Ulven detention camp

Ulven detention camp (German: Polizeihäftlingslager Ulven, Norwegian: Ulven fangeleir ("Ulven" means "the wolf")) was a concentration camp in Norway that was located in what was Os Municipality in Hordaland county (now part of Bjørnafjorden Municipality in Vestland county). It was located just outside the village of Osøyro, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the city of Bergen.^[1]

Ulven
Concentration camp
Norwegian soldiers at Ulven before the German occupation, circa 1936-37.
Location of Ulven within Vestland Show map of Vestland Ulven detention camp (Norway) Show map of Norway
Coordinates	60.1994°N 5.4235°E / 60.1994; 5.4235
Other names	German: Polizeihäftlingslager Ulven Norwegian: Ulven fangeleir
Location	Osøyro, Norway
Built by	Norwegian Army
Operated by	Sicherheitspolizei
Commandant	Otmar Holenia
Original use	Military exercise camp
First built	1876
Operational	June 1940-1944

Originally a military training camp built by the Norwegian Army in 1876, it was converted into a prison camp in June 1940 during the German occupation of Norway, and it was the first Nazi prison camp in the country. It was designated a Polizeihäftlingslager (police detention camp), under the administration of the Nazi "security police" (Sicherheitspolizei, SIPO).^[2]

Initially, prisoners were Jews and communists, but a broader array of members from prosecuted groups began arriving at the camp. Conditions were relatively benign until 1942, when Untersturmführer Otmar Holenia, nicknamed "the Storm", took command and imposed harsher conditions. Ulven was used for purposes of executing individuals for various reasons. It is not known how many were murdered in the camp.

In the course of the summer of 1943, the prisoners at Ulven were used as slave labor to build the Espeland concentration camp in Bergen, to which the prisoners were transferred.

The camp is now a training ground for the Bergenhus home guard.

See also

• Nazi concentration camps in Norway
• Espeland detention camp
• Falstad concentration camp
• Grini detention camp
• Sydspissen detention camp
• Tromsdalen detention camp

References

1. Thorsnæs, Geir (2021-01-26), "Ulven – Bjørnafjorden", Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian Bokmål), retrieved 2021-03-17
2. Kristian Ottosen, ed. (1995). Nordmenn i fangenskap 1940-1945 : alfabetisk register (in Norwegian). Oslo: Universitetsforlet. p. 34. ISBN 8200223728.