From 1940 to 1945, Norway was occupied by the Germans. Many of the German NCOs and officers who were sent there were no strangers. During World War I, many Germans sent their children to the safety of Scandinavia when the homeland was threatened. These individuals had gotten to know the Nordic people well ,and many even learned the language. (It is easy for Germans to learn Norwegian, and vice versa.)
By comparison, The German occupation was more benign than in other countries. The average German soldier had a much more affable attitude toward tee Norse people than he would have had to Poles, Russians or Ukrainians. Nonetheless, it was an armed occupation. People could get arrested and face severe punishment - even death - for offending the occupiers or their puppet Quisling government.
Patrols were occasionally sent into the countryside to look for contraband, such as radios. One such patrol came to a rural farmhouse. The family was preparing dinner. The son was sent to the shed to get some lefse. The German sergeant good-naturedly sent one of his men to help the son.
After the boy returned with the Lefse, the Germans left. They overheard the German sergeant lament, “Ach, these poor people. They are reduced to eating paper.”
If you never saw Lefse before, you might make that mistake.
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