Lydia Bucher, PhD Candidate at the Department of Teacher Education, NTNU

Personal photographs are unique lenses into untold stories of Jewish life in Norway, capturing lived experiences and self-expressions rarely recorded elsewhere. This project examines vast, unstudied collections of visual and oral materials, tracing the histories, forms, and meanings of Norwegian-Jewish personal photography (ca. 1880s–1980s). Combining large-scale digital analysis with close source readings, the study explores how Jewish Norwegians lived with and through photography, aiming to establish Norwegian-Jewish Visual Studies as a new field and to consider its didactic applications.

Elise Barring Berggren, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Historical Sciences (NTNU)

For the Norwegian Jews who had survived the Holocaust, its aftereffects continued into the post-Holocaust period. This also included the genocide’s physical and psychological ramifications. What consequences did the Holocaust have for survivors’ health, how did they experience and navigate these challenges, and how were they treated by the state and surrounding society? The project examines the experiences of all Norwegian Holocaust survivors using qualitative and quantitative methods. The aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the lives of Jewish Norwegians in the post-Holocaust period.

Jon Reitan, Associate Professor in Social Studies, Department of Teacher Education, NTNU

The Jewish community in Trondheim lost half of its members in the Holocaust. Two milestones in the reconstruction of Jewish life in the city were the rededication of the synagogue and the establishment of a memorial in October 1947. These commemorations took place with participation from the Jewish communities of Helsinki, Stockholm, Malmö, and Copenhagen. The monument was designed by the Danish‑Jewish sculptor Harald Isenstein, who was also responsible for early Holocaust memorials in Helsingborg (1945) and Oslo (1948). To what extent, and in what ways, did a Nordic‑Jewish dialogue and agency emerge in the production of knowledge and memory after the Holocaust? This project primarily examines material expressions and representations within a Nordic context.

Stian Hårstad, professor at the Department of Language and Literature (NTNU)

Naming practices display several culture‑specific characteristics, and onomastic research can therefore enhance our understanding of cultural encounters arising from migration. Several sources document that Jewish immigrants to Norway rapidly adopted given names perceived as “typically Norwegian”, and there is also evidence of adjustments to surnames, at times involving complete replacement, which in the contemporary context were deemed to be acts of “Norwegianisation.” Drawing on, among other materials, application records from the decades surrounding the Second World War, this socio‑onomastic project examines naming practices within Norwegian‑Jewish communities, with particular emphasis on formal features and the personal motivations underlying name changes.

Ingjerd Veiden Brakstad, researcher, the Falstad Center

As the majority population in 1945 entered a post-war period, Jewish Norwegians primarily experienced a post-genocide era. How did Norwegian Jews navigate the public sphere in the period following 1945? How did the post-war legal process contribute to shaping genocide survivors’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion? This project investigates both minority and majority narratives, and the dynamics between these.

Jørgen Klein, Professor at the Department of Teacher Education, NTNU

Trond Risto, Professor at the Department of Teacher Education, NTNU

This subproject is organized as a qualitative study of spatial and cultural aspects of Norwegian Jewish integration and identity formation over a longer period of time. The subproject will examine the function of places and migration memories in Norwegian Jewish identity formation. The project will be using existing interview collections, archival material, QGIS software, as well as local memorial sites related to Jewish migration and integration.