Bjørn Karbo was born on 4 July 1920 in Gentofte, near Copenhagen. His father was an officer in the Danish navy. During the occupation, Karbo worked as a copywriter and advertising manager. During the German occupation of the naval port of Copenhagen on 29 August 1943, Karbo's father died at the age of 49. Bjørn Karbo had to work as a translator during the occupation and subsequently joined the resistance, working primarily in the so-called "Student News Service", which played a central role in the resistance's illegal press work.

Arrest
The Gestapo succeeded in exposing and breaking up the group around Karbo. He himself was arrested on 28 April 1944. He remained in custody in Denmark for almost six months, in Vestre prison, Hørserod and Frøslev transit camp. On 15 September, he was transported to Neuengamme concentration camp with a larger group of Danish resistance fighters. A few days later, he was transported to the Barkhausen satellite camp.

Minearbejder i Porta Westfalica
Bjørn Karbo was one of the 98 Danish prisoners who arrived in Barkhausen at the end of September. They referred to themselves as "50s", based on the first two digits of their prisoner number, in contrast to the "54s" who were imprisoned later. Karbo himself was given the prisoner number 50375 and had to perform extremely hard forced labour in the tunnels around Porta Westfalica. Among other things, he was part of the labour detachment of Danish prisoners who had to spend 12-hour shifts in the Weser tunnel in Dehme, sometimes knee-deep in tunnel water. In his report "Minearbejder i Porta Westfalica", published in 1945, he describes not only the forced labour but also the brutality of everyday life in the Barkhausen camp.

The white buses
On 21 March, Karbo left Porta Westfalica together with all the other Danish prisoners. As part of the so-called "Bernadotte Action", "White Buses" operation, their first destination was the Neuengamme main camp before travelling on to Denmark on buses marked with the Red Cross.
Cross.

Island activist
After the war, Bjørn Karbo initially resumed his old profession and subsequently founded a printing company in Søllerød. However, the forced labour at Porta Westfalica had left its mark. Like many other Danish prisoners, Karbo contracted tuberculosis from the tunnels. In 1967, at the age of 47, he sold his print shop and retired with his wife to the small island of Askø. Over the next few years, Karbo made a lasting commitment to Askø and the many other small Danish islands. He was one of the initiators of the Association of Danish Small Islands and was its chairman for a long time. He was also politically active beyond the association and was a member of municipal and local councils. Bjørn Karbo died on 27 July 2008 on Askø.

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