Who had the Jews in the back in 1942? asks Marte Michelet. Well, about 1200 Jews were saved in Sweden. Including my family. | Sidsel Levin

Marte Michelet uses in his chronicle of 22 November in Aftenposten words of "looting" by Jews and "prosecutors", in connection with the payment of a sum to Sweden in 1942.

The theft of the Jews, Michelet, concerns the liquidation by all the Jews possessed and possessed by the Nazis and by the State. The variable amounts that many, but certainly not all, paid to save lives, can not be called looting.

"My goal is not to distribute sake," said Michelet during the NRK debate on Thursday, November 15th. But blame and betrayal are at the heart of his two books.

In the first book, The biggest crime (2014), most Norwegians were guilty. In addition, it adds serious references to the fact that the Confederation of Mosaic (DMT) Council has behaved as a sort of "judge". She accuses the DMT board members of having failed – at a time when someone was arrested and others covered.

This time, the home front is blamed unilaterally, so much so that the spokesperson of DMT in the debate on the NRK asked if "the Jews could be saved". Such a speculative statement is a cruel blow to the few survivors who experienced the tragedy and to those of us who have lived with it as a part of their lives.

We can not say today if this was possible, but the situation in Norway in the summer and especially in the autumn of 1942 makes it very improbable. In northern Norway, Jewish workers have already been arrested in the summer of 1941. For example, they could never "be saved".

"Blame the victims"

In the exhibition on the Holocaust at the Jewish Museum in Oslo, Jo Benkow and his family attend the contest of the time. In Benkow's family, we were sure that the men the Nazis were looking for. As a result, the men fled. Women and children were safe, they thought. This was the hypothesis in many Jewish families.

The women of the Benkow family were informed and tried to be persuaded by a young man of the resistance movement. He waited nervously at the entrance of the family that the women had advised and unfortunately decided to stay. What would he do, kidnapped them?

We know a lot of similar stories. This is not to "blame" the victims. Running was dangerous and could result in retaliation against family members already in prison.

What did it mean to be taken?

Before having the knife on the throat, it was unthinkable to leave everything with a suitcase or a backpack. The grandmother of the father had run twice before life. She had been living in Norway since 1905. Never in the world if she had let herself go in the summer of 1942. She did not do it when autumn came, aged 80 , with a sincere granddaughter.

My 104-year-old mother, who escaped dramatically with my sister in November 1942, thinks it's doubtful that they would flee before anyone said, "We heard to say that something was going to happen, you must flee. " The family was shocked when his uncle was shot in Trondheim in the spring of 42, but "set the war on fire". The war went to the end, you also believed.

Gunnar Sønsteby reportedly said he was "sure the Jews would be taken away". As far as I know, he says not that he knew that they should be deported. What did it mean to be taken?

Many thought that men would be placed in a labor camp, perhaps detained. Few, if any, could believe that the Jews of Norway were forced into the country, pushed into the cargo ship and driven out of the country to be killed in the gas chamber. Norwegian Jews were scared, but could not imagine that such a thing could happen here.

Extraordinary situation

In a resistance prepared for war, all the images are destroyed when hundreds of civilians must suddenly be saved in a short time. More resources were needed for this to work.

It was also not possible for those who could pay for help. Many who did not have money were also saved. Some have also been asked to donate assets that could be traded in pure silver for the resistance device. This played little, the Jews still had to leave everything that they possessed. The least still has something special.

"Who had the Jews in the back in 1942?" Marte Michelet's controversial request.

About 1200 Jews were saved in Sweden. Most of them were helped by people who invested their personal lives and family lives. Against payment or not.

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