Norway
Inaugurates Holocaust Museum
in Villa of Wartime 'traitor' Quisling
By Zipi
Shohat
OSLO - Last night, in
a gala ceremony attended by Norway's Queen Sonja, a
Holocaust museum opened in this city. It is the 58th
museum in the world dedicated to the
Holocaust.
Among the many
dignitaries on hand were Norwegian cabinet ministers, Yad
Vashem head Avner Shalev and Elie Wiesel.
The museum's full
name, the Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious
Minorities in Norway, reflects a source of conflict in
this city: The museum is not devoted to the study of the
Jewish Holocaust, but also to the study of religious
minorities as such.
The museum is located
in the Villa Frande, which during World War II was the
home of the man who became infamous for collaborating
with the Nazis, and whose last name is now synonymous
with "traitor" Vidkun Quisling.
Quisling was
responsible for Norway's surrender to the Nazis in the
spring of 1940. He was Norway's prime minister from
February 1942 until the end of the war, and was executed
by firing squad in 1945 after being convicted as a
traitor.
The decision to house
the museum in Quisling's former home is more than an
ironic or symbolic act. It is an open admission by the
Norwegian government of its responsibility for past
events. The government, together with the small, local
Jewish community (about 1,000 people), supported the
museum's creation.
The main event of the
evening's artistic program was the Kibbutz Contemporary
Dance Company, which performed selections from "Aide
Memoire," choreographed by the troupe's artistic
director, Rami Be'er. Be'er created the work in 1994 and
has taken the company around the world to perform it. In
it, Be'er contends with the memory of the Holocaust as
part of his dialogue as a member of the "second
generation" of Holocaust survivors who immigrated from
Hungary to Kibbutz Ga'aton in northern Israel to start
new lives.
The dance company,
which is based on the kibbutz, arrived in Oslo on
Tuesday. The dancers were forced to leave their kibbutz
because of the war and have been holding rehearsals on
Kibbutz Shfayim instead.
The Oslo museum has
been in the works for several years. By early last year
it began taking shape at the Villa Frande. At about the
same time, Norway's minister of culture visited Israel
and chose Be'er's dance for the opening
ceremony.
Sources in Oslo say
there was a great deal of tension between Norway's Jewish
community and those who sought a more multicultural
approach to the museum.
The respected
Norwegian figure Professor Odd Bjorn Fure was named to
head of the museum. He does not hide his discomfort with
the Israeli occupation and has published articles
criticizing Israel's policies in the territories.
According to the Norwegian sources, the local Jewish
community was forced to swallow his appointment quietly,
partly to avoid scandal and partly in the hope that their
support might encourage him to moderate his views. Now,
the sources emphasize, Fure and the Jewish community have
a decent working relationship.
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