No fear

During the German occupation of tiny Norway in the II World War, Scandinavia’s greatest classical actor was appearing in an important play in Oslo’s biggest theatre. One snowy evening the front eight rows of the auditorium were filled with German officers in full uniform, among them plenty of SS. Everyone applauded when Norway’s greatest actor made his first appearance in the play, alone on stage. He advanced towards the proscenium arch, his right hand held high and straight, in the traditional Nazi salute. Everyone in the front eight rows of the stalls immediately stood up and shouted ‘Heil Hitler’. Norway’s greatest actor waited for silence, with his right hand still elevated upwards. Then he said, ‘Do you know, when I woke up this morning, the snow was up to HERE!”