Kirsten Brunvoll, née Sørsdal (24 December 1895 – 5 April 1976), was a Norwegian playwright, resistance member,

Nacht und Nebel ''Nacht und Nebel'' (German: ), meaning Night and Fog, was a directive issued by Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 targeting political activists and resistance "helpers" in the territories occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, who were to ...

prisoner,

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 opposing ...

memoirist and politician for the Labour Party.

Biography

She was born in Lier to

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

Gabriel Sørsdal and Kristiane Zell. She married Jonas Brunvoll in 1919, and had two sons

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one o ...

and Gunnar. The family settled at

Jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on c ...

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

. Between 1929 and 1939 she was a prolific playwright, mostly writing comedic plays. During the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

the Brunvoll family took part in civil resistance; the whole family contributed to production and distribution of the illegal newspapers ''Norge'' and ''Norge Krigsnytt''. When the undercover newspaper organization was discovered by the Gestapo in 1941, several family members were arrested. Kirsten Brunvoll's husband and her son Jonas ended up in the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

, but both survived the war. Gunnar escaped to Sweden and further to Great Britain and Canada, where he was trained as a pilot. Brunvoll was arrested and incarcerated at the

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderm ...

in January 1942, and was transferred to Germany, to Ravensbrück, a camp specifically for women, in February 1943. While in Ravensbrück, being unfit for slave labour due to illness, she was selected for "transport", and ended up at the Majdanek concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. She was later transferred to the

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

Birkenau, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp system, where she arrived in 1944. Since the Birkenau gas chambers were designated specifically for killing Jews, the camp authorities had SS physicians sort out non-Jews based on their ability to work. Brunvoll reported she was fit for work, asking for a position as knitter. The following winter she was sent for transport again, a long walk under harsh conditions. The weakest women, those who could not keep up with the others, received no mercy and were shot by the German SS guards, their corpses left behind. Brunvoll ended up back in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. She was eventually rescued by the

White Buses White Buses was a Swedish humanitarian operation with the objective of freeing Scandinavians in German concentration camps in Nazi Germany during the final stages of World War II. Although the White Buses operation was envisioned to rescue Scan ...

. Brunvoll published the memoir book ''Veien til Auschwitz'' in 1947. She also issued one last play, ''Lønningsdag'' ("Pay Day") in 1948. She served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Akershus during the terms 1945–1949 and 1950–1953. In total she met during 17 days of parliamentary session.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunvoll, Kirsten 1895 births 1976 deaths People from Lier, Norway Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian women dramatists and playwrights Norwegian resistance members Norwegian people imprisoned abroad Female resistance members of World War II Grini concentration camp survivors Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Norwegian World War II memoirists Women memoirists Bærum politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians Deputy members of the Storting Women members of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians