The doctor Kari Øpstad lived in Fusa in German-occupied Norway. There were no German troops stationed in this remote region, and only few Norwegian Nazis. Despite fuel shortages, Øpstad paid many house calls on patients and worked untiringly. Single and childless, she was a devout Protestant who campaigned for health education. In 1943 she took in thirteen-year-old Edgar Brichta from Slovakia.
Two of her adult nephews lived in her household. They owned radios, which were banned, and they hid or helped resistance fighters on the run. Their house was searched several times, meaning Edgar had to disappear quickly. Edgar’s young friends in Fusa knew he was a refugee. Many of them also knew he was Jewish. However, none of them betrayed him.
After completing his basic education, Edgar Brichta left Dr. Øpstad during 1944, to attend high school in Fana.