Devastation and Forced Evacuation: The Actors and Their Motives

On 28 October 1944, Adolf Hitler ordered Lothar Rendulic, Commander-in-Chief of the 20th Mountain Army, to evacuate civilians to the east of Lyngen in Norway and destroy their homes. This event was later adjudicated before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg in the case against Generaloberst Alfred Jodl. Although Jodl claimed that it was Josef Terboven who gave the order, Jodl was found guilty and executed in 1946. The following year, Rendulic was indicted before a US military tribunal for the same facts. He claimed that the scorched earth tactics were necessary for withdrawal of his troops. The judges believed Rendulic and acquitted him. Historical research for this chapter shows that there were strong political motives behind the measures taken and that Terboven played a crucial part. Evacuees in Northern Norway were reluctant to follow instructions from the occupation regime. In Eastern Finnmark, people were threatened into evacuating: they were told what would happen if the “Bolsheviks” arrived. However, most were not intimidated or persuaded. Their resistance imperiled the entire Norwegian occupation regime, and Terboven responded with even tougher measures. Contemporaneous material reveals that Rendulic and his subordinate commanders considered Northern Norway’s total devastation and forced evacuation needless distractions. Terboven’s actions were likely linked to a power play as the occupation regime in Norway headed for its downfall. Terboven attempted unsuccessfully to strengthen his grip on the German army in Norway.