During the period of occupation of Norway between the years 1940-1945 the National Lutheran Church took the responsibility of supporting the Norweigans in their ideological battle against the Nazis. This was a period named Holdningskampen in Norwegian history. One person to remember was Eivind Berggrav, bishop in Oslo diocese. He was the one responsible for the theological document of importance Kirkens Grunn that became important as a document against the Nazis and the small percentage of Christians that related to the naziinspired-church. Berggrav was also one of the founders of Den Midlertidlige Kirkeledelsen, the organisation responsible for the non-nazified churches. During Easter 1942 there was a division between the national church department and the churches. The outcome was that almost all priests left their offices because they did not want to be part of a Nazi-friendly system. The German-inspired government did their best to keep the churches going with the help of new politically correct priests and bishops. However, people did not accept them and they mostly had to talk for empty rows. The attention was instead given to the priests who marked their standpoint against the Nazis and for the freedom of the people and their country. They became the good examples that helped many Norwegians to keep their courage during a period of tribulation in the history of the country. The purpose is to analyze how and why the support became so important. By using letters from the bishop’s office in Tromsö, literature written about these subjects and local sources I will try to answer the following questions: What difference made the Church for Holdningskampen and the following years and what response did the people give to this standpoint? In what way did the Church support cooperation? How was this perceived by people in general? How did the Church support those who did not sympathize with the party Nasjonal Samling and the occupying power? What became the response from the people and the authorities? The importance of the local priests cannot be underestimated. Their resistance against the Nazis had an important role in the local community during a period of great turmoil and uncertainty in Norway. While their government and King had escaped to London, the Norwegian Church remained in the country. The Nazi-inspired church tried to get the people’s attention but very few listened. Because of the many undeviating priests and church leaders all over the country the locals remained hopeful and resistant, in spite of the Nazi-government’s threats. The interaction between the locals and the church gave them courage. Together they were made strong.

The beginning of the occupation of the Czech Lands was closely linked to a variety of political, economic, and social problems. It was necessary to gain control over all respective administrative structures in order to ensure the smooth function of the state. In the first phases of the occupation, the temporary military administration was established and the basis for the future development of occupational structures was thus laid. An autonomous administration continued to work alongside the two-levelled German administration. Although the German administration was to take care of German citizens' affairs and to watch over the Protectorate authorities, the autonomous one soon began to succumb under the German influence. After some time, it became obvious that the German administration was overgrown and inefficient; that a reform had to be made. A man behind the reform was Reinhard Heydrich, sent to the Protectorate with a special mission to restore order. The number of occupational authorities was supposed to be diminished together with the number of staff, the redundant employees to be commanded to the frontline. This situation was made easier by the fact that the autonomous bodies had already been infiltrated by German officials; therefore there were not many difficulties while taking over them....

This Dissertation is the benefit to studying of the questions of the oral history of forcibly ejected inhabitants of Neveklov and its neighbourhoods during the 2nd World War. About this region, there exists authentic testimony and this territory is fixed in the collective memory. The oral history is a highly valued literary source. Its value is in the authenticity, which is characterized by selectivity and represents another point of view. The essay brings the unique opportunity to get acquainted with witnesses of the wartime. At present this testimony is unknown or is being forgotten in the offical documents. The essay follows the researches of Jaromír Jech from the middle of the last century. If we compare the results of both researches, we get the view of the importance of forcible displacement of Czech inhabitants in a demarcated region. Result of this work is the analysis of the results obtained with the help of the modern approaches that are based on the method of the oral history, which is a part of the qualitative research, with an emphasis on general objectives and context. The essay brings new testimonies of events that have not been presented and published yet. It also simultaneously maps over the current state, i.e. the reflection of the forcible war persecution on the present times and...

Extensive sources have been reviewed and analysed to piece together for the first time a detailed academic study of civilian evacuation to Devon viewed against the national backdrop. The primary focus of this thesis is the large number of unaccompanied children who were officially evacuated to the County under the auspices of the Government Evacuation Scheme during the Second World War. However, Chapter Six discusses the evacuation of mothers and accompanying children, unofficial (private) evacuees and private school parties. The majority of evacuated children arriving in Devon originated from the London area and southeastern counties. In addition large numbers of children were also evacuated to the County from Bristol and within the County from Plymouth (Devon) during 1941 and briefly from Exeter in May 1942. Each of the three national evacuation waves is considered individually throughout the text as they are quite distinct in complexion, a fact frequently ignored in generalised accounts which tend to focus on reaction to the initial wave. This thesis argues that: 1. lack of regional and local research has resulted in evacuation largely being viewed in generalised and stereotypical terms without due regard for the socioeconomic and geopolitical variance between those areas involved or the particular localised features of the evacuation process 2. the acclimatisation of evacuated children was particularly successful in Devon and drift back less than the national average 3. local evidence supports the argument that contemporary national reports of impoverished, dirty and ill mannered evacuees were frequently exaggerated 4. evacuation was central in accelerating postwar reform in areas of education, child care and welfare The civilian evacuation during World War Two was a remarkable event in the history of modern Britain. Interest in the subject has recently increased but there is enormous scope and need for further research both to broaden our understanding of the nature and impact of evacuation and to test entrenched views. The over-arching aim of this thesis is to contribute to this exploration.