Osvald Harjo was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and a prisoner in Soviet Gulag

Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

 camps for more than a decade.

After being arrested and tortured by the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 in 1942, he managed to escape from custody and fled into the Soviet Union. Here, he was accused for being a German spy, and convicted to 15 years forced labour. He was released in 1955, after pressure from the Norwegian Prime Minister

Einar Gerhardsen

was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was Prime Minister for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism...

during a visit in Moscow.

Harjo published the memoir book (Moscow knows no tears) in 1956.