Norwegian Sailors

Norwegian Sailors' tombstone in Pine Ridge Cemetery When the Nazis invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, many Norwegian merchant seamen who were at sea at the time came to the US and other allied countries, in the hope of joining the war effort. Given a medical examination in New York City, a number were found to be suffering from tuberculosis, and many of these found their way to Saranac Lake. It is difficult to know how many came, as they were spread among many different cure cottages, but the number may have been as high as five hundred. Sixteen died in Saranac Lake, fifteen men and one woman, a sea captain's daughter; they are buried in a special section of Pine Ridge Cemetery that is maintained yearly at the expense of the Norwegian government.

Their memorial reads: TIL MINNE OM NORSKE SJØFOLK SOM DØDE I KAMPEN FOR SITT LANDS FRIGJØRING, 1940-45 (In memory of Norwegian seafarers who died fighting for the liberation of their country, 1940-45).

They cured in many places in the village, including the Sageman, Leonard and Walker Cottages on Park Avenue, the Spear Cottage on Riverside Drive, 47 Franklin Avenue and the Robinson Cottage on Franklin Avenue.

See also: Hjalmar Berentsen

Norwegian Sailors Buried at Pine Ridge Cemetery

Patient Name	Dates of Birth & Death	Photo
Hilda E. Aass	1913-1943
Alfred Abrahamsen	1920-1945
Olaf Berge	1920-1945
Harry J. Bohler	1921-1944
Rasmus Brakstad	1920-1943
Haakon Engh	1914-1945
Otto Eriksen	1906-1942
Karl Forsberg	1911-1944
Anker Halvorsen	1921-1944
Elias Harkestad	1910-1945
Alfred Larsen	1913-1988
Trygve Magnussen	1897-1945
John L. Nyberg	1917-1944
Birger Olsen	1903-1942
William Paulsen	1922-1945
Torvald Rongved	1910-1942
John Svendsen	1916-1943

I searched the “Report of a Case of Tuberculosis” cards on 6/9/2010 for Norwegian sailors, looking first for those memorialized in Pine Ridge Cemetery. There are cards for Olav Berge, Karl Forsberg, Anker Halvorsen, Alfred R. Larsen, John Nyberg and William Paulsen, all listed above; I have added the information I found to their individual pages.

In addition, there are cards for the following Norwegian sailors discovered while searching for others:

Bjarne Aanesen
Lars Aanestad
Jacob Jacobsen
Alive Olsen
Trygve Olsen

There are very likely cards for other sailors. All of the cards for Norwegian sailors are typewritten.

There is also a card for Mr. Carl Lumholz (sic), the renowned Norwegian anthropologist and explorer. His card was handwritten on 12/16/1921.

Mary Hotaling

External link:

• A Norwegian site (in English) that gives brief biographies and photos of each of the sailors