Daniel Valstad of Laxelve bought a home in Helsheimen in 2012. Since then, he’s still clearing woods and trees on the site.
All this while, a little mess on the lawn bothered him.
– She was in the corner of the house, and I don’t want to ruin the lawn. But now is the time, the 42-year-old tells TV 2.
On September 25, Valstad grabbed the tractor and began pulling the rootstock. Then a small gap appeared.
– I managed to push a ladder down into the hole, and I crawled down with a flashlight, he says, and adds:
– That was when we realized we had to unlock everything.
The case was first mentioned in iFinnmark.
Photo: private
Everyone was curious
Underground Valstad discovered a larger room. Above were three concrete blocks. Fourth gone.
– And then the hole I can crawl into, he says, and he goes on to say that his son ran to pick up the neighbor.
– Everyone was curious. My four-year-old wanted to go down to the hole right away, but I didn’t let him get close.
Valstad began removing the peat that had covered the concrete roof with tractors. Then he got help from someone in the vicinity who has an excavator.
I haven’t had a chance to lift concrete alone, he explains.
Daniel Valstad received help from a neighbor using an excavator. Photo: private
Daniel Valstad received help from a neighbor using an excavator. Photo: private
Hidden room hidden under the garden. Photo: private
Many believe the room dates back to World War II. Photo: private
Revealer Robert Severin Pedersen believed that the room was some kind of sewage system. Photo: private
Daniel Valstad covered the hole again with the original concrete blocks. Photo: private
This is what the room looks like from the inside with concrete blocks as the ceiling. Photo: private
I think the room had a function during the war
The pit turned into a vault-like room, but what it was actually was is currently unknown.
– What do you think you found?
– It’s uncertain. We thought it might have been an old sewage system. That was the first thought. But then I spoke to my neighbor who has been living here since before the war.
The neighbor thought the room might have served as a kind of airspace for other hideouts in the area.
– A number of caches were found not too far here. There was a lot of German activity here in the war days. At the top of the hill, the Germans had an armory and a car repair shop. They made roads that went from there to the bunkers, the 42-year-old explains.
What happens next with Valstad’s results is uncertain, but for now the hole is covered again.
– I put the three concrete elements back in and got a fourth element so that the whole is covered. Then I put sand and mold.
I think it’s an exchange system
Detective and history enthusiast Robert Severin Pedersen tells TV 2 that the hidden room looks like some kind of sewage system.
– There were many workshop buildings in that area during the war, so most likely there is something to do with it. It looks like some kind of sewage system, Pedersen explains, but I wouldn’t say anything for sure.
He himself did not have time to see the results of Valstad in real life, but looked at the photos.
The Germans were eager to build. They did it right in terms of banks and things like that, because they have plans to stay here for a while.
– Have you seen any similar results?
Nothing like what Valstad found, but there are many bunkers around the area. There were large German installations there. A little west of the Valstad house is much of the foundation wall remaining from the welfare facility.
Valstad himself hopes and believes that more exciting discoveries will emerge in his private garden.
“I work there every day clearing trees and shrubs, so I will keep an eye on them while digging,” Valstad concludes.
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