Over 690 Norwegian, German and stateless Jews were deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp in November 1942 and in February 1943. Since October 25, 2000, a memorial marks the spot from which the ships »Donau« and »Gotland« left Norway with the deportees on board.
In April 1940, German troops occupied Norway. At the time, there were over 1,300 Norwegian Jews and about 600 Jewish refugees living in Norway. In September 1940, the German occupiers installed a puppet regime led by Reich Commissioner Josef Terboven (1898–1945). From June 1941 on, the German occupying forces and Norwegian nationalists radicalised the exclusion of Jews. After their wealth had already been confiscated for the most part, all Jews in Norway were arrested in October 1942. On November 26, 1942, and on February 25, 1943, the SS deported 690 Jews from the port in Oslo on German ships: the »Donau« and the »Gotland«. They first headed for Stettin (today: Szczecin, Poland). From there they were taken by train to the Auschwitz extermination camp - either directly or via Berlin. 80 more Jews were deported in other transports. Only 30 of the deportees survived. 21 Jews died in Norway itself. About 900 Jews from Norway managed to flee to Sweden. In all, about 765 Jews from Norway were murdered between 1940 and 1945, over 40 per cent of the country's Jewish population.
The memorial is dedicated to the 765 Norwegian Jews who fell victim to National Socialist persecution.
The monument, which was unveiled on 25 October 2000, marks the spot from where the »Donau« and »Gotland« ships left the Oslo port in 1942 and 1943. It was designed by British sculptor Antony Gormley. The steel sculpture shows eight seatless chairs in a gradual state of decay. The plaque with the dedication is mounted onto a tree stump.
- Name
- Minnesmerket over deporterte norske jøder
- Address
-
Akershusstranda
1050 Oslo - Web
- https://www.hlsenteret.no/gormley/
- post@hlsenteret.no
- Open
- The memorial is accessible at all times.