# Border guide

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[Norwegian refugees](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Refugees_from_Norway&action=edit&redlink=1) during the [Second World War](/source/German_occupation_of_Norway) could obtain help from border guides to cross the [border](/source/Norway%E2%80%93Sweden_border) to safety in neutral [Sweden](/source/Sweden).

A **border guide** ([Norwegian](/source/Norwegian_language): *grenselos*, [Swedish](/source/Swedish_language): *gränslots*) was a person that helped [refugees from Norway](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Refugees_from_Norway&action=edit&redlink=1) escape over the [Norway–Sweden border](/source/Norway%E2%80%93Sweden_border) during the [Second World War](/source/German_occupation_of_Norway).[1] There were probably over a thousand Norwegian border guides active during the Second World War. Men, women, and children served as border guides and assisted in guiding a total of 40,000 refugees to safety across the border in neutral Sweden.[1]

## Background

On the same day that [Norway was attacked](/source/Operation_Weser%C3%BCbung) by [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany), some people started fleeing to Sweden. Initially this was relatively easy, with few controls. As the [German occupation authorities](/source/Reichskommissariat_Norwegen) gained control over the country in spring and summer 1940, control at the border intensified and border passports were issued to residents.[2][3]

With an increasing demand from people with various backgrounds to escape to Sweden, there was a need for local knowledge at the border to help refugees safely cross to the Swedish side. The [Norwegian resistance movement](/source/Norwegian_resistance_movement) gradually established systems with transport routes for refugees, in which locally known border guides were the last link in the chain that took them to safety.

## Aftermath

After the war, those that had served as border guides did not receive public recognition. Instead, they were largely forgotten or faced accusations of treason.[4][5] This was exacerbated by the fact that many of the border guides were ethnically [Sami](/source/Sami_people) and continued to face discrimination after the war.[6]

## See also

- The [Feldmann case](/source/Feldmann_case), a Norwegian married couple murdered by border guides

- [Refugees from Norway during the Second World War](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Refugees_from_Norway&action=edit&redlink=1)

- [The North Sea Traffic during the Second World War](/source/The_North_Sea_Traffic)

- [People smuggling](/source/People_smuggling)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-snl_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-snl_1-1) [*Store norske leksikon*: Grenselos.](https://snl.no/grenselos)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Fastvold, Marianne. 2003. *Feid og pyntet: roman*. Oslo: Gyldendal, p. 147.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Guri, Hjeltnes. 2003. Krigstidens hverdag. *Aftenposten* (April 9).](http://www.aftenposten.no/norge/Krigstidens-hverdag-536977b.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Schanche, Tor Emil. 2015. Nå kan flere bli hedret slik Karen (81) ble. *NRK* (June 24).](https://www.nrk.no/sapmi/na-kan-enda-flere-fa-heder-for-innsats-under-krigen-1.12425388)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Paulsen, Simon Piera. 2015. Bok lansert: Nå får grenselosene sin fortjente oppmerksomhet. *NRK* (February 20).](https://www.nrk.no/sapmi/bok-lansert_-na-far-grenselosene-sin-fortjente-oppmerksomhet-1.12220125)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Andersen, Sander. 2009. Losene forfulgt grunnet sin etnisitet. *NRK* (December 17).](https://www.nrk.no/sapmi/forfulgt-grunnet-sin-etnisitet-1.6914148)

## Further reading

- Fontander, Björn. 1979. *Flykten över Kölen 1940–1945*. Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [91-29-53298-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/91-29-53298-1).

- Ulstein, Ragnar. 1974–1977. *Svensketrafikken*, 3 vols. Oslo: Samlaget. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [82-521-0413-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/82-521-0413-4), 82-521-0499-1, 82-521-0733-8.

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