The Date: September 23, 1942 The Place: The island of Jersey, the largest of the so-called Channel Islands. For centuries the Channel Islands were contested by England and France. Ultimately, they became part of the Duchy of Normandy—which makes sense—Jersey is but a stone’s throw from the Normandy Coast. Nevertheless, by the 1259 Treaty of …
As the long, hot, summer of 1939 drew to a close, Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany, was determined to have his war. True, he had accomplished his previous exploits—the re-militarization of the Rhineland; the annexation of Austria; the absorption of the Sudetenland; and the occupation of Czechoslovakia—all without firing a single shot. But Poland, Hitler’s …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
Seventy-five years ago today, Polish and Russian armed forces liberated Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, and with it, Thomas Buergenthal. Tom was nineteen days shy of his 11th birthday. He had been a captive, in one form or another, of the Nazis since early 1940, when he and his family were herded into the Kielce Ghetto in …
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, …
Those of you who have attended my presentations on From Day to Day know of the spectacularly successful career enjoyed by Thomas Buergenthal: Justice, International Court of Justice at The Hague; Judge, Inter-American Court of Human Rights; United Nations Human Rights Committee; United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador; Dean, Washington College of Law, American …
“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.
