• experienced the explosion 20th. of April, but not experienced death or bad injuries by themselves or in their family.
• been evacuated, but to different locations and conditions.
• experienced the day of peace and coming home from different locations.

To prepare myself for the interview,  I wrote mine memories from the first thing I remember until I started at school. By doing that, I think I got to know more about the amount of memories I could expect them to have, and get a clue on how to put my questions. 

I read about Bergen during the war, especially on the Nordnes part, and I walked around the streets and smau of Nordnes to get to know the names and the places. That turned out to be most useful during the interview sessions. 

Evaluation of the sources 
When writing my own memories, I experienced that when I began to collect  memories for the second time, I once in a while call in question whether it was really mine experience, or something I was told by my parents, or had seen on a photo. 

Another problem, is pin pointing  the event to the right  year, or season. 

In the interview with Rannveig, a doubt sprang up in her mind. She had seen lorries with injured people on the stovage plan, but was it the 20th. of April? The lorries drew Haugevein to first aid station at Kalmarhuset or to the hospitals, which were all in the south of the city. Together with her mother and sister, they walked to Torget, and if they had gone the usual way, they wouldn't have seen the lorries. 
The reason why all the lorries had to drive Haugeveien, was the chaos the explosion had made of the streets nearby Vågen.  I  put a remarked on that:   

Jeg:  -Nå var det jo veldig mye kaos der ned.  Rannveig:  -Altså det husker jeg jo fakta ikke akkurat ruten. Altså,  hvis vi gikk ned Store Markevei, så er det jo stor mulighet at det var akkurat da vi så disse lastebilene med folk som kom. Men ellers så skulle ikke vi ha sett de hvis vi gikk ned den veien som var vanlig.

I:  -It was a chaos down there.  Rannveig:  -Well, I actually don't remember the route.  If we went down Store Markevei, then it's a huge possibility that we saw the lorries bringing (wounded) people. But otherwise we wouldn't have seen them if we went the ordinary route.

She's getting more and more convinced that they couldn't have gone the ordinary route. When I added  that the warehouse Blaaws   was burning, she was completely convinced. (Unfortunately, my memory was wrong, I mixed two warehouses. But it was a mess all right with all windows broken. ) 

Five and six years old - any differences?  
Laila was five years one month before the 20th. of April '44, Rannveig  6 days later: Bjørg Elisabeth was six years old three months after the explosion and Lillian was six in August  The Swedish author Anna Wahlgren in her book of Childhood gives a characteristic of the five- and the six year old children as very different.
She describes the five year old girl (or boy) as a harmonic, self-confident, and in her own eyes: A perfect human being. Ask a five year old to do something he can't handle, and he refuse by giving a lot of good explanations of why he isn't supposed to do that. There is just one problem. Since she's so perfect, she will not show when there is something she don't understand. 

The six year old girls is not confident, says Wahlgren. The six year old is frustrated, she think that nobody like her, that she have to prove that she is worthy, and and she want to behave like a grown up.  The six year old girl feels she loose her parents, and have to establish a new relationship to them, or better, to another grown up person. . 

I think her theories is most valuable in establish an understanding of childhood memories. Mainly because children often remember things they didn't understand why they did. It can also explain why Bjørg Elisabeth remember, while in air-raid shelter autumn '44, wanted to be with Sigrid at Geilo instead of her mother.  I guess she had not been longing for Sigrid if she had been a year younger. She was evacuated to Geilo shortly after the explosion, and was very happy to be together - alone - with Sigrid and her husband. It must have been a dream for a six year old who wants to establish relationship with other grown up than her parents. Maybe that's why she think Sigrid look like an angel. 

 Lillian, almost six, was on her own  the 29.th of October. She could feel somehow free from her parents, and responsible for her little sister when her mother was at the hospital. She refused to undress, and tells about Einar resting at the kitchen table. It isn't hard to understand that he probably had tried to get her in  bed as she was supposed to. A baby sitter who falls asleep, represent a demand for every six year old child to take the responsibility for herself and her smaller sister.
There was a war, there was air-raid, but there was also a sister without her cap:   
 

Og når vi kommer opp og skal krysse eller       over gaten, så ser eg på min søster og så   har ikkje hun huen på seg. Og det der må    ha vært en sånn merkelig opplevelse.    Korfor eg var så opptatt av den huen. Ja,   ihvertfall så endte det med at eg løpte    tebake igjen til det huset som var begynt å    ramle sammen innvending,  for å hente den   huen. Og eg vet at onkel Einar stoppet og     ropte, og han hørtes sint og rasende. Men   huen skulle eg ha med meg. Og dette var    blå lue med broderier på, rosebroderier, og   flatt bak i bakhodet. Men eg hentet huen,    og skyndtet meg selvfølgelig tilbake. .

 
Both the two who were five years old, lacks strong memories of been afraid. I discussed this with Rannveig at the end of the interview session:
  
 

Jeg: -En fem åring er vel egentlig litt sånn bekymringsløs?  Rannveig:  -Ja, det kan jeg tenke meg. Så lenge ikke det at omgivelsene hele tiden hisses opp, eller de hele tiden blir skremt av sånne ting, så skulle du ikke tro at de heller merket noe, sant..

 
Ididn't want to make  follow up interview, because they all stressed that this was about it. 
  
 

Ja, er det noe mer du kunne tenkt deg, eller er det mer du kan få vridd meg til.  J: Da hadde det kjanskje vært bedre å komme tilbake.  Nei, jeg har jo tenkt nå. Visste at du skulle komme. Tenkte jeg hva husker jeg. Det er liksom sånne ting, ellers så er det vanlig lek og liksom ikke noe skremmende du husker.

  
 

Det er rart når du repeterer det altså, for da... Men det er det eneste. Det er veldig snevert det området mitt altså. Det er helt tydelig så. Det andre det er bare glimt..

It was a common experience that when it wasn't more memories of war, they started on with post  war time. Laila did  (Laila B 2.20 ) and Rannveig (b 2:40), and the interview with Laila ends with a "that's about it". 
Laila says she can't remember very much, maybe there are memories that are expelled. (Laila B 2:20)  There will always be things expelled. But as long as I had got the main memories, there are not many unsolved questions that goes to what they have told, so I don't want to dig for the expelled, and don't think a historian should do. 

Primary or secondary sources
Lillian several times asked herself if it was a real memory (Lillian B 2:15), or had someone told her, and she adapted the story as her own.  She conclude that no one could have told her. And she made  a phone call to confirm a memory before the interview: 
Lillian, Lillian B 14:45: 15:15 

Og det var, eg måtte, eg ringte til min mor, for hun bor oppe i Finmarken, eg ringte til min mor akkurat for å høre om den dagen når, den aprildagen når  Haugeveien. For da ringte eg for å høre med hun om eg husket riktig Og hun mente min søster lå og sov. Men det var riktig som eg sa. Det var tre sånne ruter, og så var det den midterste som gikk.  Joda, det var riktig. Og det var det. Så var det ikkje mer. Aner ikke hva som skjedde etterpå. Det bare antar eg.

In the excerpt below, Lillian says she just suppose what happened later on on the day of the explosion. Her story on the explosion is about 50 seconds. After that, she even make a remark on that this she is telling now, she has been told. (A 1:40 ff) 

Also for the others, it is possible to see whether these excerpts should be considered a primary or a secondary source, or even a part of a legend.
I believe that the preparation was very important. They knew I wanted the memories of the, not of their parents. 

Oral Sources on the Web
I think it is possible to get good primary sources from childhood memories even when it's more than fifty years since the events. 
This project also put the oral source on web. The following example shows how difficult it is to say whether i is a primary source or a secondary sours without the sound.
Laila, Part A: 4:00-4:16 

Så vi kom tilbake igjen til vårt, eller til Cort Philsmauet der da, og pakket sammen da i løpet av samme dagen såpass at vi kunne reise ut på Askøy, der hadde min tante

This could have been an primary source. Without the sound, it's hard to tell. (Unfortunately I haven't got the sound yet).  With sound, it is quit obvious that she didn't have a good memory on that, so i followed up later on: 
Laila partB 1:10 - 1:40 

Jeg: -Tilbake til Cort Philsmauet?  Laila: - ja vi må ha vært innom der ja, men eg kan ikkje huske det heller, Eg har bare enkelte bilder. Husker vi kjørte gjennom byen.Vi kom ikke ut der vi skulle egentlig, vi  skulle til Nyhavn, for der ute hadde vi noen slektninger, men vi kom ikke gjennom og ut der, så vi måtte tilbake.. Og allerede samme kvelden, har min mor fortalt meg, så reiste vi ut med denne båten, til Askøy.  Eg kan ikkje huske at hun pakket eller ka som skjedde i de timene der.

 

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