Dimitri — an eastern worker from Ukraine
Dimitri was a young man who in 1942 was sent to Bodø as an Eastern worker. Eastern workers were men and women from Eastern Europe who signed up for labor service for the Germans in occupied countries. This happened under so-called voluntary coercion: they could say yes, but in practice the alternative was worse.
We don't know Dimitri's full name. We only know that he came from Ukraine.
Together with other eastern workers, he was sent from Ukraine to Germany, and from there by boat to Bodø Here he worked at a German fillet factory at Langstranda. The workers were also used for assignments elsewhere in the district, and Dimitri participated in the construction of the German hospital at Klungset in Fauske The Eastern workers then lived in the old prayer house at Klungset.
Dimitri made several color drawings. In them he depicts the journey, his stay at Langstranda and the meeting with the German military. The drawings provide strong images of what it was like to live as an Eastern worker under German rule. His comments are written in reverse in Russian. We have no explanation why.
When he was at Klungset, Dimitri visited the Lundli family. He was then in his mid-twenties and learned Norwegian quickly. In 1943, he handed over the drawings to Johan Lundli for temporary storage.
It is assumed that Dimitri tried to flee to Sweden with a friend, but that he died in the border mountains.
The drawings were displayed at the Arsenalet in 1995, during the commemoration of 50 years since the liberation. In the same year, Johan Lundli gave them to Fauske Museum (which is now part of Nordlandsmuseet ).
