Gerda Tanberg joined the Norwegian resistance against the German occupation in 1940. She lived in Ullern in the west of Oslo. At the request of her friend, the doctor Nic Waal, she took in thirteen Jewish children from a children’s home in November 1942.
The children home’s manager Nina Hasvoll was warned of impending arrests and removed the children from the building. Since their further escape to Sweden had not yet been arranged, Gerda Tanberg’s house offered a temporary hiding place.
The children had to be quiet because of the neighbors, and were not allowed to stand near the windows or leave the house. Most of them stayed with Gerda Tanberg for one or two weeks, while some found refuge with Nic Waal’s sister.
Gerda Tanberg was arrested after the children’s escape, in December 1942, but released in February 1943.