Yesterday was spent waiting and waiting and finally flying to Tromsø. Arrived late so no blog post.

Today, however, is a different story. I took a city bus up to the University of Tromsø where the State Archives are located. I met Trond, the archivist, who I have corresponded with several times as this project has gotten off the ground. There were several things I was hoping to discover;

Police records from 1941 - which might indicate Thor's cause of death:
- These records are MISSING
Church records from Hammerfest - which also might reveal how he died:
- These records are also MISSING
Norges Bank records from Hammerfest during 1941:

The archivist found the bank records and apparently I am the first person to open them. It was like getting a special present. I found all the bank account records of Thor during his time in Hammerfest. This unfortunately also shows his final balance of 0 (most likely after the funds were transferred to his mother, Hilda). What these records also show is that he made a very good salary, almost double of the national average (according to Trond, the archivist, the average annual salary was 3,500 NOK). So one reason he might have taken the bank manager position in Hammerfest was because of the high salary. He had been living with his mother in Oslo, and if you recall from a previous blog post, she earned money by taking in boarders and making men's ties - so extra money from Thor was most likely necessary.

Note: The ledger shows his ending balance but the rest of the ledgers, which I haven't posted but did photograph, show his salary and it being deposited twice per month.