Skis Against the Atom: The Exciting, First Hand Account of Heroism and Daring Sabotage During the Nazi Occupation of Norway [Paperback]

Knut Haukelid (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0942323076 | ISBN-13: 978-0942323078 | Publication Date: August 1, 1989

The exciting, first-hand account of heroism and daring sabotage during the Nazi occupation of Norway. The outcome of World War II could very possibly have been much different if Knut Haukelid and his small, but courageous band of Norwegian soldiers had not been successful in sabotaging the Nazis supply of heavy water. The heavy water produced at a facility in occupied Norway was vital to Hitlers race with the United States to develop the atomic bomb. Knut Haukelids Skis Against The Atom gives the reader an intimate account of the valiant and self-sacrificing service that the not-to-be-subdued Norwegians performed for the whole free world.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Norwegian

About the Author

Mr. Haukelid was born in New York on May 17, 1911, to Norwegian parents and returned to Norway when he was two years old. He studied in the United States from 1927 to 1931, part of the time at the University of Massachusetts, and in Germany at Berlin University in 1937. After Germany invaded Norway, he joined the military and became one of Norways most decorated soldiers. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1973. During the height of World War II, Haukelid and eight other Norwegian commandos parachuted into the mountains on what seemed a suicide mission, to destroy a heavy water plant near Rjukan in Telemark, Norway. The raid inspired several books and movies, including the 1948 Hollywood film Heroes of Telemark, which starred Kirk Douglas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: North American Heritage Press (August 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942323076
• ISBN-13: 978-0942323078
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > History > Europe > Norway
  • #73 in Books > History > Europe > Scandinavia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Personal Account of the Norwegian Resistance, July 16, 2006

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Skis Against the Atom: The Exciting, First Hand Account of Heroism and Daring Sabotage During the Nazi Occupation of Norway (Paperback)

"Skis Against The Atom" is the personal account of the experiences of Norwegian resistance fighter Knut Haukelid during the German occupation of Norway 1940-1945. Haukelid was a Norwegian soldier who escaped to Britain in 1940 and was trained and returned to Norway by the British Special Operations Executive.

The centerpiece of the account is the British-Norwegian effort to sabotage the production of Heavy Water at Vemork for use in the Nazi atom bomb program. This heroic effort was the basis of the 1965 movie "The Heroes of Telemark" starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris. The rest of the story is, if anything, even more heroic than the movie. Haukelind and his companions hid for months on the remote Hardanger plateau, dodging Nazi patrols and enduring harsh weather and skimpy rations while waiting for their opportunity to sabotage the Vemork facility. Their sabotage of the heavy water production also required the sinking of a ferry carrying surviving supplies of heavy water, a heart-breaking decision that caused the deaths of Norwegian civilians.

Haukelid's account also covers the efforts to organize the resistance in Norway after German occupation, and the preparation for Allied liberation in 1945. The Norwegian resistance, lightly armed and heavily outnumbered, undertook to bluff the Nazis into surrender to prevent massacres of Norwegian civilians or the destruction of the Norwegian economy by desperate German forces in the dying days of the Third Reich.

Haukelid writes candidly in the first person. His account is told very much from his point of view. This book is a translation from the original Norwegian to English; the syntax may seem stilted or formal in places to American readers. Those interested in a larger perspective can consult a decent of body of work on the Norwegian resistance by other participants and by a number of British and Norwegian scholars.

This book is highly recommended to those interested in the Norwegian resistance.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing the selfless sacrfice made by Norwegian Heros, September 10, 2007

By 

A. Rice "WWII Buff 217" (Atlanta, Ga, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Skis Against the Atom: The Exciting, First Hand Account of Heroism and Daring Sabotage During the Nazi Occupation of Norway (Paperback)

Haukelid's personal account of his actions around the destruction of the heavy Water stocks and subsequently the Hydro ferry read like a James Bond novel. Bravo to these Norwegian heros and bravo to Mr. Haukelid for giving us such a personal account for posterity.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Norwegian Resistance saves the world from a German A-bomb, November 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Skis Against the Atom: The Exciting, First Hand Account of Heroism and Daring Sabotage During the Nazi Occupation of Norway (Paperback)

True story of how the Norwegian Resistance, with the help of Britain, stops the Germans from acquiring enough heavy water to make their own A-bomb. Exciting first hand account of skiing and avoiding the Nazis. Begin to understand the sacrifice made by the Norwegian people in their resistance to the Nazis. Made into a movie starring Kirk Douglas in 1968. I recommend reading Blood and Water to get another take on this exciting story.