Grini prison camp

During the Second World War, almost 20,000 people were incarcerated at Grini prison camp. They came from all across the country and from every occupation and social class. 

Women prisoners lived and worked in the main building, while the men were housed in barracks behind the main building. They were divided into different work groups. Some prisoners were kept in solitary confinement with no contact with the rest of the camp.

Grini was originally built to be a women’s prison just before the German occupation of Norway. It was briefly used by the nazis as a prisoner-of-war camp immediately after the defeat of Norway’s armed forces in April 1940. When the Norwegian soldiers were released in June of that year, the building was used as accommodation by the Wehrmacht.

In June 1941, the German security police established Polizeihäftlingslager Grini. From June 1941 until May 1945, almost 20,000 men, women and children were incarcerated here. The youngest prisoner was a 12 year old girl, the eldest was an eighty year old woman.

For the first year, the prisoners were housed in the main building, which is now Ila Detention and Security Prison. But as the number of prisoners gradually increased, the building became overcrowded and the additional barracks were built.

 Over the course of the war, more than 3,400 prisoners from Grini were deported to German concentration camps. Almost 800 Grini prisoners lost their lives – most after deportation to camps in Germany or German-occupied areas, while some were executed in Trandumskogen forest, near today’s Oslo Airport Gardermoen.

In the afternoon of the 7th of May 1945, the prisoners at Grini recieved the message they had been waiting for for so long. Norway was liberated, they were free! On that same evening the Norwegian flag was raised on the main building, and the over 5000 free prisoners sang the national anthem in unison. Although the 8th of may is Norway’s official day of liberation, the 7th serves more significance for Grini prison camp and it’s prisoners.