''Bulletinen'' ("The Bulletin") was an

underground newspaper The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rec ...

in Norway during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Its first issue came in November 1940, and the publication continued until the end of the war. The name ''Bulletinen'' was adapted in November 1944. It was edited by central persons of the

civil resistance Civil resistance is political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and coercion: i ...

in Norway, such as members of "Koordinasjonskomiteen" and " Kretsen" Jan Birger Jansen and

Tore Gjelsvik Tore Gjelsvik (7 September 1916 – 23 January 2006) was a Norwegian geologist and polar explorer. He headed the Norwegian Polar Institute from 1960 to 1983, and played an important role in the Norwegian resistance during World War II. Person ...

Publishing history

The periodical was started as a link between organizations connected to the so-called ''R-Group'', after an initiative from later prime minister

Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was the 22nd prime minister of Norway for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With totally 17 years i ...

. Responsible for the bi-weekly bulletin was the propaganda group, headed by

Christian A. R. Christensen Christian A. R. Christensen (17 December 1906 – 27 January 1967) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He is known for his work in the Norwegian resistance movement, as editor of ''Verdens Gang'' and as a historical writer. He also helped shape the E ...

, and the first editors were

Olav Larssen Olav Larssen (10 July 1894 – 5 July 1981) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour and Communist parties. Personal life Olav Larssen was born in Furnes as a son of baker Kristian Larssen and Lovise Wahlum (1873–1923). ...

and

Olaf Solumsmoen Olaf Solumsmoen (19 July 1896 – 22 September 1972) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Sigdal, and decided to be a stenographer. He was hired in the Labour Party newspaper ''Fremtiden'' in Dramme ...

. The first issue was published 18 November 1940. When Solumsmoen and Larssen were arrested in January 1942, sports leaders

Asbjørn Halvorsen Asbjørn Halvorsen (3 December 1898 – 16 January 1955), nicknamed Assi, was a Norwegian footballer, who played as a centre-half for Sarpsborg FK and Hamburger SV. He was capped 19 times playing for Norway, and was a part of the Norwegian team ...

and Gunnar Hansen took over as editors. Halvorsen and Hansen were arrested in August 1942, and Jan Birger Jansen took over as the sole editor, only informing other resistance members that he had contacts to the editorial staff, while in fact he was the single responsible editor himself. In February 1944 the German occupants unraveled several underground newspapers, such as '' London-Nytt'', ''London Radio'', ''Svart på hvitt'', ''Vårt Land'' and ''Fri Fagbevegelse'', which all had to cease publication. Among the newspapers which had distributed informations and paroles from the civil leadership of the resistance movement, only ''Bulletinen'' was intact after the press collapse. In May 1944 Jansen had to flee to Sweden, and asked

to take over. Jansen and Gjelsvik had cooperated since 1940, then at the distribution side. Gjelsvik was rather busy with other resistance work, and asked Christian A. R. Christensen and Tore Sund to join as editors. A total of about 150 issues of ''Bulletinen'' were produced during the war. The publication had limited circulation, as it was primarily aimed to distribute news, comments and paroles to other underground newspapers.

References

{{Reflist Defunct newspapers published in Norway Newspapers established in 1940 Publications disestablished in 1945 Norwegian resistance movement 1940 establishments in Norway 1945 disestablishments in Norway Norwegian-language newspapers