In a previous posts, titled "They refused, simply refused," we talked about the heroism of the Norwegian teachers who took a courageous stand against the Nazis. If you wondered what their students were doing…
Students instituted their own silent means of resistance. They used paperclips to make themselves bracelets and necklaces; they wore paperclips in their lapels; they turned their paperclips into a symbol of unity between themselves and their beleaguered teachers. Just imagine, thousands of students speaking eloquently without saying a word! They went even further, turning their backs when Nazi soldiers passed by and singing patriotic Norwegian songs when the Nazis visited their schools. Students in Oslo high schools refused the compulsory order to join the Nazi Youth Movement and were punished by beatings, threats, and arrests. They faced truly grave danger head on. Despite the Nazi brutality, the teenagers simply refused to comply, and eventually the Nazi demands were abandoned. Historians describe the Norwegian resistance as “an unconditional ideological defeat upon Nazism.” And just imagine, it started with a bunch of brave kids and their paperclips.
