In 2021, we entered Norway during the worst worldwide pandemic in 100 years. In 2022, we'll leave Norway during the worst war on European soil in 80 years.
In my lifetime, war has always been fought "over there." I know there are conflicts happening in the world, but they're always happening thousands of miles from our home in the US. Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, the largest country in Europe, seems hard to digest. Europe is relatively small and compact, and everything is so close. Closer than I've ever been to an active conflict in my entire life. I guess for that reason, this conflict hits harder than before. Although I feel safe living in Oslo, Norway shares a border with Russia. I cannot imagine waking up to tanks driving down the middle of the street. My heart aches for the families of Ukraine who've been ripped out of their daily lives and shoved into a war they don't deserve.
This past weekend, our family visited two important museums. We went first to the Nobel Peace Prize Center and learned of Alfred Nobel's work and legacy, his fortune left to honor those around the globe who actively work to promote peace and truth in the world. I was proud to see many US leaders on the list of honorees. Co-recipients of the 2021 prize, journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia, face persecution from authoritarian governments every day for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. Muratov recently said he opposes his country's attack on Ukraine and feels shame for the invasion. Before leaving the museum, visitors were invited to write on the windows in response to the question: "What word(s) would you be unable to live without?" The responses were hope, equality, liberty, fraternity, democracy. "Ukraine" and "Kyiv" appeared more than once on the glass as a show of solidarity.
We left the Nobel Museum and walked just a few blocks to Akershus Fortress, Oslo's medieval castle and home of Norway's Resistance Museum. There we walked through history and learned about Germany's 5-year occupation of Norway, the secretive ways Norway devised to communicate across enemy lines, the underground newspapers that were distributed and the efforts they made to thwart German Occupation. Living in Norway today, it seems impossible that a thriving, independent nation could ever be occupied. Before WWII, it is estimated that 1,800 Norwegians of Jewish origin were living in Norway. Between November 1942 and February 1943, Nazis embarked on a nationwide effort to round up all Jewish people living in Norway. 760 men, women, and children were sent to concentration camps. Of the 760, only 24 survived.
When Dan first arrived in Oslo, he told us about stumble stones, or "snublesteiner," which are brass plaques permanently embedded in the sidewalk in various places around Oslo. Seven of these exist outside of our exterior apartment door in Oslo, and we walk by them every day. These slightly raised brass squares are made to memorialize and honor those lost in WWII. They are designed to catch your eye and maybe even cause a person to slightly "stumble" as they walk past to catch our eye so we look down to read the names. I started looking online and found a website called https://www.snublestein.no/ which has documented 721 Jewish Norwegians, their place and date of birth, and deportation and death dates. The brass plaque includes each name and their place of residence. When I typed in our apartment address, 60 Bogstadveien, the photos of the seven plaques appeared, along with six photographs. It was chilling to see faces tied to the plaques I see every day. The 7th person listed did not have a photo, because he was less than 6 months old. The seven names were all part of one family with last names Reichmann and Reiff, connected by marriage. Two of the brothers worked in a tailor shop. All of them were deported to Auschwitz in November 1942 - 4 of them killed just days later in the gas chamber. The remaining three men had all perished by March 1943. These people lived in our apartment complex. Maybe some of them lived in our very apartment?
I've become obsessed with the story of this family, probably because of a new war raging in Europe. Like present-day Ukrainians, the Reichmann and Reiff families woke up one morning and their lives were forever changed. Not that far from us, and not that long ago. The stumble stones are begging for our attention.
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