• The Falstad Centre - Memorial and Human Rights Centre
From October 1941 on, the former special school for delinquent boys served as the Falstad SS prison camp. The camp was first and foremost a transit camp for people who were to be deported to German concentration camps. It also served as an internment camp for Jews who were then deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Since 1995, there has been a museum on the former Falstad camp premises.
Image: Falstad, probably after May 7, 1945, View of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret
Falstad, probably after May 7, 1945, View of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret

Image: Falstad, 2002, Former main building of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret
Falstad, 2002, Former main building of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret
In October 1941, the German Security Police commander established the Falstad SS prison camp in a building which had until then housed a special school for delinquent boys. In May 1942, SS-Hauptscharführer Paul Gogol was appointed camp commander. According to accounts of former prisoners, the camp conditions worsened and severe abuse became commonplace under Gogol. From August 1942 on, a women's section was established in the camp. Falstad mainly served as a transit camp for prisoners who were to be deported to German concentration camps; many were deported via the Grini SS police prison camp. In all, 5,000 prisoners from 13 countries were registered at Falstad during the German occupation. Among them were 49 Jews from Norway; 48 of them were later deported to the Auschwitz camp complex via Oslo. Only six of them survived. At least 230 prisoners, including Soviet and Yugoslav prisoners of war as well as Norwegian resistance fighters were shot in a forest in the vicinity.
Image: Falstad, probably after May 7, 1945, View of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret
Falstad, probably after May 7, 1945, View of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret

Image: Falstad, 2002, Former main building of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret
Falstad, 2002, Former main building of the SS prison camp, Falstadsenteret
In all, 5,000 prisoners passed through the Falstad camp. Norwegian resistance fighters, Soviet and Yugoslav prisoners of war, Polish inmates as well as Jews constituted the largest groups of prisoners. 42 Jews, who were held captive at Falstad until February 1943, were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp and murdered there.
Image: Falstad, between 1941 and 1944, Soviet POWs in the camp, Falstadsenteret
Falstad, between 1941 and 1944, Soviet POWs in the camp, Falstadsenteret

Image: Falstad, 2007, View of the exhibition at the Falstad Centre, Trond Risto Nilssen
Falstad, 2007, View of the exhibition at the Falstad Centre, Trond Risto Nilssen
A sculpture in memory of the prisoners who had been executed in a nearby forest was set up already in 1947. Between 1945 and 1949, the camp premises were used as a prison for Norwegian collaborators. Later, until 1990, the main building housed a school once again. In 1995, the Falstad Museum was opened on the former camp grounds. In 2000, the foundation »The Falstad Centre – Memorial and Human Rights Centre« was founded with the support of various groups, among them the Jewish community of Trondheim; in 2005, it moved into the newly renovated historical buildings. A new permanent exhibition was opened in 2006.
Image: Falstad, 2007, View of the exhibition in the Falstad Centre, Falstadsenteret, Trond Risto Nilssen
Falstad, 2007, View of the exhibition in the Falstad Centre, Falstadsenteret, Trond Risto Nilssen
Name
Falstadsenteret - Minnested og senter for menneskerettigheter
Address
no information
Falstad
Phone
+47 (0)74 028 040
Fax
+47 (0) 740 280 41
Web
http://www.falstadsenteret.no
E-Mail
post@falstadsenteret.no
Open
Tuesday to Friday noon to 4.00 p.m., Sunday 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
June 1 to July 31
Saturday 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Possibilities
Exhibition, archive containing prisoners' records and library, project offers on human rights education