A film by Maj Wechselmann
Bang ( Barbo Alving ) was our most famous war correspondent through all time. Brave often on " suicide" missions, with her life at risk. She became famous with her reports on the Olympian Games in Nazi Berlin 1936 in DN, the biggest newspaper of Scandinavia. She is internationally known as one of the only two female war correspondents who took part in the Spanish civil war 1936 - 37.
She became a single mother in 1938 when this was a taboo. She describes Hitler´s and Mussolini s triumphant welcome in München in 1937 in an unusual satiric manner. As a journalist she participated in the so called Winter War in Finland 1939 40 and in the German invasion in Norway 1940. She sailed to the USA via the Atlantic Ocean at a time when two of three ships were sunk by German submarines.
She was bisexual and lived since 1940 with her life companion, the beautiful woman, Loyse Sjocrona, 12 years older than herself.
After the war she described the breaking up from the colonialism in South East Asia, India, China and Indonesia. She still kept up until the Vietnam war. In the fifties she protested against the plans of building a Swedish nuclear bomb by denying to do her civil defence service and fore that she was charged and sentenced to prison, she inspired very many to do the same..
Barbo Alving´s development from a small alcoholised Stockholm reporter, to a journalist of world class is a model for all women. Bangs sense of humour fascinates me. Her honesty, her criticism against herself. She had to pay a big prise for the risks she took and still she did it again and again - and never felt pity for herself.
