Wartime propaganda and the role of religion in occupied Norway

Today, 70 years have passed since the German invasion of Norway during the WW2. To mark the occasion the University of Bergen has opened a few new digital archives of newspapers and propaganda from both sides of the front. I thought it would be interesting to quickly browse through the pages in search of the place of the church and religion in these media from both sides.


What did I find – well, absolutely nothing. The pamphlets, booklets and posters are largely void of religion in both text and image. What is there is exactly what we might expect – a prominent place of the flag and the exiled king next to idolization of Norwegian history of the Viking age and its link to the bravery of modern seafarers. And of course, the usual antisemitic ranting for the nationalist party in charge under Quisling. 

The Norwegian bishops renounced the function of the church as a state church during the occupation years, and most of them were forced to leave their positions. Likewise, even though threatened with severe punishments, most priests renounced their positions, leaving churches empty. In one of the documents published, a general booklet, called Norway, created at the end of the war to educate the British about Norway, religion is briefly mentioned, and it is underscored that through their resistance, the clergy “have done much to maintain the moral of the Home Front”. Religion was important, but apparently the church did not achieve a vital symbolic role and place in propaganda comparable to that of the royal house and flag. Nor do the occupying forces seem to have used religion in their propaganda.