Dolaylı (Endirekt) Para Politikası Araçları

Saltdal did not become a major area for refugees to cross the border into Sweden, but despite this, there were some border pilots there. Exactly how many there were is unknown, but one can find the names of some people and the names of people that helped refugees and prisoners to get in touch with border pilots. There were 13 people⁵⁴ who either helped themselves as border pilots or who knew border pilots that refugees and prisoners could contact if they needed help. Most likely, there are many more people that helped refugees and prisoners,

54 Ulstein 1977168-171

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or they are not mentioned anywhere or they did not tell anyone about what they did.

Figure 6 – These are some of the routes that the border pilots in Saltdal could take. At “Balvatnet”, they crossed the border and they came to Mavas, which was a Sámi place where they could get help.

The best-known border pilot in Saltdal was Peder Båtskar.⁵⁵ He had no job but managed to survive by hunting and fishing and lived in a turf hut. During the war, the Germans took the rifle he hunted with but he still managed to survive. He had only one eye and did not care how he looked or in what state his clothes were, so people did not take him seriously and thought that he was strange. Early on in the occupation, there were rumours that Båtskar helped refugees over to Sweden. After some time, Båtskar became known as a man, people could send refugees to. Later, when there were many Yugoslavian prisoners in Saltdal, they would learn that if they managed to flee from the prison, they could contact Båtskar.

55 Ulstein 1977:168

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Jugoslavane oppfatta ikkje namnet riktig, dei trudde det var Postkass. Seinare blant frie jugoslavar i Sverige og seinare ennå, i Jugoslavia, gjekk det ei legende om den einøygde mannen frå gammen ovafor Rognan med namnet Postkass, Peder Postkass.⁵⁶

This showed that outward appearances could be very deceiving and the German authorities could dismiss him as a person of little note. As such, he managed to exploit it.

In Junkerdal in Saltdal, three men were pioneers: Vilhelm Aronsen, Reidar Bredesen and Adolf Hansen. They undertook their first trips as early as the summer of 1940.⁵⁷ Vilhelm Aronsen went through the occupation without any problematic events. Reidar Bredesen made many trips as a border pilot. The exact amount of refugees he escorted is unknown. At the end of 1942, the Germans spotted and arrested him. Adolf Hansen lived in Skaiti-dalen, which is a side valley in Junkerdalen that is very close to the border. Adolf served as a border pilot, courier and saboteur. He and three others were supposed to blow up the road between Setså and Kvænflåget but that did not happen. In February 1945, he got an anonymous telephone call telling him that his life was in danger and that he had to flee immediately. He did and when he got up to the mountains, he saw that German soldiers had surrounded his house and they interrogated his wife Maria, who did not know where he was. He remained in Sweden until the end of the war.⁵⁸

Another man who escorted refugees but was arrested, was Sjønning Albrigsten who helped refugees from the southern parts of Saltdal to find people who could escort them. He drove a postal route and would take with him refugees and prisoners and drop them off at people’s houses he knew who could help. As with Reidar Bredesen, it is unknown how many refugees he helped during the occupation but as early as November 1942, the Germans learned of his actions. He was in a café when a man who was part of “Nasjonal Samling” came to him and said that he should take his wife and go to Sweden that very evening. Unfortunately, Albrigsten did not believe him, and that evening German authorities arrested and sent him to Germany to a prison camp from which he never returned.

There were many different people and many different ways of helping. One of them was chief physician Anton Gisle Johnson in Bodø, who sent people to Saltdal so they could find help. Another one was the District Sheriff in Fauske, Per Selnes, who sent refugees and prisoners to Saltdal to get help. A third one was Tore Sundby, a county forest ranger together

56 My translation: The Yugoslavians did not get the name right; they thought it was Postkass (mailbox). Later, among the free Yugoslavs in Sweden and still in Yugoslavia, there was a legend of the one-eyed man from the turf hut above Rognan with the name Postkass, Peder Postkass.

57 Ulstein 1977:169

58 Hultmann 2001:55-56