On the night of May perhaps 12, 1940, the preventing in Narvik had been likely on for more than a thirty day period. 10 British warships enter Ofotfjorden. The mission is to bomb the town of Bjerkvik in which the allies feel that the German troopers have entrenched themselves. What they do not know is that the Germans have remaining Bjerkvik and that only civilians are left.
For the duration of the British bombing that evening, 14 folks shed their life. 5-year-previous Magne Øymo witnesses the killing of her twin brother and her mom in the rain of grenades.
– For a lot of many years, the Allied bombing of Bjerkvik was downplayed. Magne Øymo is a single of the final witnesses equipped to recount the events of 1940. Photo: Ole Thomas Halvorsen
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82 several years afterwards, it is continue to really hard for Magne to discuss about what happened.
– It really is essential to inform what transpired so that it does not take place all over again, Øymo tells Television 2.
– What can you say about what happened?
– You will see it in the movie, suggests Øymo.
The Bjerkvik tragedy
Magne’s tale was turned into a documentary known as “Tragedy in Bjerkvik”. Director Karine Næss Frafjord has been documenting eyewitness accounts of Entire world War II for many many years.
In the spring, she heard about Magne’s tale. A story that was disregarded right after the war because the Allies had been guiding the attack.
– Karine Næss Frafjord made a movie about the Allied bombing of Bjekvik in 1940 Photo: Ole Thomas Halvorsen
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– Magne’s story is very vital, in particular given that it has been concealed for so extensive. Magne is just one of the incredibly newest witnesses, which is why it was so important to document him, suggests Karine Næss Frafjord.
To see his mother and brother die
In the film, we comply with Magne Øymo around Bjerkvik as she recounts the fateful night time.
Magne describes how his mother ran with him and his brother to conceal driving the barn deck when their dwelling was strike by a bullet.
– Mother was hit by a reasonably substantial splinter, so her remaining arm was totally ripped off. And then she here she was ripped in the tummy. And Kjell, he experienced his head reduce off right here, suggests Magne Øymo in the tape.
In the background the war in Ukraine
It took quite a few a long time for Magne Øymo to convey to someone about her experiences. He is even now modest and taciturn.
– I’m not talking about the historical past of the entire world. I tell what a 5-12 months-old boy observed in the course of the decades when the Germans ended up in Bjerkvik, which is my hometown.
But with the war in Ukraine in the qualifications, it became essential for the 87-calendar year-aged to pass on his tale.
– I say this so that younger individuals know what occurred and why it doesn’t happen again. And when we see what is actually happening in Ukraine, we see that we shouldn’t be extremely assured that it will never materialize all over again. That’s why I’m telling my tale.
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