Trondheim offentlige skole for døve under okkupasjonen - Utfordringer, tilpasninger og løsninger

Abstract

Trondheim offentlig skole for døve ble i 1825 Norges første døveskole. I 1940 var den en av to offentlig skoler for døve og var inntaksskolen for Nord-, Vest- og Midt-Norge. Da krigen kom til Norge den 9. april 1940 ble døveskolen evakuert til Horg og dette innledet fem lang år med vanskeligheter for skolen. Denne oppgaven belyser hvordan skolen ble påvirket av okkupasjonen og ser på de ulike utfordringene skolen møtte i løpe av krigen. Hvilket arbeid lå til grunn for at skolen drev tilnærmet normalt fra okkupasjonen 1940 og til krigens slutt i 1945? Denne oppgaven bygger på kildematerialet fra Trondheim offentlige skole for døves brevarkiv som i dag er forvart i Statsarkivet i Trondheim. Skoles største utfordringer var å skaffe nok mat til alle elvene, materialer til undervisningen i arbeidsskolen og store vanskeligheter med å få sendt barna hjem om sommeren i flere år. Samtidig var deler av skolen lokaler rekvirert under hele okkupasjonen så plassmangel var en utfordring. Hovedsakelig takket vært styrerne og foreldrene til barna fikk skolen drive tilnærmet normalt helt til krigens slutt.

In 1825 Trondheim public school for deaf children became the first school for deaf children in Norway. In 1940 it was one of two government schools for deaf children in Norway and was responsible for the education of children from the northern, western and middle parts of Norway. When Norway was invaded by Germany on the 9th of April 1940, the school and its children were evacuated to Horg, and five years of turbulence was initiated. This thesis explores how the school was affected by the occupation, and it examines what kind of challenges the school had to deal with during the war. How was the school able to operate more or less normally from beginning of occupation in 1940 and up to the end of war in 1945? This thesis builds on source material from the Trondheim public school for dead children’s archives, which today are deposited in the Statsarkiv in Trondheim. The school’s biggest challenge was to acquire sufficient amounts of food and educational material, and to aid children in their travels to and from school for holidays. At the same time, the school was also seized on three separate occasions during the occupation, so a lack of sufficient space was always a challenge. The school managed to overcome these challenges, in no small part thanks to skilful administration, and the school was able to operate close to normally in the period.