Born and Bred
A Yorkshire Family
Olga Josefine Bergum
Olga's Story
Olga was born on the 6th of November 1913. At the time of Olga's birth, her parents, Ole Hansen Bergum and Berta Julie Evensdatter, already had three other children and were living in the village of Boverbru in the county of Innlandet where Olga's father had been born and was now working as a carpenter. Over the next eight years, Olga's parents would have a further three children.
She was baptised, Olga Josefine Bergum on the 7th of December at As Church, the local parish church, where her parents had married in 1908.
Olga and her siblings grew up living around the animals that her parents had, these included cows, pigs and chickens, as well as a number of dogs and cats. Life was hard for the Bergum family and there wasn't much money, in fact the children had to share shoes and this, surprisingly affected their schooling. The children would take it in turns to go to school, wearing shoes, whilst the other children would remain at home as they had nothing to wear on their feet.
When Olga grew up she wanted to be a hairdresser, however, the course she would have to complete was four months long and her father couldn't afford to pay for it and her travel expenses. In the end, she found a job working in the kitchens of one of the big local farms in and around where they lived.
As a young woman, Olga was very active, and loved nothing more than spending her time skiing and swimming, both of which she was very good at. She eventually grew tired of her job working in the farm kitchens and moved to Oslo where she got a job in one of the city banks as a cleaner. It was in Oslo that she met and fell in love with Hans Lorang Hansen and on the 7th of January 1940 they were married at Paulus Church, located just opposite the Birrkelunden Park in Oslo.
However, their happy life together was not to last for long. On the 1st of September 1939 Adolf Hitler had ordered German military forces to invade Poland, thus starting the Second World War in Europe. By the 6th of October Poland had fallen and Hitler began to plan where he would strike next in Europe.
On the night of the 8th / 9th of April 1940 Germany invaded Norway sailing into the Oslofijord with the intention of taking Oslo and capturing the King and his government. Thanks to the valiant actions of the Oscarsborg Fortress, which managed to sink the German flagship, the Blucher, and damage a number of the other ships in the attacking force, the Germans were delayed long enough for the King and government to escape Oslo.
However, the German troops soon took control of Oslo and by the 10th of June the last of the Norwegian forces surrendered. Around 300,000 Germans were subsequently garrisoned in Norway and were to remain there for the rest of the war.
The economic consequences of the German occupation were severe. Norway lost all its major trading partners the moment it was occupied. Germany became the main trading partner, but could not make up for the lost import and export business. While production capacity largely remained intact, the German authorities confiscated a very large part of the output, leaving Norway only 43% of its production.
Combined with a general drop in productivity, Norwegians were quickly confronted with a scarcity of basic commodities, including food. There was a real risk of famine. Many, if not most, Norwegians started growing their own crops and keeping their own livestock. City parks were divided among inhabitants, who grew potatoes, cabbage, and other hardy vegetables. People kept pigs, rabbits, chicken and other poultry in their houses and out-buildings. Fishing and hunting became more widespread.
This then was what life was like for Olga and her husband, Hans. They continued to live and work in Oslo throughout the war years and on the 1st of June 1941 they moved into an apartment in Brugata 19, where they rented a room. They were to remain living here for the next six years and had to undergo rationing and food shortages, just like the majority of the Norwegian population, as well as all the regulations and commands that were imposed by the German occupying forces that limited people's freedom of action and movement.
On the 19th of September 1944, Olga gave birth to a daughter who they named Inger Lise.
Following the end of the war in Europe, all the German forces in Norway surrendered on the 8th of May 1945 and the King and his family finally returned to Oslo on the 7th of June. Life could now try and begin to get back to normal.
On the 1st of July 1947, following the death of his grandparents, Hans took over their apartment in the Grunerlokka area of Oslo, where they would continue to live for the rest of their lives.
After the war, Olga got a new job, working as a seamstress for the Hanske Hallen company, a well-known name in the glove industry based in the centre of Oslo which first opened in 1822. In the morning Olga would walk to work to collect a package which contained a pre cut glove and matching colour threads ready to be sewn into a glove. When she was finished she walked back with the completed package and collected another one. It was a full day of hand sewing, which often went on into the evening.
One time when the Norwegian royal family were being visited by the Danish royal family, they asked Hanske Hallen for leather gloves to give as a gift. The job to make them went to Olga who was one of the best seamstresses in the company.
She continued working for Hanske Hallen for the rest of her working life before retiring at 66. Olga was extremely skilled with her hands and her passions included embroidery, crochet, knitting and the sewing of clothes. She made the majority of her daughter's clothes including a bridesmaid dress for her daughter, Lise, who would have been about six at the time.
Sadly, on the 5th of January 1950, Olga's beloved husband, Hans, died, they had been married for 10 years. She continued to live with Lise in their apartment in Grunerlokka.
On the 16th of October 1965, her daughter married Ingar Hansen, once again the marriage took place at Paulus Church in Oslo. Soon Inger and Ingar presented Olga with two grand-daughters, Hilde Cecilie, born on the 24th of September 1967 and Ingvild, born on the 28th of February 1973.
For the first 2 years of Cecilie's life they spent a lot of time together because Lise had to work. As Cecilie got older Olga introduced her to another passion of hers, Bingo. On one occasion Ceclile won the main prize which was a big basket of quality meats, cheeses and groceries. One lady got a bit worked up and exclaimed that she was too young to claim the prize but Olga made sure to claim the prize on her granddaughter's behalf.
In 1993, Olga saw her granddaughter, Cecilie, get married to Knut Erik Svanberg. Sadly, on the 14th of October 1996, Olga suffered a stroke and died. She was buried alongside her husband on the 17th of October in the Nordre Gravvlund cemetery.