Karsten Hansen was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom were members of a communist resistance group in the Ringerike district. One night, they were spotted by a German patrol. His brother George managed to escape, while Karsten and his oldest brother, Reidar, were arrested. At first, Karsten was placed in solitary confinement in a death cell at Akershus Fortress in Oslo. He was brutally interrogated, kicked and beaten to a pulp. Later, he was transferred to Grini. Karsten’s brother, Reidar, was executed in Trandum Forest that autumn.

For a long time after the war, the efforts of the communist resistance were covered up and cast in a suspicious light. Several former members found themselves subject to covert government surveillance.

“We members of the Osvald Group were put under surveillance after the war. That stigma is hard to get rid of. It lingers for a long time, you know.”

Karsten Hansen