prisoners had all been pardoned or deported and the Espeland Forced Labour Camp was closed. Camp facilities were then passed on to the Norwegian Civil Defence, which used it for training purposes during the Cold War until 1997. Espeland Prison Camp Foundation As an eventual consequence of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the camp was declared redundant in June 1997. By this time, due to its continuous usage, it was the most intact Nazi concentration camp in Norway. An attempt was initiated by a group of private investors and mayor of Arna, Erling Mjelde, to have the camp reserved for educational and archival purposes. This movement was backed by Minister of Culture, Anne Enger Lahnstein, and the Stiftelsen Espeland fangeleir (Espeland Prison Camp Foundation) was formed in 2000. On 30 January 2015, the camp was officially handed over to the foundation by the Norwegian state. In 2020, the foundation was merged with the Norwegian Gestapo Museum to become Stiftelsen Lenken: Gestapohuset og Espeland fangeleir (Lenken Foundation: Gestapo House and Espeland Prison). The process is ongoing. See also Nazi concentration camps in Norway Gerhard Flesch Alfred Zeidler References Nazi concentration camps in Norway