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Operation Claw

1945 in Norway1945 in SwedenAftermath of World War IIOffice of Strategic ServicesSwedish intelligence operations
United States intelligence operations
Norwegian and English military personell at Lillehammer June 26, 1945
Norwegian and English military personell at Lillehammer June 26, 1945

Operation Claw (Norwegian: Lillehammer-kuppet) was a joint Swedish–American operation, with Norwegian support, that was carried out at Lillehammer shortly after the German capitulation by the end of World War II. Thirty-five German intelligence specialists were transferred along with various equipment first to Sweden and then to U.S. camps in occupied Germany through an agreement between the Americans and the German High Command of the Wehrmacht in Norway. The intelligence material from Operation Claw, among it a Soviet codebook, became very useful for the Americans during the Cold War. Operation Claw was controversial both when it happened and afterwards. In 1945, it was controversial that the Americans operated in what was seen as a British controlled country, and that they secured information about its ally the Soviet Union, in cooperation with neutral Sweden. In later years, a hypothesis that the Norwegian resistance fighter Kai Holst's sudden death in June 1945 was related to his involvement in the Operation Claw has been put forward by among others the historian Tore Pryser.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Operation Claw (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Operation Claw
Turisthotellvegen, Lillehammer

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N 61.117222222222 ° E 10.477222222222 °
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Scandic Lillehammer Hotel

Turisthotellvegen
2609 Lillehammer
Norway
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call+4761286000

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lillehammerhotel.no

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Norwegian and English military personell at Lillehammer June 26, 1945
Norwegian and English military personell at Lillehammer June 26, 1945
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Nearby Places

Stampesletta
Stampesletta

Stampesletta is a multi-use stadium complex in Lillehammer, Norway. Owned and operated by Lillehammer Municipality, it consists of a track and field venue, an artificial turf football field, three natural grass football fields, a gravel field and natural grass training pitches. In addition, it features a club house, locker facilities and a grandstand between the athletics and artificial turf fields. The venue is located about 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) from the town center, and serves as the home ground for the Second Division side Lillehammer FK, Lillehammer KFK, Roterud IL in football, and Lillehammer IF in athletics. Construction of Stampesletta started in 1946 and the grass football field opened in 1949. A now removed equestrian exhibition area opened in 1958, and in 1973 the track and field venue opened. The latter received a hard surface in 1982. During the 1994 Winter Olympics, Stampesletta itself was used for medal ceremonies, attracting crowds of up to 30,000 people. The area around Stampesletta was sometimes referred to as the Olympic Park, as it also has in its immediate vicinity the ice hockey venues Håkons Hall and Eidsiva Arena, the ski jumping hill Lysgårdsbakken, and Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena. The two halls are often regarded as part of Stampesletta. The arena is used as the goal are for Birkebeinerrittet and Birkebeinerløpet, and from 1932 to 1992 for Birkebeinerrennet. Stampesletta hosted the Norwegian Athletics Championships in 1977, 1995 and 2009, and annually hosts Norway's second-largest track and field tournament, Veidekkelekene. Stampesletta is scheduled to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

Lillehammer Olympiapark

Lillehammer Olympiapark AS, trading as Olympiaparken, is a company established following the 1994 Winter Olympics to operate the Olympic venues in Lillehammer, Norway. Owned by Lillehammer Municipality, it operates five sports venues: Birkebeineren Ski Stadium, Håkons Hall, Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track, Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena and the ski jumping hill of Lysgårdsbakken. In addition to serving sports events, the company provides tourist and group activities at the venues as well as catering to larger events. In the Lillehammer bid for the 1994 Winter Olympics, the agreement between Lillehammer Municipality and the state specified that the municipality was responsible for financing all necessary sports venues. However, after the games were awarded the responsibility was taken over by Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee (LOOC) and the town's five venues were ultimately funded through state grants. To allow for post-Olympic use, a fund was created by the state, of which Lillehammer Olympiapark received 146 million Norwegian krone (NOK). Unlike the Hamar venues, which survive on their fund's yield, the Lillehammer venues have used up their capital. From 2014 the post-Olympic use fund will be depleted and alternative organization and funding is being looked into. A leading proposal is that the bobsleigh and luge track be taken over by the state, while the remaining venues be retained by the company and jointly funded by the municipality and Oppland County Municipality.