The wreath laying took place at the monument at Lavna on the west side of the Kola bay. Lavna was the location of the training camp for the Norwegian communist partisans who were cooperating with NKVD and the Soviet fleet during Second World War.
The text “Norway thanks you” was written on the wreath colored in red, white and blue, the colors of the Norwegian flag.
Representatives from the Murmansk Regional Duma and local authorities were present.
Norwegians partisans were trained in intelligence, sabotage in, and the use of radiotelegraphy, weapons and parachutes and worked behind enemy lines in occupied northern Norway.
In the period from 1941 to 1943 the partisans operated from rock caves along the coast of Finnmark for long periods of time, with little protection from the harsh winter climate. They were also under constant danger of exposure to the Germans or from enemy informants among the local population.
During the summer of 1943, 18 of the partisans were killed, 23 persons who had contributed with information and food for the agents were executed and another 30 persons were sent to German concentration camps. The partisan net had efficiently been broken up by the German occupation forces in Norway, reads the summary of the Partisan history posted at the portal of Varanger Museum in Vardø.
