Rumored Nazi tunnels believed to run underneath the streets of the city of Oslo, Norway in a complicated network are hoped to be discovered. The former history teacher who originally crafted the plan and currently leads the exploration plans to use ground-penetrating radar.
Øyvind Skarlund was a former history teacher and head of the history department at Oslo’s Handelsgymnasium. The HuffingtonPost reports that the former public school teacher said that the Norwegian school was during the World War II as a headquarters for Nazi officials. The school still has a bunker, which is a remnant of the German occupation, as a memorial in its cellar.
The underground cellar intrigued Skarlund and sparked his curiosity in discovering more of the Nazi tunnels which are rumored to run beyond the school and in a network underneath the city.
“The plan is to investigate if the tunnels really are there. That’s the first thing,” Skarlund said in an interview. “I’ve seen the plans for the tunnels from the war years, and I’ve also seen the plans for the bunker, and it seems likely that there is a second bunker underneath the one we have.”
On April 9, 1940, Norway was invaded and occupied by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Their occupation lasted until May 1945 with the aid of a puppet regime.
During the occupation, the Nazis created many bunkers under Oslo to serve as hiding places. Their construction included the bunker found in the cellar of Handelsgymnasium in 1941. The bunker was specially constructed for German military leaders. The use of the bunker ceased when the Nazis left the country after losing the war.
Skarlund is obsessed at finding out if the rumor of tunnel networks throughout Oslo does exist. He spent his time raising money in preparation of his planned exploration. He wanted to pursue the exploration with the use of 3D radars. The radars will give images of what is underneath the city of Oslo or if the city does host the Nazi tunnel networks.
Aside from Skarlund, other experts from the University of Tromsø have also offered to help in the exploration project. If found, the discovery could turn rumor into a valuable historical evidence of the extent of the German occupation in Norway.
The rumors sprang when treasure hunters in search of Nazi gold discovered tunnel networks in European areas occupied by the Nazis. Some of the tunnels were reported to have caused problems in many areas such as Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands off the French coast.
The tunnels that run underneath the area where constructed through manual slave labor. The underground tunnels have caused the deterioration of the strong foundation for above-ground construction.