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Norwegen / Norway The Fate of the Jews The myth of resistance has held its own up to the present day in Norway. In the 1980s there was, however, a historical debate between the so-called Skodvin School, which was accused of simply blanking out unpleasant memories, and the critical historians. But that did not change very much with regard to the master narrative. However, it seems that the concern with fate of the Jews in Norway has brought about a change in the consciousness of the population. Artists and filmmakers dare to attack the central narrative of history itself and attempt to debunk the traditional ideas about collaboration and resistance. |
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The film is based on the true "Feldmann Case". In 1943 the bodies of the Jewish couple Rakel and Jacob Feldmann were found in a lake near the Swedish border. The NS authorities shelved the unsolved case, but after the war it was discovered that the couple were murdered by two Norwegians. They were supposed to smuggle the refugees across the border. Although the perpetrators admitted their guilt, they were acquitted in August 1947. In the opinion of the court it was ruled that the Jewish couple were a threat to the escape routes to Sweden. The plot diverges somewhat from the actual happenings. The protagonists of the film are the journalist Madsen and the detective Årnes. The film was a critical attack on the Norwegian myth of the Home Front prevalent in the post-War years, which made the underground fighters unassailable, even when faced with the charge of murder. By means of the photographs of the couple and of the objects found, the poster points to the main conflict of the film – the murder of innocent people out of greed and the unassailability of the murderers because they belonged to the resistance. |
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On January 26, 1994, a photograph was published for the first time in the "Aftenposten" newspaper which showed the deportation of Norwegian Jews. On November 26, 1942, women, children and old people were arrested. On that same day the steamer "Donau" departed with 532 Jews on board for Stettin from where they were stuffed into cattle cars and brought to Auschwitz. The photographer Georg W. Fossum, who was working for the Home Front, captured the situation in the Oslo harbour. Fossum was tipped off by a police informant. On the photograph one can make out the automobiles bringing the arrested Jews. For this action the police used a hundred taxis. On the photograph shown here, the deportation ship "Donau" can be seen in the background as it turns in the harbour, watched by a crowd. The picture became an icon for historical truth. |
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