Elise Barring Berggren
About
I have worked extensively on Norwegian-Jewish history and am currently writing my PhD on the post-Holocaust restitution of property in Norway. My research focuses on uncovering the experiences of every single Norwegian Holocaust survivor and victim, using combinations of methods and digital humanities to shed light also on topics and people otherwise lost to time. Hugely passionate about my subject, I regularly disseminate my findings both to peers and the public in publications, media, and invited talks. A book I co-wrote as a BA and MA student initiated one of the largest historical debates in Norwegian history. Shortly after finishing my MA, I was hired as a guest researcher at the Jewish Museum in Oslo. For my work, I have been awarded the “Prize for Outstanding Contributions by Young Researchers in the Humanities 2024” by the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.
About my PhD
I am now writing a PhD on the restitution of Norwegian-Jewish property after the Holocaust. During the Holocaust and in close connection with the physical murders, the Nazi perpetratoors seized all homes, possessions, and businesses belonging to people they defined as Jewish. After the war, the Norwegian state made laws on the return of and compensation for assets that had been lost in the war and commissioned a number of institutions to implement these rules. Among the many who applied for this were Jewish Norwegians who had lost everything they owned in the genocide. In my thesis, I examine how the bureaucrats who were assigned to carry out the restitution treated these Holocaust survivors, as well as these survivors' attempts to get back what was theirs. Although immediate focus of the thesis is the restitution, the aim is to shed light on larger themes in Norwegian-Jewish history: How did the Norwegian state treat Norwegians who had survived the Holocaust? How did the victims cope with living the aftermath of a genocide and how did it go when they had to rebuild their lives?
Each person who applied for restitution and compensation received one case file in each institution they came into contact with. There are around 2500 such files associated with Norwegian Jews, and I analyze each one of these in a combination of qualitative close reading and quantitative examinations. I have developed a database for the project of all Norwegian Jews and the restitution of their property 1940–1955, where each person has one entry with information about who these people were, the persecution of each individual during the genocide and the restitution of their property after 1945.
Research
In Search of Lost Homes: The Restitution of Norwegian-Jewish property 1945–1950
Publications
Grini fangeleir og Holocaust i Norge: Grinis funksjon i forfølgelsene av norske jøder 1941–1945
Exclusion by Ignorance: Lawmakers' Lack of Attention to Norwegian-Jewish Needs in Restitution Legislation 1945–1947.
Rapport frå ein gjennomgang av "Hva visste hjemmefronten?"
2023
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Berggren, Elise Barring.
(2023)
Grini prison camp and the Holocaust in Norway: Grini’s role in the persecution of Norwegian Jews 1941–1945.
Historisk Tidsskrift (Norge)
Academic article
2021
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Berggren, Elise Barring.
(2021)
Exclusion by Ignorance: Lawmakers' Lack of Attention to Norwegian-Jewish Needs in Restitution Legislation 1945–1947.
7Letras
7Letras
Masters thesis
2020
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Berggren, Elise Barring;
Bruland, Bjarte;
Tangestuen, Mats.
(2020)
Rapport frå ein gjennomgang av "Hva visste hjemmefronten?".
Dreyer Forlag A/S
Dreyer Forlag A/S
Non-fiction book
Journal publications
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Berggren, Elise Barring.
(2023)
Grini prison camp and the Holocaust in Norway: Grini’s role in the persecution of Norwegian Jews 1941–1945.
Historisk Tidsskrift (Norge)
Academic article
Books
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Berggren, Elise Barring;
Bruland, Bjarte;
Tangestuen, Mats.
(2020)
Rapport frå ein gjennomgang av "Hva visste hjemmefronten?".
Dreyer Forlag A/S
Dreyer Forlag A/S
Non-fiction book
Report
-
Berggren, Elise Barring.
(2021)
Exclusion by Ignorance: Lawmakers' Lack of Attention to Norwegian-Jewish Needs in Restitution Legislation 1945–1947.
7Letras
7Letras
Masters thesis
Teaching
I have taught topics related to modern history, the Holocaust, Norwegian-Jewish history, antisemitism, methods, use of sources and research ethics, both at bachelor's and master's level. I have also censored exam answers and guided students in writing term papers:
- KRIG3020 - War in the modern world, 2024: Held a lecture on the connections between the Holocaust and the Second World War.
- HIST3105 – Research Methods in History, 2022: Held a lecture on historical methods and use of sources.
- HIST3205 – Genocide, War and Society, 2023 and 2024: Held several lectures on the Holocaust internationally and in Norway.
- HIST2007 - Nationalism, Imperialism and Democratization after 1750, 2022: Held a mini guest lecture on antisemitism and the Norwegian-Jewish minority.
- HIST1500 – Modern History after ca 1750, 2023 and 2024: Led seminar groups, supervised the students' term papers, and graded the papers.
- HIST1505 – Introduction to Historical Theory and Methods, 2022: Led seminar groups and graded exams.
- The summer school in Prague in 2022 and 2023: Held several lectures on the Holocaust in Norway, the Norwegian-Jewish minority and Jewish prisoners in the Grini prison camp.
I also have several positions as a representative. Feel welcome to contact me!
- Representative for the temporary employees on the HF faculty board and Employment Committee
- Representative for the temporary employees on the board of the Department of Modern History and Society
Previous roles:
- Vice representative for the PhD candidates in the PhD programme council at the Faculty of Humanities
Knowledge Transfer
På sporet av tapte hjem: Etter Holocaust
Da staten ranet jødene
Grini: Fangeleirens rolle i Holocaust
Skadene ved passivitet: Lovgivernes manglende hensyn til jødiske behov i restitusjonslovgivningen 1945–1947
I kjølvannet av Holocaust: Restitusjonen
2023
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Academic lectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2023) På sporet av tapte hjem: Restitusjonen av norsk-jødisk eiendom 1945–1950-tallet. Universitetet i Tromsø Krigshistorisk forum , Tromsø 2023-03-30 - 2023-03-30
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2023) Holocaust i Norge: Et totalt angrep på en liten minoritet. NTNU og Karlsuniversitet Sommerskole om tsjekkisk og norsk historie i det 20. århundret , Praha 2023-06-28 - 2023-06-28
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2023) Den norsk-jødiske minoriteten: Før og etter Holocaust. NTNU og Karlsuniversitet Sommerskole om tsjekkisk og norsk historie i det 20. århundret , Praha 2023-06-29 - 2023-06-29
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Interview
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InterviewBerggren, Elise Barring. (2023) Nazistene tok alt: Kleskjeden hans er bygd opp fra ingenting. NRK NRK [Newspaper] 2023-09-13
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2023) På sporet av tapte hjem: Restitusjonen av norsk-jødisk eiendom 1945–1955. HIFO Norske Historiedager , Sogndal 2023-09-08 - 2023-09-10
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Academic lectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2023) A Mosaic of Individual Stories: The Post-Holocaust Restitution of Norwegian-Jewish Property 1945–1955. Polin "Jewish Cultural Heritage: Practices, Perspectives, Challenges" , Warszawa 2023-10-19 - 2023-10-20
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2023) På sporet av tapte hjem: Etter Holocaust. HL-senteret og UiT Dypdykk i 2. verdenskrig , Litteraturhuset i Oslo 2023-10-26 - 2023-10-26
2022
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InterviewBerggren, Elise Barring. (2022) Dagens: 80 år siden deportasjonen. NRK radio NRK radio [Radio] 2022-11-25
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2022) Grini: Fangeleirens rolle i Holocaust. Jødisk Museum i Oslo Foredrag , Oslo 2022-06-01 - 2022-06-01
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2022) Grini fangeleir: Et norsk åsted for Holocaust. Sommerskole om tsjekkisk og norsk historie i det 20. århundret , Praha 2022-06-24 - 2022-06-24
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2022) Holocaust i Norge: Et totalt angrep på en liten minoritet. Sommerskole om tsjekkisk og norsk historie i det 20. århundret , Praha 2022-06-23 - 2022-06-23
2021
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2021) I kjølvannet av Holocaust: Restitusjonen. Jødisk Museum i Oslo Foredrag , Oslo 2021-02-24 - 2021-02-24
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LectureBerggren, Elise Barring. (2021) Skadene ved passivitet: Lovgivernes manglende hensyn til jødiske behov i restitusjonsoppgjøret 1945–1947. HL-senteret Foredrag , Oslo 2021-06-16 - 2021-06-16