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 …
“So completely has our world been turned upside down. Is it strange that one should be confused and still unable to fit oneself into reality.” Thus ends Odd Nansen’s final diary entry, on April 28, 1945. Nansen was in Horsens, Denmark at the time, and, while technically not yet “free”—there were still German guards about—it …
My readers have by now undoubtedly noticed that I have a thing about anniversaries. Today is no exception, and marks several important such anniversaries, including the fact that my mother, were she still alive, would have turned 100 today. Also, today is the fourth anniversary of the re-appearance, in print, of the English version of …
My readers already know that I have a thing about diaries. I’ve written about Anne Frank’s diary (here), and a recently discovered Holocaust diary (here). Some of you may have seen in the April 15 issue of the New York Times a fascinating piece about World War II diaries—more than 2,000—kept by Dutch civilians. Apparently, …
[Blogger’s Note: Most of my forthcoming scheduled appearances are now being postponed until further notice. In my own contribution to “social distancing,” I plan to stay home as much as possible, and write more blogs.] The 15th of March has had a bad connotation for quite some time—since at least 44 BC to be exact, …
Civilian casualties in war have existed for as long as war itself—it is happening today in Syria and elsewhere as we speak. World War II, the most violent cataclysm ever, took civilian deaths to new heights. For example, 77 years ago today, Great Britain experienced what would prove to be the worst single loss of …
“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.
