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LISTEN: Who really burned Kirkenes down?

The town of Kirkenes was almost totally destroyed in the Second World War. But by whom?

Kirkenes, Norway, is strangely uniform for a 150-year-old town.

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Kirkenes, Norway, is strangely uniform for a 150-year-old town. The architecture of the buildings downtown and the houses of its 3500 inhabitants suggest that the whole town was built at once – which, of course, it was, following its complete destruction in the Second World War.

Opinions differ on how the town was destroyed, though, so we decided to investigate. Listen below to our journey to learn what really happened in Kirkenes as the war drew to a close.