Had I known at the outset how difficult this would be, I don't know if I would have had the courage to start.
But I was living in blissful ignorance, so I set out.
I started nicely and cautiously by writing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out how to proceed, but received a reply that it was all useless. Others had tried before me, and Japan was unwilling to pay any compensation. They hadn't done anything wrong!
Kristian Ottosen and Johan Arthur Johansen, one a writer and the other a former prisoner of war, had actually been to Japan to find out how we should proceed. But they too had found that they were small against the great power Japan's legal system. Even all the Allied POWs (prisoners of war) fell short against Japan. The Japanese were certainly not willing to pay any reparations whatsoever.
I tried to engage the press by unfolding my story. One of the first to grasp this was a journalist in Nettavisen. He came down to Kristiansand and got some background material from me, and he also investigated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He studied this carefully, and then he said to me: "Have you seen that it was actually the Norwegian authorities who wrote off the possibility of compensation from Japan? In 1951 they said that we who had been in Japanese captivity should not make any demands on Japan, and the Norwegian authorities themselves should take responsibility for their own." The reason was that, at the time, Norway was trying to build up a trade partnership with Japan, and it was then important to be on good terms with them. So, the Norwegian authorities were the ones who had written off compensation on our behalf, and we weren't even asked. "What do you want to do with this?" said the journalist.
I was now angry, and I wanted to fight.
I thought that those who were responsible for this also had to make amends for what they had done. In the meantime, I had started my prisoners' association which I had called Østenfangene. Its purpose was to promote claims for war damage compensation for the Norwegians who had been in Japanese captivity in the East. It was originally about 900-1000 Norwegians.
I got in touch with 10-20 people who supported me in my claim against the authorities. Several of them could tell harrowing stories about how they had been treated in captivity and, not least, the battle they fought against the authorities when they returned home. I know my mother sent begging letters to various agencies begging for help, but to no avail.
There were always journalists at our home, and again and again I told my life story in the hope of maybe getting ahead. It wasn't easy, and I had sleeping problems in the middle of it all. Many times I was tempted to give up.
But then suddenly the Progress Party got hold of the matter and became interested.
Vidar Kleppe believed that this was a matter that should be addressed. He did so by presenting a Document with 8 proposals. The answer he received came from Social Affairs Minister Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa. She said that these prisoners, if they believed they had suffered harassment, could only seek compensation.
This was like a slap in the face. Most of these people were so old that they were completely unable to send such an application. So the FRP fortunately took the matter up again, and it was sent over to the Justice Committee. Here, Minister of Justice Hanne Harlem was to further process the case. Before long, they came to the conclusion that the survivors should receive 100,000 NOK each. Those who had passed away (most) were not to receive anything, nor those left behind. This was another blow in the face, and we had to get involved again and create a new campaign.
This time we were helped by Bentein Baardson, who started a group of "Two generations of prisoners", i.e. children of prisoners.
He used all his contacts, and the matter came up again in the Storting. Arthur Johansen was angry when he called me one day. He said that if it turned out that only the survivors were to receive compensation, he would take his 100,000 and divide it into 900 envelopes, and then deliver it to Parliament and ask them to give the amount to all the prisoners. We must stand together for our deceased fellow prisoners, he said, and I agreed. We couldn't give up on that.
We were in several meetings at the Storting, i.a. with lunch in the Storting restaurant together with Vidar Kleppe, Frp, and Finn Kristian Marthinsen, Krf. They took the matter up again in the Justice Committee, and finally the result we had been waiting for came. It came just before Christmas in 2001.
Of all places, I was standing in the checkout line when the mobile phone rang. Beaming with joy, Marthinsen could tell that a unanimous Storting had decided that all Japanese prisoners, or those left behind, should receive 100,000 (~ 10.000.00 US$) in compensation. The battle was over, and we had finally succeeded. What a joy! But think how long we had waited — 56 years after the war. Four years of intense struggle had been crowned with success.
