Posts tagged hl-senteret

2023 Year-End Potpourri

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8th Distribution Goes Out

Recently I was able to send out to each of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and HL Senteret, the Norwegian Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities their 50% share of the royalties and speaking fees I earned this past year related to Odd Nansen’s diary.  To date my cumulative distributions now amount to almost $29,000.

Nuremburg Update

Recently I wrote about the anniversary of the Nuremburg Trials (here).  I have since learned that Russell Crowe and Rami Malek are planning to star in a forthcoming film about the trials—Crowe to play Herman Göring, and Malek to play an American psychiatrist who must determine if Göring is fit to stand trial.  (As noted in my earlier post, Göring was found guilty, but died by suicide with poison one day prior to his scheduled execution by hanging.}

What I did not mention in my earlier post was a fortuitous event that occurred during the final semester of my senior year in high school, I qualified for an independent study program, and chose to work with the New Haven, CT Public Defender’s Office.  In the course of my work, I befriended a student at the Yale Law School who was also volunteering at the Defender’s Office.  One day he invited me to sit in on one of his law classes.  Little did I know it was a senior seminar taught by Telford Taylor, the assistant to chief prosecutor Robert Jackson in the initial Nuremburg trial, and, after Jackson stepped down, the lead prosecutor in the 12 subsequent Nuremburg Trials.  Wow!  Taylor was most impressive, and helped cement my decision to pursue a career as a lawyer as well.  (We’ll just have to wait and see if his character ends up in the new movie.)

Happy New Year to all, and every best wish for a healthy, happy, and fulfilling 2024!

2022 Year-End Potpourri

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“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)

Thus did Odd Nansen feel at the start of 1944, and so I also feel at the start of 2023—all things considered, there seems every reason to be cheerful.

Here’s a few thoughts on various year-end matters that I thought worth mentioning, as we fix our burning wishes on the new year.

SEVENTH DISTRIBUTION GOES OUT

Recently I was able to send to each of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and HL Senteret, the Norwegian Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities their 50% share in the royalties and speaking fees I earned this past year related to Odd Nansen’s diary.  To date my cumulative distributions now top $26,000.

DEVOTION

Before the Christmas holiday I was able to see the movie Devotion (which I had previously written about here). Frankly, I was somewhat ambivalent about seeing the movie version of Tom Hudner and Jesse Brown—could it really stand up to the book version (most movies don’t in my opinion).  The film begins by noting that it is “inspired” by the story of Jess and Tom, and there are some film scenes that clearly do not follow the actual events, but overall the film had the same powerful impact that the book version did.  If you get a chance to see this drama, go, but bring tissues.

TOM BUERGENTHAL AND SERENDIPITY AGAIN

Recently my wife and I were invited to dinner at a friends’ house, to meet a new couple who had recently moved into town—Bonnie and Jeff.  Jeff, being the excellent attorney that he is, had already Googled our names to get some background on us.  Once we were all settled with a glass of wine, Jeff confessed to being curious why I was so involved with matters relating to World War II, the Holocaust, diaries, etc.  I explained how it all started with a memoir I had read back in 2010, about a young Jewish concentration camp prisoner whose life was ultimately saved by Odd Nansen, and how this prisoner later emigrated to the U.S. and became a world-famous expert on human rights, serving as a justice on the International Court of Justice at The Hague.  By this time Bonnie’s attention was rivetted to my story.  Q: What was this man’s name? A: Thomas Buergenthal.  Q: Does Tom have three sons? A: Why, yes, he does.

Well, it turns out that Bonnie and her younger sister Shannon were classmates with Tom’s  youngest two sons, all while they were attending the Country Day School in—of all places—Costa Rica in the late 1970s.  To add to the coincidence, Shannon is married to a lawyer who attended G.W. Law School—and who of course had Tom as a professor!

In all my travels and presentations, I have now met people who 1) were born in the same village in Czechoslovakia as was Tom, 2) attended the same high school in Patterson, NJ with Tom, 3) went to the same undergraduate college (Bethany College in West Virginia) as Tom, although not in his class, 4) who attended NYU Law School with Tom, and now this.

It is a very small world indeed!

FRIDTJOF NANSEN IS EVERYWHERE

This week I received an email from an old friend, Diana, a brilliant attorney who was recently seconded to her firm’s Singapore office for a short tour of duty.  Diana explained that she was awaiting a meeting at Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower for her work permits.  Just outside of the Ministry of Manpower sits another office, of the Norwegian company NHST Worldwide, a global media company.  Diana just had to share with me the writing she saw above NHST’s office entrance:

So while Fridtjof may have never made it to Singapore, Singapore knows Nansen!  If you readers ever spot Nansen memorabilia in your travels (including but not limited to the North Pole) please send them along to me and I’ll be happy to share.

And so, on the advice of no less a role model than Fridtjof Nansen, let us all go FORWARD into the New Year with confidence and hope.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

An Anniversary; A Year-End Report

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“At half-past seven the district sheriff of East Gausdal came up to the cottage with two Germans.”

So begins From Day to Day, which Odd Nansen, in his usual self-deprecating way, describes thusly in his Foreword: “This book is a diary and makes no claim to be anything else.”

The above opening lines were penned 79 years ago tonight, in a single cell in the Lillehammer county jail, marking Odd Nansen’s arrest and the start of his fateful 40-month journey through Nazi concentration camps.

What more appropriate time to provide a report to my subscribers on all that happened this past year.

COVID is what happened this past year.  And that threw everyone’s plans for 2020, mine included, into a cocked hat.  It was difficult to make any plans as the pandemic unfolded, and scheduling, rescheduling, delays and uncertainty were the order of the day, dominating everyone’s thinking.  For five months, stretching from February to July, I lived in a state of suspended animation. Would the pandemic abate?  Was it better to wait things out?  And how exactly did Zoom work?

The new year has brought some clarity:  Yes, Zoom works just fine—millions now use it (and other technologies) like they were born to it.  A vaccine is on the way.  And yet uncertainty still persists.  When will herd immunity be achieved?  When will life return to “normal”?

Looking back, I can see that 2020 represented progress, just not as much progress as I had envisioned a year ago at this time. Here are some the 2020 vital stats:

19 presentations (all but 4 virtual)

36 blogs posted

1770 event attendees

4580 website visitors

$1,996.02. Last year’s share of royalties and speaking fees distributed to each of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and HL Senteret, the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies

$19,296.32. Combined to-date distributions of royalties and speaking fees to the above two organizations

Notwithstanding the uncertainty mentioned above, 2021 promises to be an improvement over last year.  Already, two weeks into the new year, I have 19 presentations scheduled, with the prospect for more opportunities on the horizon.  And plenty more blog topics beckon.

So I am optimistic for 2021, and hope you are too.  Here’s wishing you all the best for a safe, healthy, and happy New Year!

Year-End Report; 4th Distribution; A Plea

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As we bid adieu to an old year, and welcome in a new year, it is always worth doing a bit of stock-taking.

Happily, 2019 was the best year yet for sales of From Day to Day.  Rather than trailing off, sales are still trending upward three- and one-half years since Odd Nansen’s diary was first republished in April 2016.

This was certainly a group effort.  Thanks to all who helped (and this is but a partial list—please forgive me if I inadvertently forgot to include you): Morgan Jordan (again!); Jeanne Addison (again!); Shay Pilnik; Gail Gold; Dan Haumschild; Frank and Monica Schaberg; Eve Gelfand; Michelle Dunn; Kathy Wielk; John and Aelish Clifford; Oliver and Patty Bourgeois; Andy Lubin; Lise Lunge Larsen; Judy Campbell; Jack and Peggy Sheehan; Judy Clickner; Billie Emmerich; Michael Mathews and Mea Kaemmerlen; David Sheinkopf; Sudie Wheatle (again!); Judy Cohen; Pam Belyea; Sherrie Polsky; Bob Copenhaver; Kathy Ales and Richard Levine (again!); and last but certainly not least, my dear friend Marit (Nansen) Greve.

Year-end also means doing a bit of accounting work.  This year’s royalties and speaking fees totaled $4,630.10, which, following custom, are being distributed 50% to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC and 50% to HL Senteret, the Norwegian Center for Study of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo.  To date such distributions now total $15,364.28.

Here’s another brief scorecard for the year:

70 presentations to over 3,000 attendees in 13 states, the District of Columbia and Oslo, Norway.

29,000+ miles traveled.

10,000+ website visitors (cumulative since 2016).

So, all in all, it was a very good year.

But our work it not yet done.  As I write this blog, five Jews were recently stabbed (one critically) in Monsey, NY, in the midst of a Hanukkah celebration (one of 13 anti-Semitic crimes reported in New York State since December 8, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo). Nationally and internationally there has been an upsurge in anti-Semitic incidents over the past several years.

One antidote to such behavior are the inspiring words and actions of people like Odd Nansen.  His diary depicts how just one courageous person can change things for the better, even in the midst of a concentration camp. Thomas Buergenthal is a living testament to Nansen’s humanity.

Seventy presentations in 2019 kept me plenty busy.  Unfortunately, I can only be in one place at a time, and I’ll probably never get to all the venues I would like to reach.

The solution: publicity.  That can come about by word of mouth (i.e., you, my readers) or it can come via social media.  This blog will get posted on my website, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. But an equally powerful social media engine for a book like From Day to Day is Amazon.

And that is why book reviews are essential.

There has been plenty of press lately about retailers who are gaming the system, paying people for positive reviews, or ordering employees to post reviews under various aliases, etc.  This phenomenon has even spawned a new cottage industry, which offers to “authenticate” reviews, and weed out the obvious fakes.

The important takeaway is this: companies go to such great (and sometimes dishonest) lengths because they understand only too well the power of positive product reviews.  So, as I often mention at the close of my presentations, a book review on Amazon is literally priceless.  Please help me make sure Nansen’s words are never again forgotten.  Please, my readers, post a review—of any length—on Amazon.

You’ll be glad you started 2020 off on the right foot.  I thank you, and I know Odd Nansen would have thanked you as well.

I wish you peace, good health and happiness in 2020.  And here’s a proposed resolution: If we all tried acting just a bit more like Odd Nansen, the world undoubtedly would be a better place. Let’s give it a try.

Magic in Oslo

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Courtesy Anne Ellingsen

On Sunday, September 15, I had the honor of addressing an audience about Odd Nansen’s diary at HL-Senteret, the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies, housed, appropriately enough, in Vidkun Quisling’s wartime residence located on Bygdøy.  The event was co-sponsored with Norway’s Resistance Museum (Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum).

Quisling’s former residence.  Courtesy HL-Senteret

My visit to Norway, as well as the event, were pure magic from start to finish.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny—a sparkling fall day that showed Oslo off at its best.  I had had a wonderful sleep (not surprising, having been awake for almost all the preceding 48 hours) at the Grand Hotel, where Nobel Peace Prize laureates stay when receiving their award.  My stay at the Grand, I soon realized, was going to be special: While walking up the main staircase to my floor, I gazed upon a large oil painting, which, I discovered, had been painted by Per Krohg, a friend of Nansen’s and fellow prisoner in Grini.  I even refer to Krohg in my presentation.

I then set out for a quick breakfast.  Fortified by a brisk cup of tea—not the ordinary old English Breakfast—the only offering they had was called Bengal Fire, and a croissant, I was ready for the day. (I did notice that NY cheesecake—or ostekake—had made its way across the Atlantic.)

While walking back to the hotel to get ready, I happened upon a coin lying on the sidewalk.  It proved to be a 1 øre piece—the subject of a previous blog post (here), which I took to be a sign of good luck.

I first proceeded to the Resistance Museum, located in the Akershus Fortress complex, to view an underground Norwegian translation of a novel written by John Steinbeck in 1942, The Moon is Down (Natt Uten Måne)—the subject of a future blog.  Thanks to Frode Færøy for allowing me to do some research on a Sunday morning.

From there I proceeded to Quisling’s old home, and arrived early enough to receive a private tour of the facility, including Quisling’s private office, still well preserved from his short reign as Minister-President 75 years ago.  I very much enjoyed giving my presentation to an SRO crowd.  Kari Amdam, Head of Programming at HL-Senteret, began by reading an email from the former head of Norwegian Center for Human Rights, who was unable to attend, but who recalled meeting Nansen as a young boy.  “Nansen was a link to a reality, just 10—15 years earlier, filled with so much cruelty and suffering,” he wrote.  The full presentation can be viewed here.

At the reception and book signing which followed, I met and spoke with so many interesting people.  I once again saw my friend Robert Bjorka, who will turn 99 in November, and who was a fellow prisoner with Odd Nansen in Sachsenhausen.  I met the son of Bjorn Bjerkeng, the Norwegian who split the breadboards for Nansen and five of his close friends, allowing the Sachsenhausen portion of the diary to be safely smuggled out of camp.  I met the grandchildren of Odd Nansen’s friend and fellow prisoner Eric Magelssen, whose own breadboard is pictured on pg. 559 of the new edition of From Day to Day.  I met the son of Carl Jakhelln, another Sachsenhausen prisoner who later co-authored a book of poems about his captivity. I met a gentleman who trained as an architect with Odd Nansen after the war, and for a time lived in a small garage apartment in Nansen’s home. Anne Ellingsen, Nansen’s biographer, was there also.  This is but a sampling of the wonderful guests who attended the presentation.

I cannot of course leave out my dearest friend in Norway, Marit Greve, Nansen’s eldest child, approaching age 91, who attended as my special guest along with her daughters Kari and Anne.

Robert Bjorka and Marit Greve, courtesy Anne Ellingsen

Altogether it was a wonderful and memorable experience, capped off with some champagne afterward in the company of Marit and her family.

More stories to follow!

Upcoming Events

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Book Signings

  • April 11, 2024: Our World, Kiawah, SC
  • May 5, 2024: Hadassah, Stonebridge, Monroe Twp, NJ
  • June 2, 2024: Yiddish Club, Monroe, NJ
  • June 3, 2024: Wilton, CT Public Library
  • September 28, 2024: Swedish American Museum of Chicago (Virtual)

People are talking


“Thank you so much for making the visit to Guilford [College] and presenting the honorable life of Odd Nansen. . . . Without your effort, we would never have been able to know Odd Nansen. With it, we have a history to rely upon as a moral compass for acting with integrity in the face of human rights violations. May we live up to it!”

– Jane K. Fernandes
President, Guilford College
Greensboro, NC

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