Gold Run: The Rescue of Norway’s Gold Bullion from the Nazis

BOOK REVIEW...FIVE STARS

Gold Run: The Rescue of Norway’s Gold Bullion from the Nazis, 1940 by Robert Pearson.

Neutral Norway would be the second of thirteen countries to be overrun by the Nazis in WWII.
I loved the book that revealed many of the stories of the resistance movement that my family was a part of starting with the first shot fired. The complexities were numerous, and the Germans had no problem enlisting Norwegians to do their bidding.

Excerpts for Gold Run:

April 8th 1940 that Blacher, Latzow, Emden, Albatros, and Kondor raised anchor and sailed north; with torpedo boats, joining the convoy. Their destination: neutral Norway.


Our troops can and will successfully be transported to Norway. On many occasions in the history of war those very operations have been successful which went against all the principles of warfare, provided they were carried out by surprise. The critical moment is the penetration of the harbors while passing the coastal fortifications. It is expected that this will succeed if carried out by surprise, and that the Norwegians will not make the decision to fire quickly enough, if they decide to do so at all. Report of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy to the Fuhrer, 9 March 1940. Any attempt to check or hinder the advance of our forces must be repulsed. Resistance is to be broken ruthlessly in accordance with the directives in the operational orders.



“We were talking about what would happen in Norway before the war was over, and it was almost uncanny how Lars Evensen proved to be correct. He said “and named dissidents in the Labor Party who would step forward and offer their services to the Nazis.” I cannot remember names, but his forecast was accurate.