WE ARE GOING TO PICK POTATOES - THE STORY OF NORWAY AND THE HOLOCAUST by Irene Levin Berman © Orion 2008 The publication of this book in Norwegian is aimed at educating the younger generation in Norway about the events of the Holocaust during World War II, and to chronicle the post-war resettlement of the surviving Norwegian Jews.  The purpose of publishing the book in English is to educate the vast number of Americans who know little or nothing about Norway and the Holocaust, and the tragic fate of approximately half of the two thousand Norwegian Jews who perished in Auschwitz.  The project is sponsored by Norway's Resistance Museum and was published by the Orion Publishing Company in September 2008. The book is written as a memoir by Irene Levin Berman. Ms. Berman is a native Norwegian Jew who as a very young child was among the fortunate to escape to Sweden in 1942 with her immediate family.  She describes the early settlement of Jews in Norway at the end of the nineteenth century, after the law in the Norwegian Constitution denying Jewish immigration was repealed through the efforts of poet Henrik Wergeland. The book focuses on the invasion by Germany in 1940, the political climate in Norway at the beginning of the war, the deportation of the Jews to Auschwitz in 1942, and for some, the escape to Sweden. A portion of the book deals specifically with the refugee experience in neutral Sweden during the war years, focusing on the family’s escape.  Those who were not able to reach neutral Sweden perished.

One family member and her husband and children lived in Aalesund, a city in northwest Norway and were the only Jewish family in that city.  Ms. Berman has done extensive research on the history of that family and has recreated the story of their lives for the year 1942-43 in detail ending with their deportation to Auschwitz in 1943, never to return. The book also describes the return from Sweden to Norway after the liberation and the resettlement and rebuilding of the Jewish community during the post-war years. A significant chapter of the book is devoted to the work of Ms. Berman’s father, Marcus Levin, who was involved in refugee work before and during the war, as well as after his return to Norway.  He worked as a voluntary representative for the American Joint Distribution Committee, which was instrumental in providing funds through the Claims Conference and other sources to resettle refugees who had survived the Holocaust and resettled in Norway.  In addition the story includes how Norway became the first country in the world to accept the so-called “minus” refugees.  Marcus Levin was honored with King Olav’s Gold Medal of Honor for his work in 1959, three years before his death.  The story of Marcus Levin is written by Bjarte Bruland, historian and curator of the Jewish Museum in Oslo.  Mr. Bruland was also one of two persons responsible for the restitution of funds to the Norwegian Jewish citizens in 1999. Ms. Berman has lived in the US for a number of years, but keeps in very close contact with friends and family in Norway.