Quotation from the book
“Because of the war situation, there was full employment everywhere, and it was difficult to find workers ... It is reported that police in Kristiania rounded up groups of prostitutes and sent them out to the island; many came directly from the national women’s prison. This was not an easy workforce to control, but they were good workers, and it was claimed that work at the explosives factory was never happier.”
M. H. Magnus, Norsk Sprængstofindustri A/S, 1966, p. 134
True or false?
The book states in black and white that the workforce was made up of prostitutes and women prisoners who were sent over to Håøya. It also claims that the working environment out there was happy. Could this be true? How can we know whether this is true or not?
Happy factory girls?
We know that workers at the factory handled hazardous explosives. We also know from newspaper articles of the time that the factory was reported to the “factory inspectors” shortly after it started operations. In an article in the Social-Demokraten newspaper from 1916, Håøya is described as “the Devil’s island” because of the working conditions there. The factory was closed down just a few years later, in 1918, following an explosion. What was it really like for the women working there? Were the conditions really that happy?
Chosen by Aleksander, History student (22)