Defiant Courage: Norway’s Longest WWII Escape
[1217]

By Astrid Karlsen Scott

In late March of 1943, four commandos arrive in northern Norway with a mission of establishing a base for sabotage operations. Before they can unload their cutter, they are betrayed, as a German Schnell boat arrives and turns the quiet fjord into a battle zone. Only one man, Jan Baalsrud, survives the attack. This is the story of his perilous journey to freedom.

Wounded, the dauntless soldier swims icy fjord waters, climbs snow-laden granite peaks, endures violent snowstorms and is hurled off a mountain by an avalanche. Fleeing the Gestapo and battling the harsh Arctic cold, Jan suffers snowblindness and frostbite. Though he possesses raw courage and an iron will, they are not enough to deliver him all the way to neutral Sweden and safety.

The people of northern Norway's Troms district step forward to assist Jan. Selflessly defying Nazi dictates, more than sixty people risk their lives to help the fugitive commando.

Hardcover, 365 pp.