Trygve Brattelli became the 26th Prime Minister of Norway.
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Gift #8 – Trygve Bratteli
Sadly, as happens all too often, Trygve’s memory faded in those waning years of life.
He may have forgotten the details and even the major events of his life, a remarkable life of service, of family, friends and patriotism, but we write this section so the world will remember and celebrate.
His life and legacy warrant remembering.
Bratteli might not be mentioned in all the history books, but he was and still is an integral part of liberation of many from the Holocaust through the brave White Buses rescue in Sweden.
Born in early 1910 near Oslo, Norway, he was the 4th of 11 children. At the age of 16, he joined a whaling expedition to Antarctica.
Trygve had limited education but carried himself with dignity. At some point shortly after returning from the whaling adventure, he unsuccessfully applied for a visa to the United States.
He became a roofer for a construction company for a while. His interests in helping others earn meaningful employment and the benefits of a growing economy lead him into politics in his early 20s.
Trygve would later become the 26th Prime Minister of Norway.
Trygve Bratteli married Randi Helene Larssen (1924–2002), who became a respected author and journalist.
They had three children: two daughters, Tone[i] and Marianne, and a son, Ola Bratteli.
Marianne (born 1951) emerged as an important artist of Norwegian modernism. Her themes include family, loss and aspirations.
Bratteli’s son Ola (1946-2015) became a well-known and respected mathematician. He graduated with distinction from the University of Oslo in 1971 and began his doctorate in May 1974.
His studies in Norway were augmented by work at New York University.
While holding faculty positions at the University of Oslo and the University of Trondheim, he published over 100 professional articles and received numerous awards for his ground-breaking work on mathematical physics.
In August 1940, Bratteli authored a statement for his party exhorting his country to support, democracy, independence, freedoms of the press and speech.
He stressed the impending ‘humiliation’ of the Norwegian people and the country under Nazi rule. Less than one month later, newspapers were shut down, his political party disbanded and Trygve was looking for work.
Construction work spared him for two years in Kristiansund until June 11, 1942 when he was arrested, shipped from prison to concentration camps, ultimately ending up in Sachsenhausen.
Many of these camps were for prisoners classified as ‘Nacht and Nebel’ – night and fog which meant that they were supposed to disappear forever without a trace.
Through determination, guile and probably luck, he survived.
On April 5, 1945, he was liberated from Vaihingen an der Enz concentration camp by the White Buses, one of 16 Norwegians rescued by the convoy, and was reportedly “near death in a heap of bodies with only his little finger moving.”[i]
His political career began shortly after liberation and continued for decades.
His first term as Prime Minister ended when the country decided not to join the European Economic Community, now the European Union.
Perhaps because of his experiences in the 2nd World War, Bratteli understood the importance and power of alliances in the emerging world order.
Bratteli’s autobiography entitled Prisoner in Night and Fog remains popular reading in Norway. He died in 1984 at age 74, having been in ill health in his last years, possibly exacerbated by his WWII traumas.
Trygve Bratteli devoted his life to the pursuits of “peace and freedom, security, the right and the opportunity for human expression and for a dignified life.”[ii]
When the “fog” had cleared in the light of day, history records his life as a gift to the people of Norway and the world.
[i] https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/18/archives/norways-new-premier-trygve-martin-bratteli.html
[ii] Trygve Bratteli – regjeringen.no
[i] His daughter, Tone Bratteli Jamholt, wrote a book, Two Miles From Europe.
