1 Background

In July 2011 a week long investigation of a German POW-camp, was undertaken at Sværholt under the direction of Professor Bjørnar Olsen from the department of Archaeology and Social Anthropology at the University of Tromsø. The investigation was performed within the framework of the Ruin Memories-project which aims at scrutinizing the categorization of modern ruins and reassessing their cultural and historical value. The investigated site is one of three German WWII localities investigated by Olsen, selected for their rich material remains which allow for exceptionally telling statements about the geography and materiality of the northern war and of the human conditions it inflicted (1).

The examined POW-camp is located just southwest of the Sværholtsklubben peninsula where coastal fortifications were operated by the German military between 1942 and 1944 in order to safeguard the northern fairway and prevent allied naval vessels from penetrating the northern fjords. The inhabitants of the camp consisted of captured Russian soldiers, stationed at Sværholt as a slave work force, assisting a German presence of around 200 men. At any time 50 or more prisoners are believed to have been stationed in the camp (1; Olsen pers. comm.).