Grini prison camp (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Bærum, Norway, which operated between 1941 and May 1945. Ila Detention and Security Prison is now located here. History Grini was originally built as a women's prison, near an old croft named Ilen (also written Ihlen), on land bought from the Løvenskiold family by the Norwegian state. The construction of a women's prison started in 1938, but despite being more or less finished in 1940, it did not come into use for its original purpose: Nazi Germany's invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, during World War II, instead precipitated the use of the site for detention by the Nazi regime. At first, the Nazis used the prison to detain Norwegian officers captured during the Norwegian Campaign fighting. This use was discontinued in June 1940, when Norway capitulated. The prison was then used to house Wehrmacht soldiers until a concentration camp was established on 14 June 1941. The first detainees were sent from Ånebyleiren, the use of which was at the same time discontinued. Shortly afterwards, the ranks of prisoners were increased by Soviet troops captured during Operation Barbarossa. The camp was run by Schutzstaffel (SS) and Gestapo personnel, who renamed the camp Polizeihäftlingslager Grini. The name corresponds to a nearby farm and surrounding residential district located a short distance southeast of the camp, but historically the area at Ilen had no connection to Grini farm. At first inmates were detained on the premises of the original prison, but in 1942 an extra barracks had to be built to enlarge capacity. In August 1942, the Veidal Prison Camp was created as a subunit of the camp. Grini was used primarily for Norwegian political prisoners, but the detention of more regular criminals followed. Many were held at Grini before being shipped to camps in Germany; 3,402 people in total passed through the camp en route to camps in Germany itself. Similarly, many teachers who took part in the civil disobedience of 1942 were held at Grini for one day before being taken to Kirkenes via Jørstadmoen. A small number of foreign citizens were also held there. Altogether, 19,247 prisoners passed through Grini, and at most (in February 1945) there were 6,208. Among these were the survivors of Operation Checkmate, a 1943 British commando raid, including their leader, John Godwin, RN. They were subsequently sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp where they