The paperclip of freedom

Binding together with war-time symbol of defiance and unity

- HARRY HOPKINS

A FRIEND turned up at a recent Stand in the Park meeting with a three-inch paperclip attached to his shirt pocket. Being the curious type and not usually missing a trick, I asked him why he was wearing it.

He told me that during World War II, Norwegians who were passively resisting the German occupation took to wearing a paperclip as a token of their resistance. I had heard of the White Rose movement in Nazi Germany, which produced underground pamphlets and literature at great risk to those involved, with some members sacrificing their lives in the process. White Rose is active again today (and in the UK too), but the paperclip movement was a new one to me.

My friend had brought with him a supply of clips that he generously gave out to the assembled 'standers'. In return, I gave him a Stand In The Park badge that says: 'We stand for freedom'.

Norway was seen by Hitler as an important strategic country because of its coastline. He knew that to break the Allied blockade of Germany, he needed a relatively safe route for transport of supplies to maintain his war effort. Norway had declared its neutrality, but this was not going to stop him from getting what he wanted, so in April 1940, Germany invaded and occupied the country.

It didn't take long for the Germans to become established, and they set about trying to Nazify the country. The King and Crown Prince of Norway had decamped to England, and the Crown Princess had sought sanctuary in America, where she became a guest of F. D. Roosevelt in the White House.