page_title: Saltdal
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Saltdal / History
caption_attribution_description: A war memorial over the lost war prisoners who were used as slave labour to build the Blood road. Mostly Soviet and Yugoslaw prisoners. Located at the Arctic Circle where E6 is passing by. Text on the memorial: This road was built by Yugoslav prisoners of war during the Nazi-regime 42-45, many lost their lives in the process...
context_page_description: Saltdal is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rognan. Other villages in Saltdal include Røkland and Lønsdal.
  The 2,216-square-kilometre municipality is the 26th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Saltdal is the 185th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,671. The municipality's population density is 2.2 inhabitants per square kilometre and its population has decreased by 0.4% over the previous 10-year period.
context_section_description: During World War II, the Germans decided to lengthen the Nordland Line from Lønsdal in Saltfjellet going northwards. Over a period of three years, the original plan was to first have both the road and the railroad all the way to Narvik and then on to Kirkenes, but they only managed to build the railroad to Bodø.
  The Germans continued to lengthen the road to Kirkenes, and it came to be known as Blodvegen ("the Blood Road") by locals. This project involved prisoners of war, mostly from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, in building this road under extremely harsh conditions. The workers lived in prison camps where they did not receive enough food for their hard work building the road. This caused many of the workers to collapse and die. A famous sign of this road is the blood cross one of the prisoners drew on the mountainside with his recently killed friend's blood. It has become a tradition to repaint this cross with red paint, so people who pass this will never forget what happened. It's still possible to walk this road, which stretches from Saltnes to Soksenvika. At Saltnes, you will find the Blood Road museum.
  Saltdal was known for having some of the most horrifying prisoner-of-war camps in Norway during World War II. A grand total of 15-18 camps with 9,500 Russian, Polish, and Yugoslavian prisoners were located in the valley.
caption: Memorial for the Blood Road
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