GETTING HAMMERED: NAZI SOLDIERS HAVING THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES IN OCCUPIED NORWAY... AS THEY LAUNCHED THEIR REIGN OF TERROR

GETTING HAMMERED: NAZI SOLDIERS HAVING THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES IN OCCUPIED NORWAY... AS THEY LAUNCHED THEIR REIGN OF TERROR

Getting hammered: Nazi soldiers having the time of their lives in occupied Norway... as they launched their reign of terror

Chilling photos of German soldiers having a roaring time in Nazi-occupied Norway months before they murdered hundreds of local Jews have been discovered.

The pictures show members of Hitler’s Wehrmacht enjoying picnics in a sunny meadow and sipping tea and eating biscuits at a tranquil garden party. Other black and white images depict four uniformed troops indulging in drinking games in a bar, with one wielding a wooden mallet as if to strike his comrade with it as a joke.

More pictures from the album, that has come to light from a British collector, show soldiers posing with bemused Laplanders in northern Norway. While the pictures appear to depict the Germans as an agreeable occupying force and a ‘nice bunch of chaps’, they were taken four months before the Holocaust in Norway

From November 1942 the Nazis began rounding up the Jewish population, who were sent to death camps like Auschwitz where half of them were executed. Nazi leader, Reichskommissar Josef Terboven who ruled Norway during the occupation, is pictured in many of the photos. Terboven was despised by both the Norwegians and many of his own men and killed himself by detonating 110lbs dynamite in a bunker at the end of World War II. It is not known who compiled the album, that is entitled 'With the Reichskommissar North Norway and Finland 10-27 July, 1942', but it would have been for Nazi propaganda. Despite proclaiming its neutrality Norway was occupied by the Wehrmacht for five years during the war from April 9, 1940, until May 8, 1945 In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force but after two months of fighting the Allies were forced to leave and the Norwegian government sought exile in London. Civil rule was effectively assumed by the Reichskommissariat Norwegen (Reich Commissariat of Norway) About 80,000 Norwegian citizens fled the country during the course of the war.

The occupation of the country meant Hitler had ensured the protection of Germany's supply of iron ore from Sweden and had obtained naval and air bases with which to strike at Britain if necessary The album was acquired years ago by the late Mark Dineley, a well-known military and arms collector from Salisbury, and it is now being sold at auction by his family. Chris Albury, of Dominic Winter Auctioneers of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said: 'This is an important and virtually unique album. 'This album undermines the view that the Germans were a nasty bunch of violent and murderous people in the war. 'There is little evidence of violence in this album, which deceptively depicts them as a peaceful and benign occupying force. 'Some of the pictures almost show them as a nice bunch of chaps on their summer holidays. 'But it is quite a chilling juxtaposition because lurking over the horizon is the Holocaust in Norway.

There are some very nasty and influential people featured in this album and played a major part in shaping Norway’s history. 'A few months after these pictures were taken marshall law was imposed in Trondheim and surrounding areas, during which 34 Norwegians were murdered by extrajudicial execution. 'This served as a pre-text for the arrest and detention of all male Jewish inhabitants of the area as part of the Holocaust in Norway. 'With the announcement of Germany’s surrender at the end of the war, Josef Terboven committed suicide by detonating himself with dynamite.' In all there are 375 mounted gelatine silver print photos on 62 pages.

The largest image is 7ins by 7ins and the smallest is 3ins by 3 ins. As well as the photos showing the Germans relaxing, there are other pictures of Nazi officials meeting and greeting one another, a U-boat and a water bomb. Some of the high-ranking Nazis include Terboven, high ranking German army chief Alfred Jodl and regional Nazi leader Karl Kaufmann. Jodl was hanged following the Nuremberg war trials for signing the orders to allow the summary execution of prisoners. Kaufmann was the first Nazi leader to deport German Jews after the Allied bombing of Hamburg in 1941 left many local Germans homeless.

It is thought the album will sell for about £2,000 at the auction which takes place tomorrow.