Dear you,

Let me speak to you and tell a true story.

When the Germans attacked Norway one of my uncles was among the first ones to lose his life, when he and another Saami man, his fellow soldier, went into a mine field. They died in a place called Alta, in the north of Norway.

After the war I had the opportunity to speak with one of the soldiers who participated in the fights against the Germans in the area of Narvik, where the Germans lost for the first time during world war II. The majority of the soldiers of the Norwegian army were Saamis, such who were wont to the harsh areas of Arctic, and using Saami clothes that can keep people warm even in extreme cold weather.

He told me, that afer a fight with the Germans in a place called Gratangen, there was a pause in the fighting, and during that pause they changed positions, went to new positions in order to avoid the enemy. While doing that he came silently upon a young German soldier, who could be no older than 17 years old. He was sitting on a tussock eating some food. When this Norwegian (or Saami) soldier noticed him he said to himself, shall I shoot this enemy or just leave him alone. What he did, as he told me, was that he shoot that German soldier, who was very young, and who died there at his place of rest and eating.

What my informant next said to me was this, and believe it, he said, I will never forgive myself that I shot that youngster, even if he was part of the army that attacked our country, for afterwards I kept thinking about his parents, his relatives, and himself, a young person with hopes about life and his own participation in life.

I answered, but he was your enemy! Yes, according to the rule of warfare, he said, but I felt I did not give him the chance to survive and learn from our stupidity about war.

These words remain in my memory, and I say, if you kill your enemy you will possibly kill a possible brother, sister or friend.

Therefore, the Saami philosphy of respect for your fellow human's life, as I have learnt it, is something that cannot be replaced by a better philosophy! That is one reason why I am proud to be a Saami!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah