On this date 81 years-ago Odd Nansen was ordered, by the local sheriff and two Germans, to accompany them to Oslo “for questioning.” He would soon learn the truth—the authorities had no interest in questioning him, and no intention of releasing him from their grasp. His crime? None. Nansen was never accused or convicted of …
“None the less we bid it welcome, and once more fix our hopes, our burning wishes, and our ache of longing on the new year. The news is excellent, and all things considered there seems every reason to take a rather more cheerful view of things after all.” (From Day to Day, January 2, 1944) …
Lauritz Sand was born in Trondheim, Norway on October 1, 1879. Like Odd Nansen, Sand was artistic, and like Odd Nansen, he studied architecture. When his artistic career failed to get off the ground, he elected to pursue a military career instead, with the Royal Dutch East Indies Army. Following his retirement from the military …
Odd Nansen was born 121 years ago today, making this (at least in Hobbit-speak) his twevlety-first birthday. Whatever the year, it is always an occasion to remember and commemorate. In remarks given by then U.S. President John F. Kennedy at a fundraiser held on November 29, 1962 for the benefit of a yet-to-be-built National Cultural …
On this day in 1951 Thomas Buergenthal first set foot on American soil. He was 17 years-old. During a good part of those 17 years Tom had successfully defeated the Nazis’ best efforts to murder him, whether through the liquidation of the Kielce Ghetto, internment in Auschwitz-Birkenau, or participation in the Auschwitz Death March. But …
“Today I attended a concert by Vera Gran. . . . She sings classical songs and modern songs by the young composer Kuba Kohn, a product of the ghetto. His music expresses all the sadness and resistance of the ghetto. It has a new and original note that could only be born in this atmosphere …
Today is Marit (Nansen) Greve’s birthday. Were she still alive she would be 94 years-old. I have written extensively about my very special relationship with Marit (here, here, here and here), which I need not repeat again. Let me simply say that I take comfort in the following words which I once happened upon: To …
At 8 o’clock on the evening of October 30, 1938, millions of Americans were settling in by their radios. It was the golden age of radio, and they were looking forward to hearing one of the most popular programs, NBC’s Chase and Sanborn Hour. Among the highlights of the variety show was ventriloquist Edgar Bergen …
Never heard of Thomas Hudner? You’re about to learn a lot more about him and his exploits very soon (more on that later). The story of Tom Hudner is really the story of two men: Thomas Hudner and Jesse Brown. In many ways the two men followed similar career paths. Tom was born in 1924; …
As we watch with horror the events unfolding in Ukraine, it is clear that when and how it will all end remains unknown. It is equally clear that no one, including perhaps even the Ukrainians themselves, ever thought they could resist the armed might of Russia for so long and so effectively. Perhaps the Blitz, …
“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.
