Seventy-five years ago today, World War II ended with the surrender of Imperial Japan. The following day, the Japanese Emperor’s voice, heard by the country’s inhabitants for the first time, concluded that “the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage.” Therefore, “we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for …
As dates go, the first two days of August 1944 seem to me unusually fraught. Many things changed irrevocably—most for the worse, only a few for the better. ANNE On Tuesday, August 1, 1944, Anne Frank wrote in her diary to her imaginary friend Kitty. To Kitty, and only to Kitty, could Anne confide all …
My readers, you know that I sometimes depart from my usual mission to write about lighter (but no less interesting!) subjects. You also know that I am a fan of, and have written about, Kurt Vonnegut (here) Well, forty-five years ago today (July 28), Vonnegut’s uncle Alex died, age 86. Described as “a Harvard-educated insurance …
The following is one of the most fascinating passages in Odd Nansen’s diary, penned while in Sachsenhausen on Monday, June 19, 1944: “This community within the walls contains everything, even a fortuneteller—or astrologer, as he calls himself, though he reads hands. He read mine yesterday. Predicted that on the 21st or possibly the 20th of …
Today is Hiltgunt Zassenhaus’s birthday. Were she still alive, she would be 104. Never heard of Hiltgunt Zassenhaus? Then read on: In his diary entry for Saturday, April 7, 1945, Odd Nansen writes about how the Swedish Red Cross has been collecting all the Norwegian prisoners in Europe at Neuengamme, a concentration camp located near …
Odd Nansen died on June 27, 1973, age 71. Each year on his anniversary I try to highlight some aspect of his character (here, here, here, and here). Although I never met the man, by studying his diary, and through numerous conversations with his daughter and my dear friend Marit Greve, I feel I know …
“The most important thing is not to reach your goal, but always to be on your way—always on your way.” Fridtjof Nansen On this day in 1893, on the heels of the summer solstice and the all-important midsummer celebration, Fridtjof Nansen, Odd Nansen’s father, departed Oslo (or Christiania, as it was then called) on board …
Today is Anne Frank’s birthday. Had she lived, she would be 91 years old, the same age as Odd Nansen’s eldest child, my dear friend Marit Greve. The exact date and cause of her death are unknown, although it is now believed that she succumbed in late February, 1945, probably to a disease such as …
Seventy-six years ago today, the largest amphibious assault ever undertaken, Operation Overlord, began. In retrospect, events like D-Day increasingly to take on an aura of historical inevitability. It seems inevitable that the massive Allied landings would succeed, inevitable that the second front would be established, inevitable that Germany’s demise would ultimately follow. It had to …
I’ve written about some important topics lately: Sachsenhausen, V-E Day, war diaries, etc. And there are plenty of other matters I could be writing about: the announcement of the capture of Adolf Eichmann on May 23, 1960, or the arrival of Josef Mengele at Auschwitz on May 24, 1943, or the tragic voyage of the …
“I want to thank Tim Boyce for this . . . . It would be lost to history if people like Tim Boyce did not devote the effort and time and expense–a good part of his life–to preserve the Odd Nansen story. It is a moving and gripping story. . . .”
–U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal
Hailed by The New Yorker as “among the most compelling documents to come out of the war,” From Day to Day is a World War II concentration camp diary—one of only a handful ever translated into English—secretly written by Odd Nansen, a Norwegian political prisoner. Arrested in January 1942, Nansen, son of polar explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen (Nobel Peace Prize 1922) was held captive for the duration of the war in various Nazi camps in Norway and Germany.
Nansen’s diary entries detail his palpable longing for his wife and family, his constantly frustrated hopes for release, the quiet strength and sometimes ugly prejudices of his fellow prisoners, and his horror at the especially barbaric treatment reserved for the Jews. The diary brilliantly illuminates Nansen’s daily struggle, not only to survive, but to preserve his sanity and maintain his humanity in a world engulfed by fear and hate.
First published in English in 1949, From Day to Day had been out of print for almost seventy years. The new edition contains entries and sketches never previously available in English. It also features a new introduction and extensive annotations by Timothy Boyce and a preface by Thomas Buergenthal, whose life (as a ten year-old) Nansen saved while in Sachsenhausen, later recounted in his own memoir A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy.
