Evening star., 1948-09-12
By Not A. Borrows


short air hop from Murmansk, the
road of Western Democracy comes
to its end at the top of the world.
This is 1.-THE farthest north
frontier Of the nations outside the
Russian orbit.
The line dividing Norway and
Russia is merely the middle of
river or a cleared space cut through
the birch-and-evergreen woods.
But if this frontier line were as
solid as the granite peaks towering
above the Finnmarken fjords it
would not separate the two coun-
tries more effectively.
What is it like up here, nearly $50
miles above the Arctic Circle, at the
edge of Soviet Russia?
What is going on along this vi
tally strategic border? What are the
undertones?
Border Line DANGEROUS
1t is clear enough, first of all, that
the Russians just over there to the
east have been exceedingly busy
in the brief weeks of summer this
year.
Even the Kirkenes children play
ing in the wreckage left by Allied
bombs and German firebrands know
the high lights:
How Large numbers" of Russian
troops have been carrying out ex-
tensive maneuvers these past few
weeks.
How fighter planes and bombers
are frequently seen from the hills
as they return to nearby bases that
obviously are spread through the
Kola Peninsula, on the Russian side
toward Petsamo.
How the sound of four engine
planes Is wind-borne into Norway
from the Salmijarvi area, just over
the frontier.
How camoufaged Russian soldiers
crawl through the border under
brush in strange and nerve rack
ing game of cops and robbers"
had the story from many of the
most responsible, level-headed peo-
pie in Kirkenes and other parts of
this Varangerfjord district.
They keep strictly away from the
immediate frontier line. Too many
Norwegians have been involuntary
guests" of Soviet Russia for acci-
dentally stepping across the line
while bird-hunting or fishing in the
Pasvik River.
But from the hills and peaks that
make Finnmark one of the most
rugged areas in the world they
have seen Red Army troops in field
maneuvers and seen Red Army
planes "by the scores
Iron Curtain Drawn
Except for the 20 known Moscow
trained Communists among the $500
people of Kirkenes. there is not the
slightest contact between the natives
of the two countries.
/ Once, before Finland lost the
Petsamo corridor by the 1914 arm
istice terms, the NorWegians here
crossed the border and traded ex-
Ntensively i'll Salmijarvi, the Boris
Gleb district and Petsamo.
Today, the Firms who were there
in 1914 have disappeared. The
curtain of iron has been drawn.
A handful of Norwegians have
penetrated this curtain against their
will.
Here are some of the experiences
l nave heard in Kirkenes:
Three Norwegians were swimming
in the Pasvik River this summer
and crossed to little island in the
middle, part of which was in Rus
sian territory.
They cavorted about the island
gayly in an escapist reflex from the
frightful 4O-below cold and STIR
crazy darkness that imprisons Finn
mark in the winter. Unwittingly
they ventured few feet into the
Russian side of the island
Others in the party, on the MOI
wegian bank, saw what happened
then.
+ Soviet soldiers, wearing camou-
iage suits, rose up from the under
brush and Immediately laid down a
crossfire just behind the swimmers
to prevent their return to Norway,
only a few yards away.
/ Other Russian soldiers forded the
river, took them captive and led
them away.
Business Men Abducted
After being blindfolded they were
taken somewhere on the kola
peninsula and kept for five days
as a lesson. they were told, not to
violate Russian territory.
A motorboat owned by a business
firm in Kirkenes was making a
coastal survey at the frontier, just
west of the 31st longitude.
The crew ventured acrsss into
Russian waters and was promptly
seized by a Russian gunboat.
! All were forced aboard the gun
boat, blindfolded and taken along
the coast to Murmansk, the motor
boat in tow.
In due time, the worried owners
asked the No. l Communist in
Kirkenes, Gottfried Hoelvold, if he
could find out what had happened
to the boat. Hoelvold. by devices
best known to himself, had the
answer in two hours.
The men and the boat were safe
in Murmansk. he said. and would
be returned in a few weeks. They
were.
| I went out one morning to the
end Of the road from the free
4 II lii y