Falstad concentration camp Falstad concentration camp was situated in the village of Ekne in what was the municipality of Skogn ( now in the municipality of Levanger ) in Nord - Trøndelag county , Norway . It was used mostly for political prisoners from Nazi - occupied territories . Falstad boarding school . The boarding school for boys at Falstad was founded as part of the general movement in Europe generally and Norway in particular , to reform the penal system , especially for children . Prison director Anders Daae took the initiative in founding a private institution in Trøndelag , to be modeled after similar schools in Europe . He raised funds primarily through the " Trondhjems Brændevinssamlag " ( Trondheim liquor cooperative ) and " Trondhjems Sparebank " ( Trondheim Savings Bank ) and acquired the farm known as Nedre Falstad for in 1895 , along with the farm buildings . It was explicitly originated to serve the needs of the " misguided " ( ) rather than criminal youth through education , labor , and a " Christian spirit . " The main building burned down the same year the institution was established . New buildings were constructed , and in 1910 , the Norwegian government took over the operations of the school . In 1921 , there was another fire , and the new brick structures that followed were based on 19th century prison designs , with a courtyard in the middle of a rectangular building . Use as a prison camp . Nazi German authorities first visited Falstad in August 1941 with the hope of making it a center for the Lebensborn program in Norway , but found it unsuitable for this task . However , they quickly decided to put it to use as a prison camp in September 1941 . The inhabitants of Ekne were put under severe restrictions , and the first prisoners — about 170 Danes who had volunteered and then reneged on being a part of the Todt Organisation . The Danish inmates spent three months in the camp , using the time to start construction of the barbed wire fence and watch towers . Within the command structure of the German occupying authorities in Norway , Falstad came under the civilian authority of " Reichskommissar " Josef Terboven through Wilhelm Rediess , who was in charge of all German police , including the " SS " and " Gestapo " , and Heinrich Fehlis , who was " " Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des Sicherheitsdienst " , " conveniently abbreviated to " BdS " . For reasons that remain unclear , Falstad was part of the Fifth Section , known as the " " Kriminalpolizei " , " or criminal police . For all practical purposes , however , Falstad became the personal prison of Gerhard Flesch , who was the leader of the regional " Einsatzkommando " V , with the title " KdS " Drontheim . The camp inmate population grew steadily , new buildings were erected . Prison barracks were built southeast of the main building , utility buildings were constructed around the center , and the commander ' s quarters were erected nearby on the other side of the river . In all , the grounds were monitored from three watchtowers . The camp authorities burned what documents they could before the liberation of 1945 , but it is estimated that at least 4 , 500 prisoners passed through Falstad . Citizens of at least 13 countries were among these inmates . Although the camp was intended for political prisoners , several thousand prisoners of war ( POWs ) were kept there . Most of them were sent to other camps in Germany or Poland , or to Grini concentration camp , in Norway . The camp also became notorious for its use as a transit camp for the deportation of Norwegian Jews to Auschwitz . Forty - seven Jewish men were imprisoned at Falstad at one point or another . One , Ephraim Wolff Koritzinsky , died of cancer at Levanger Hospital on 15 May 1942 . At least eight were murdered at Falstad . The main characteristic of the camp was forced , hard , and largely meaningless labor . Degradations and abuse were commonplace , particularly under the administration of " SS - Hauptscharführer " Gogol and Edward F . Lambrecht , a prison guard known among the prisoners as " Gråbein " ( Grayleg ) — an appellation used in reference to wolves . Executions in Falstadskogen . The camp commanders used the nearby forest ( Falstadskogen ) as a site for extrajudicial executions of POWs , and following show trials of political and Jewish prisoners . The first executions took place on 7 March 1942 , when Olav Sverre Benjaminsen , Abel Lazar Bernstein , David Isaksen , Wulf Isaksen , and David Wolfsohn were shot . All of these , except Benjaminsen , were Jewish . In June 1942 , Ljuban Vukovic , a Yugoslavian POW , was made the first grave digger in the forest . He survived and became an important witness in the post - war trials . On 6 October 1942 , the Nazi authorities imposed martial law on sections of central Norway , and at least 170 non - Norwegian prisoners and 34 Norwegian political prisoners were put to death in the forest ( Falstadskogen ) just south of Falstad . On 13 November 1942 , Moritz Abrahamsen , Kalman Glick , and Herman Schidorsky , all Jewish , were put to death . On 16 February 1943 , Toralf Berg — a resistance fighter — was also executed . During the summer of 1943 , a change in the command of the camp led to improved conditions for the remaining prisoners . Throughout all this , more than 150 unnamed POWs were shot in the forest . During 4 – 5 May 1945 , the camp authorities sought to exhume and hide the bodies of their victims , sinking about 25 in the fjord near the camp . Efforts to find , exhume , identify and bury the victims are ongoing . The original estimate of 202 dead is considered low . Much research remains to be done to uncover the specifics and nature of Nazi atrocities committed at Falstad . After the war . After the war the camp was used for prisoners close to the defeated Nazi rule , under the name " Innherrad forced labour camp " .