Beisfjord Massacre: Nazi Forces Burned Yugoslav Prisoners Alive in Norway

The Beisfjord massacre was one of the darkest and least known war crimes committed on Norwegian soil during the Second World War, when German SS personnel and Norwegian collaborators murdered hundreds of Yugoslav prisoners.After Nazi Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, the country was transformed into a strategic military zone. Roads, railways, and fortifications were built at high speed, and to complete these massive construction projects, the German authorities relied on forced labour. Thousands of prisoners of war and political detainees from occupied Europe were transported north under brutal conditions. Among them were Yugoslav prisoners, many of them Serbs, deported from the Independent State of Croatia in 1942.In June 1942, around 900 Yugoslav prisoners arrived near Narvik and were forced to march to Beisfjord camp. Conditions were catastrophic from the start: overcrowded barracks, starvation rations, disease, constant violence, and systematic abuse by German SS personnel and Norwegian collaborators.Typhus spread rapidly, but instead of providing medical care, the authorities decided on extermination. On 18 July 1942, 287 sick and weakened prisoners were massacred. Some were forced to dig their own graves before being shot. Others were burned alive inside infirmary barracks set on fire by guards. Machine guns were used against those who tried to escape the flames. The killings were carried out in an organized and deliberate manner, with both German and Norwegian guards participating.The Beisfjord massacre formed part of a broader system of forced labour and repression in occupied Norway, where thousands of Yugoslav prisoners perished. After the war, several SS guards were extradited to Yugoslavia, convicted of war crimes, and executed. The massacre remains a powerful reminder of Nazi brutality, collaboration, and the human cost of occupation.This episode is part of the series The Forgotten Massacres of Defenseless Soldiers in WWII.Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at:WorldHistory.tv