From the start of 1942, Martha Skogstad and her husband Iver were part of a group of escape helpers for Jewish and non-Jewish people who had to flee Norway. The escape route from Oslo to the Swedish border ran via the Skogstad family’s farm. The refugees generally spent the night there before the last stage of their journey.
The three children Lillian, Ingrid, and Nils Skogstad were involved as well, and had to give up their beds for refugees. 16-year-old Lillian performed courier duties and took illegal post to Oslo. She also led refugees on foot to Sweden, since she was very familiar with the forest.
Martha Skogstad, who took care of the farm and the animals, provided food for the refugees – not an easy task, since the house had no electricity. Everything had to appear “perfectly normal” to outsiders, because supporters of the German-friendly Nasjonal Samling party (NS) lived nearby.
The Skogstads continued helping refugees until Iver Skogstad’s arrest in October 1944.
Martha Skogstad was honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli Holocaust memorial center Yad Vashem in 2009.