I had hardly heard of the ship M/S “Rigel” and the catastrophic sinking on 27 November 1944 before I read Roy Jacobsen’s second novel about Ingrid Barrøy, “Hvitt hav”. It tells the story of the Russian prisoner of war who makes it ashore on Barrøy after the serious shipwreck, and becomes the father of Ingrid’s youngest child. Illustration: Ida Larmo / Strand Forlag This is also the case with cartoonist Ida Larmo, we are to believe the opening of “Rigel – the echo of injustice”. Larmo goes to the library, just borrows Jacobsen’s novel, and allows himself to be shocked: Solid book This is the starting point for a rather solid publication, which the publisher presents as a non-fiction comic book. Simply put, a cartoon from reality – a genre that has been growing in this country for quite some time. Ida Larmo is already known from, among others, “Bow & Arrow”, about a young woman who travels to London to study, while her life situation is basically untidy, so that’s fine. The “Rigel” disaster Photo: Imperial War museum M/S “Rigel” was a German prisoner of war ship which on 27 November 1944 was shot down by British aircraft off the island of Tjøtta in Alstahaug municipality, Nordland. The ship belonged to Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskap, but was requisitioned by the Germans and on its way from Alta to Trondheim with 2,351 Soviet Russian and Yugoslav prisoners of war on board. The bombing of “Rigel” is one of history’s biggest ship disasters with 2,571 deaths. Of these, most were Soviet Russians, but also Yugoslavs, German deserters and a few Norwegians were on board. This was the biggest single tragedy in Norway during the Second World War. (Source: Store norske lexikon) Julian and Asbjørn As a way into the “Rigel” disaster, Ida Larmo has selected two survivors. Two people it has been possible to find traces and stories about: the Soviet prisoner of war Julian Dresjkin and the Norwegian detainee Asbjørn Schultz, the only Norwegian who survived. ONLY NORDIMAN WHO SURVIVED: Asbjørn Schultz from Hadsel in Vesterålen was on board “Rigel” with over 2,000 prisoners of war when the ship was bombed by the British. See the full interview that news did with him before he died in 2004. Both were born in 1921 and were 23 years old when the bombs sank the ship they were forced on board. She tells alternately, with the main emphasis on Julian, about the slavery-like forced labor with Hitler’s orderlies railway to the Arctic Ocean. About the suffering, and all those who died of violence, hunger and exhaustion long before the journey with M/S “Rigel”. Illustration: Ida Larmo / Strand forlag What is best forgotten For a long time this story was largely unknown, perhaps best forgotten. Roy Jacobsen has written and spoken about the desire to forget the most embarrassing and shameful things when the war was over – including in the third novel about Ingrid Barrøy, “Rigel’s eyes”. This is a strange form of oblivion when we know that the bow of “Rigel” stuck up above the sea surface, easily visible for a couple of decades after the war. Only in 1969 were the remains of 1,011 people taken out of the wreck and buried on land and the visible part of the hull chopped up. Illustration: Ida Larmo / Strand Forlag From gray to black It is undoubtedly Ida Larmo’s drawings and illustrations that primarily elevate and carry this production to something important, something that will and should remain. Long. The grim reality of the “Rigel” victims is drawn in a gray scale that constantly gravitates towards black, with occasional detours to yellow, brown, midnight blue and red (as when the blood demands it). The line is usually thick, seemingly rough, almost minimal. The facial expressions of certain faces can sometimes seem unchanging, regardless of cruelty or death throes. On inspection, the reader is nonetheless struck by a kind of charged emptiness in the eyes, which speaks as strongly as a grimace. Illustration: Ida Larmo / Strand Forlag Approaching the subjective The incident was horrible and it is horribly reproduced, as it must be. Photographic reproduction of a couple of historical documents included in the illustrations is elegantly executed and reinforces the historical presence. This applies, for example, to the order given by the RAF Coastal Command regarding attacks on ships over 1,500 tonnes north of Stavanger. The drama on land among permanent residents who suffered a disaster, corpses and battered survivors in their laps, contributes to the necessary closeness. At the same time, the portrayal of the British airmen as crashing, murderous ravens is both interesting and dramaturgically and artistically strong – but perhaps it helps to weaken the impression of a historical non-fiction comic? Photo: Ida Larmo / Strand Forlag Should there have been a syllabus? If there are weaker parts in this otherwise very successful serial publication, they are literary and linguistic. In some speech and thought bubbles, the impression of retort gives way to the desire to enter a lot of content. In this way, the text can be a bit stilted, constructed, and not oral. I emphasize, however, that this happens in some cases, and that the examples of well-formulated replies are significantly more than the less successful ones. Roy Jacobsen’s foreword to the book ends like this: “‘Rigel – The Echo of Injustice’ should be compulsory reading for children and adults of all ages”. I probably agree, a long way to go. news reviews Photo: Strand forlag Title: “Rigel – the echo of injustice” Author: Ida Larmo Genre: Comics Publisher: Strand Number of pages: 222 Date: September 2022
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“Rigel – the echo of injustice” by Ida Larmo – Reviews and recommendations
