Irene Levin Berman - Norway Wasnt Too Small: A Fact-Based Novel about Darkness and Survival

Irene Levin Berman

Hamilton Books

An Imprint of

Rowman & Littlefield

Lanham Boulder New York Toronto Plymouth, UK

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

This book is dedicated in memory of my friend, Ingunn Hekneby Bassock, whose sentiments and tolerance
always touched me with positive thoughts.

An introduction is normally the first thing to present when writing a book, and in this case it is even more vital to explain the significance of the title as it contains an important message.

Seven years ago, I was contacted by a local professor inviting me to participate in an anthology of independent stories. Each contributor was to be a Holocaust survivor, presently living in the United States. The professor expressed excitement at connecting with a Norwegian Jew in view of the limited number of people with the experience and willingness to tell this story.

I was born in Norway just before the war and escaped with my parents and brother to Sweden in 1942. Despite my young age at the time, I had retained some significant memories and recalled a number of astonishing stories from when I was older, told by friends and relatives through the years portraying the destiny of the 2000 Norwegian Jews. I was flattered to be asked to participate and readily accepted the request.

A couple of weeks later I submitted a detailed description about my immediate family, starting with the German invasion in 1940 and moving on to 1942. At that time, the Gestapos intense and ghastly quest had peaked in Norway. It became obvious to most of the Jews that the specific plan was to separate the Jews from the regular Norwegians. After the war had come to an end it became evident that 787 persons, approximately 38% of the congregation, had been deported and annihilated. Some were killed instantly upon their arrival and others after being forced to exhaust their physical strength and health in the camps, rendering them ready for the gas chambers. When the liberation finally came in 1945, only 28 men prisoners and no women survived.

Shortly after the invitation to tell my story, a woman called and introduced herself as the publishers representative. Her overture consisted of describing the extraordinary response and large number of submissions they had collected. Many survivors had expressed their willingness to reveal their personal stories, making it necessary to limit what chapters were to be included and which werent. Most of the participants came from large cities in middle Europe.

With a rapid voice and explanation, she justified her opinion of why my story would not be included. As I listened carefully, I realized her reasoning about not publishing my story was based on a logic, which differed 180 degrees from mine. The initial interest as expressed by the professor had been focused on the uniqueness of Norway and the Holocaust, an unknown extensive country tragedy. However, this storys importance seemed to melt away as quickly as she could speak. Then came her main reason. She had learned from my chapter that Norway only had 2000 Jews at the time of the mass arrest and deportation. She continued explaining that such a small number was minimal and therefore she didnt see the necessity of including that particular country in the book.

I made a last desperate attempt to reiterate the high ratio of Norwegian Jews that were annihilated, equal only to Holland at 38%, constituting the highest percentage in Europe. Wasnt that vital proof that Hitler planned to exterminate every single Jew in Europe, regardless of the size of the congregation? She ignored me and hung up.

It took me the rest of the evening and the following night to accept her decision. By the next morning, I had become an activist. It was up to me now to relate the story of the Holocaust in my country of birth to anyone who wanted to listen!

I made good on that promise and my memoir was first published in Norwegian and subsequently translated into English,