The „Grey Zones“ of life under occupation

Czechoslovaks in German uniforms, and Norwegian society during World War II

EHP and Norway funds, program for bilateral relations, EHP-BFNU-OVNKM-4-248-01-2023

The narrative of World War II in most European countries has long been dominated by simplified frameworks of nationwide resistance and a clear dichotomy between resistance and collaboration. In recent years, both Czech and foreign historians, including those in Norway, have been striving to thoroughly revise this deeply rooted narrative. One important area of research focuses on a full spectrum of societal relations with the occupying power, encompassing not only willing collaboration and active armed resistance but also various levels of necessary adaptation, the search for everyday coexistence, acceptance of circumstances, or economic profit. The small-scale project led in collaboration with historians from the Department of Modern Social History at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (NTNU) primarily aims to exchange knowledge on a topic that is also current in the Czech Republic. The goal is to integrate the Czech perspective into Norwegian historiography of World War II and deepen mutual cooperation between Czech and (not only) Norwegian historians.

The project highlights the fact that thousands of soldiers conscripted during World War II from occupied European countries, including many citizens of interwar Czechoslovakia, served in the German military in Norway. The research question focuses on whether the Norwegian population was able to distinguish these differences and recognize whether they established contacts and how they interacted with those soldiers who served in the German uniform only under compulsion. However, the project primarily focuses on the future. Its goal is to define and formulate research questions and to create a team that will continue to address these issues.

The project is supported by the EHP and Norway Grants. The guarantor of the project is the Institute of Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The project leader is Zdenko Maršálek, while the Norwegian part of the team is headed by Hans Otto Frøland.