Editing Saltdal Municipality (section)

==History==
[[File:Blodveien.jpg|thumb|left|Memorial for the [[Blood Road]]]]
During [[World War II]], the Germans decided to lengthen the [[Nordland Line]] from [[Lønsdal]] in [[Saltfjellet]] going northwards. Over a period of three years, the original plan was to first have both the road and the railroad all the way to [[Narvik (town)|Narvik]] and then on to [[Kirkenes]], but they only managed to build the railroad to [[Bodø (town)|Bodø]].

The Germans continued to lengthen the road to Kirkenes, and it came to be known as ''Blodvegen'' ("the [[Blood Road]]") by locals. This project involved [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]], mostly from [[Yugoslavia]] and the [[Soviet Union]], in building this road under extremely harsh conditions. The workers lived in prison camps where they did not receive enough food for their hard work building the road. This caused many of the workers to collapse and die. A famous sign of this road is the blood cross one of the prisoners drew on the mountainside with his recently killed friend's blood. It has become a tradition to repaint this cross with red paint, so people who pass this will never forget what happened. It's still possible to walk this road, which stretches from Saltnes to [[Soksenvika]]. At Saltnes, you will find the Blood Road museum.

Saltdal was known for having some of the most horrifying [[prisoner-of-war camp]]s in Norway during World War II. A grand total of 15-18 camps with 9,500 [[Russia]]n, [[Poland|Polish]], and [[Yugoslavia]]n prisoners were located in the valley.