:18] Oh. [Laughter] Gordon: [2:20] Yeah. Knut: [2:21] We have one boy and girl. And the boy, he retired from Boeing, for thirty-two years. Haldis: [2:28] Thirty-one years. [Inaudible 2:30] Knut: [2:31] And our daughter, she is working for Boeing in Everett. She has been there for twentyseven years. So Gordon: [2:38] Oh. So, tell us about what led to your decision to leave Norway. Nordic American Voices Page 23 of 40

24 Haldis: [2:46] The boat was on the bottom, so there was no he didn t have that. So then he had the truck, and he didn t care for that either. Knut: [2:58] What s that? Haldis: [2:59] You didn t like the truck. He don t have any background when the boat was on the bottom. So, that was And then his brother came. His brother had been a fisherman up in Alaska. So, he made good money, so that was really [inaudible 3:21 3:22]. His brother had made good money up in Alaska. Knut: [3:29] But I think we were almost better off when we were in Norway. Mari-Ann: [3:35] Do you? Knut: [3:37] Easier. Mari-Ann: [3:38] Mm. Knut: [3:38] Halibut fishing, that was hard, hard, hard. Very hard. Gordon: [3:50] What other boats were you on? Any other boats? Haldis: [3:53] What? No. A few. Gordon: [3:56] Polaris? Haldis: [3:56] Not many. Most of the time, Polaris. Gordon: [3:59] Most of the time. Haldis: [4:01] But he was a nice man, too. Skipper Arne Amol. Nordic American Voices Page 24 of 40

25 Gordon: [4:06] Amol. Haldis: [4:07] Arne Amol. Gordon: [4:08] Arne Amol. Oh, yeah. Haldis: [4:10] He was a nice man. It s not everyone that can say that about the skipper. But he was a nice skipper. Knut: [4:22] [Inaudible 4:22 4:24] Halibut fishing here, it is not easy. Haldis: [4:28] [Inaudible 4:28] done much fishing. Gordon: [4:33] Did you know the Attu, the boat? Haldis: [4:35] Yeah. Knut: [4:36] Yeah, oh, yeah. I know that one. Gordon: [4:37] That was my father s. Haldis: [4:38] Oh [inaudible 4:38] Knut: [4:39] Oh, is that right? Gordon: [4:39] Yeah. Knut: [4:40] Oh. Haldis: [4:41] So, you know the halibut. Nordic American Voices Page 25 of 40

26 Gordon: [4:43] Well, I never did it. Yeah. Haldis: [4:45] No, but [laughter] Gordon: [4:47] Yeah. Knut: [4:49] I have a picture of more than six feet tall, a halibut. Gordon: [4:56] Yeah. Knut: [4:57] A big one. Gordon: [4:59] Yeah. Knut: [4:59] But it s no good eating. It s no good eating. Haldis: [5:02] [Inaudible 5:02] pictures. You saw the picture? [Inaudible 5:05 5:08] Knut: [5:05] Most of the time they sell those kind to the fishing [inaudible 5:08]. But the best one is about thirty-five or thirty pounds [inaudible 5:15] Haldis: [5:14] But this fish is four hundred pounds. Gordon: [5:17] Oh, yeah. Haldis: [5:19] They got it now, Bjorne. You know Bjorne? He got the picture now, from Knut. He got Mari-Ann: [5:30] So, you you caught a four hundred pound halibut? Knut: [5:37] Pardon me? Nordic American Voices Page 26 of 40

27 Mari-Ann: [5:37] Did you catch a four hundred pound halibut? Haldis: [5:41] You caught the fish. Knut: [5:42] Four hundred and thirty-five pounds. Haldis: [5:44] Yeah. Gordon: [5:44] Oh, my. Haldis: [5:46] And that is just the picture we have. Knut: [5:48] I have a picture of it. Haldis: [5:49] That s the picture Bjorne. [Inaudible 5:53] Gordon: [5:50] Oh, we would like to have that. Mari-Ann: [5:53] We would like to Haldis: [5:54] Bjorne. That s him and the cook. Mari-Ann: [5:56] Oh, I see. Haldis: [5:57] And the cook was six-three, and his dad was taller than the fish. Mari-Ann: [6:03] Wow. Knut: [6:04] Yeah, that was a big one. Mari-Ann: [6:05] Oh my goodness. Nordic American Voices Page 27 of 40

28 Gordon: [6:09] Yeah. Knut: [6:10] But they are not good eating. Mari-Ann: [6:13] No? Knut: [6:13] No. The best one is about thirty or thirty-five pounds. Mari-Ann: [6:22] Mm. Wow. Oh my goodness. Knut: [6:26] Do you know that in Norway, codfish season did you read about that? Gordon: [6:34] About what? Mari-Ann: [6:35] Codfish season? Gordon: [6:37] No. Mari-Ann: [6:37] In the winter, in Norway. Knut: [6:39] Codfish coming in last part of March. Gordon: [6:42] Oh. Knut: [6:43] And coming in and spawning. And when they are finished with the spawning, then they leave. But [inaudible 6:52 6:54]. But the last part of April. Then they leave. [Inaudible 6:59 7:00] spawn. Gordon: [7:01] Yeah. Knut: [7:03] You didn t know that? Nordic American Voices Page 28 of 40

29 Gordon: [7:04] [Inaudible 7:04] Knut: [7:05] Oh, that s a big season. It s a big Gordon: [7:08] Big fish. Knut: [7:10] Coming in for a little over a month. [Inaudible 7:13] spawning. [Inaudible 7:15 7:17] Gordon: [7:18] Yeah. What was it like for your family who stayed in Norway during the war? Knut: [7:25] What did he say? Haldis: [7:26] [Speaking Norwegian 7:26 7:27] They had a big farm. [Inaudible 7:30] a little farm. Knut: [7:31] Oh, yeah. We were all right because Haldis: [7:33] There wasn t Knut: [7:34] We had our own farm, so we were all right, but a few Haldis: [7:37] They had [inaudible 7:38] sheep, so they were... It was worse for us. Knut: [7:44] They were in town. Haldis: [7:44] We had a cow, so we [inaudible 7:47] spot sheep. Knut: [7:48] They were in town, so it was hard. Very hard for people. Yeah. Gordon: [7:56] But when you didn t show up on Monday, did that have any effect on the family? Haldis: [8:02] No, then Knut couldn t get the boat started. The motor was laying in a cupboard [of] an old man, so nobody knew In the cupboard part of the motor was laying two and a half years. Nordic American Voices Page 29 of 40

30 Gordon: [8:17] Oh. Hm. Knut: [8:22] You said the Germans took stuff away from Haldis: [8:26] Took then The radio. They had a radio at the home. They had a good-sized one. Knut: [8:32] [Inaudible 8:32-8:33] Haldis: [8:34] You talk about Skarstad. You won t listen to them. Knut: [8:37] And the farm, too. We were all right for the food. Haldis: [8:41] Yeah, you Yeah. Mari-Ann: [8:45] Was the radio on your farm? Haldis: [8:49] On the boat, and in the home. Mari-Ann: [8:52] Okay. Haldis: [8:54] You should tell them Mari-Ann: [8:54] The radio? Knut: [8:55] [Inaudible 8:55] Haldis: [8:56] You can tell The radio, you know. Mari-Ann: [8:58] No, no. Knut: [8:58] What s that? Nordic American Voices Page 30 of 40

31 Haldis: [8:59] The radio. Tell them. You took the radio. Knut: [9:03] Yeah. You see, then the Germans We had a radio, you know. Haldis: [9:10] And we were not supposed to. Knut: [9:11] But we had two radios. One on the boat, and then we had one at home. Then we got an order to Haldis: [9:20] Bring the radios. Knut: [9:20] Bring the radios into the sheriff. And we had to get the receipt that we brought the radio in. So, I made I got an order on delivery. But I made two boxes. I had one radio in each box. [9:44] One box I had a radio in, and the other box I had rocks, so they were the same weight, you know. So I had two boxes, and I gave it to the sheriff so I had the receipt that I gave him two radios. But I had the other radio. But I had mine in my home place. [Inaudible 10:11] and then we went to the sheriff to listen on the radio. Haldis: [10:16] That was really [inaudible 10:17] radio. Gordon: [10:20] What did you listen to? BBC, or? Haldis: [10:22] Oh, yeah. Gordon: [10:23] Yeah. [Laughter] Haldis: [10:26] But they didn t know where the radio was at. So that was quite a way out. They all [inaudible 10:35] in Skarstad. Nordic American Voices Page 31 of 40

32 Knut: [10:38] All the things we had to do. Gordon: [10:41] Yeah. Knut: [10:43] But if you [inaudible 10:45] then you got caught. Haldis: [10:47] Yeah. Then you were dead. Knut: [10:49] Then you d be shot. The Germans shot you. Gordon: [10:54] Who was that? Mari-Ann: [10:56] The Germans shot you if you Haldis: [10:58] If they knew if you ve got the radio. Knut: [11:00] Oh, if they caught you. Haldis: [11:01] If there was not a stone in If there was a radio in that box, you d be shot. Gordon: [11:08] Yeah. Knut: [11:08] Oh, if they caught you. Yeah, that was [inaudible 11:12]. Mari-Ann: [11:15] Did anyone else know that you had the radio? Haldis: [11:21] [Inaudible 11:21 11:23] know that you had the radio in there? Knut: [11:24] No. [Inaudible 11:25] a couple of us boys. No. Especially the wife to my brother. Because, you see, in the home place, the Germans were building a listening station. Because there s a point into the fjord, into Narvik, and then Germans- it was eight Germans on our home place, building a listening station. And everything was going on, the wife to my brother, she was telling Nordic American Voices Page 32 of 40

33 everything to them. Haldis: [12:07] She was. Knut: [12:08] Oh, she was. We had to be careful with her. Oh, yeah. She would tell everything to the Germans. Gordon: [12:19] Why? Haldis: [12:21] Because she was with them. She thought they were right. Gordon: [12:25] Oh. Knut: [12:27] [Inaudible 12:27 12:29] Haldis: [12:30] She wasn t mean in a way, but it doesn t take much. You know that. You were in Norway then. Mari-Ann: [12:37] Mm hm. Haldis: [12:38] Where were you? Tromsø? Mari-Ann: [12:39] No, Borkenes. Kvæfjord. Haldis: [12:42] Kvæfjord. Knut: [12:42] You see, we had a boat, and my oldest brother, he was married to that lady. [Inaudible 12:49] So, we were something about going down on the boat. We always had to tell our brother. Say to my brother, Don t tell anything at home. Because she would He would tell her everything, everything that went on. So Haldis: [13:14] Yeah, but that s pretty good. [Inaudible 13:16] Part of the boat, the motor, was Nordic American Voices Page 33 of 40

34 laying in the cupboard, in the kitchen cupboard of an old man. Knut: [13:35] [Inaudible 13:25 13:26] Gordon: [13:27] Huh. Mari-Ann: [13:28] Huh. Gordon: [13:30] What was the name of the boat? Knut: [13:32] Vandringen. Haldis: [13:32] Vandringen. [It is] in the paper now. I think my daughter-in-law has gotten a picture. I thought did you have a picture? Do you have the Vandrigen? No, Bjorne has it, of the fish. Then in the picture of the boat... You saw when you see the [inaudible 13:59] Knut: [14:00] [Inaudible 14:00] see you. Haldis: [14:01] No. Did Bjorne show you? No. He didn t show you that? Mari-Ann: [14:07] Bjorne Magness? Haldis: [14:08] Yeah. Mari-Ann: [14:09] No. Haldis: [14:10] Oh... Margi. Mari-Ann: [14:12] Yeah. They were here this morning. But no, they didn t have any picture. Haldis: [14:16] I thought Bjorne said, I have the picture. It might be too many of [inaudible 14:21 14:22] Nordic American Voices Page 34 of 40

35 Mari-Ann: [14:22] Okay. Gordon: [14:23] Yeah, we should get that. Haldis: [14:24] But that picture that should be in the paper. [Inaudible 14:28 14:32] remember that the cook was the six feet three, and he was that much taller than the fish. So that is a funny picture. They have that. Mari-Ann: [14:46] Yeah. Knut: [14:48] Yeah. Mari-Ann: [14:51] Anything else you can tell us about the war years? Haldis: [14:56] In Norway? Mari-Ann: [14:58] In Norway or in Sweden? Haldis: [15:01] In Sweden everything was fine. They were not I don t have nothing I can complain. It s funny to say that about But now the [inaudible 15:13] was cook for the king of Sweden is coming here the seventeenth. Knut: [15:18] [Inaudible 15:18 15:19] Haldis: [15:19] And he has own [inaudible 15:21] Knut: [15:21] [Inaudible 15:21 15:22] Fifteen uncles. I m the last one on both sides. And I get four of them from Norway to the seventeenth of May. And they re going to be coming here for eight, twelve days. Haldis: [15:40] Some of them come the eleventh of May. And the other ones, Kent comes from Nordic American Voices Page 35 of 40

36 Hawaii, and he still [inaudible 15:50 15:52]. DRAFT Knut: [15:52] [Inaudible 15:52 15:53] Haldis: [15:54] Did you hear that? Everybody had a beer. They [inaudible 15:59] in Hawaii on the airport. [Inaudible 16:03] beer. But he took what do you call it what Kent is. Knut: [16:10] [Inaudible 16:10] Haldis: [16:11] He took [inaudible 16:11 16:12] something, so he didn t have to and [inaudible 16:16] work anyplace he wants. He had a pension from Boeing. You know. But that was pretty good out there. Knut: [16:26] [Inaudible 16:26 16:28] there was four [inaudible 16:29] uncles coming from Norway. One here, he is a he is cooking for the Swedish king. [Inaudible 16:37 16:39] Haldis: [16:37] That s what I just told them. Knut: [16:37] [Inaudible 17:37] restaurant [inaudible 16:39] Haldis: [16:39] And he has a restaurant here. Knut: [16:41] And the other guy, he is a retired chief engineer on the ships, you know. And the third one, what is he doing? Haldis: [16:54] All the kids these are his brother s kids. Mari-Ann: [17:00] Mm hm. Knut: [17:03] So, they re coming for twelve days. Haldis: [17:05] Nine. From the twelfth to the [inaudible 17:10 17:11]. Nordic American Voices Page 36 of 40

37 Gordon: [17:13] Hm. Haldis: [17:15] Yeah. Mari-Ann: [17:17] So they are coming [inaudible 17:18] Haldis: [17:18] [Inaudible 17:18] pretty good, I think. [Inaudible 17:20 17:25] was going to lead us. They shot him. From [inaudible 17:28] Mari-Ann: [17:31] Your guide to Sweden, you mean? Haldis: [17:33] Yeah. The guide, yeah. He got shot. Mari-Ann: [17:34] Mm hm. Hm. Knut: [17:37] Yeah, that was Haldis: [17:38] And then the part [inaudible 17:39 17:40] two and a half years in a kitchen cupboard to an old man for [inaudible 17:46 17:48] Knut: [17:48] [Inaudible 17:48] Mari-Ann: [17:49] Hm. Haldis: [17:50] The Vandringen was laying. That s the name of the boat that was laying on the harbor. Mari-Ann: [17:55] Hm. And did the boat eventually sink? Haldis: [18:01] No. That s the one the cook took a [inaudible 18:04] to it. Nordic American Voices Page 37 of 40

38 Knut: [18:05] Went on the wrong place on the DRAFT Haldis: [18:10] Harbor, island, or Knut: [18:12] What do you call it? Haldis: [18:13] Homeland. Anyway, he Knut: [18:16] [Inaudible 18:16 18:17] Haldis: [18:19] He went on that, and the boat went down, loaded with cement. Never can come up. Knut: [18:24] Lightbulb. Lightbulbs. So they went on the other side of the light. Haldis: [18:30] He went on the wrong side. Knut wasn t on the boat. Mari-Ann: [18:31] Oh. Knut: [18:32] On the wrong side. Mari-Ann: [18:35] So, the boat went down full of cement. Haldis: [18:38] Loaded on cement. He was laying right out where the cemetery is where his father... He s the one that [18:46 18:47] the boat. Laying the cemetery is there. The boat is laying not too far from that. Gordon: [18:54] Oh, so Mari-Ann: [18:54] Hm. Haldis: [18:55] [Inaudible 18:55] never could get that up. Loaded with cement. Nordic American Voices Page 38 of 40

39 Mari-Ann: [19:00] Yeah. Hm. Haldis: [19:02] So Mari-Ann: [19:06] All right. Gordon: [19:07] I think that s Mari-Ann: [19:08] That was very nice. Thank you so much for sharing your stories. Haldis: [19:12] You know that three times he was dead. Especially, though, when the ship came in. He [19:18] and saw the ship went down. And you know, he could have been on it. Gordon: [19:22] Yeah. Mari-Ann: [19:23] Oh, yeah. Gordon: [19:24] Yeah. For sure. Mari-Ann: [19:26] And when was the second and third time when he should have been dead? Haldis: [19:31] [Inaudible 19:31 19:33] now. When we went to Sweden. Then he could have been taken. Mari-Ann: [19:40] Yeah. Haldis: [19:42] [Laughter] [Inaudible 19:42 19:47] Mari-Ann: [19:47] Okay. Knut: [19:48] Where do you live here? Nordic American Voices Page 39 of 40

40 Mari-Ann: [19:50] Here? I live in Broadview. DRAFT Knut: [19:52] Broadview. Oh, okay. Mari-Ann: [19:55] Yeah. Knut: [19:58] We have been in Kenmore many years now. Gordon: [20:01] Yeah. Haldis: [20:02] You know where Kenmore is? Gordon: [20:03] Oh, yeah. Yeah. I know. Okay. Mari-Ann: [20:08] Well, thank you so much. Haldis: [20:09] Yeah, [inaudible 20:09] Mari-Ann: [20:10] That was wonderful. END OF RECORDING. Transcription by Alison Goetz. Nordic American Voices Page 40 of 40