Jewish Deportees From Norway During World War II - Liberation and Return

Liberation and Return

Thousands of Norwegians were deported to camps in Germany and German-occupied territories during World War II. Most of those who survived were rescued by the White Buses campaign undertaken by the Norwegian government in exile, the Swedish government, the Danish government, with the Swedish Red Cross implementing the rescue with its good offices. This followed intensive efforts by Norwegian and other Scandinavians to track and maintain contact with Norwegian citizens in camps.

By comparison, there was no organized effort to maintain contact with and establish the fate of Jews that had been deported from Norway. Four Norwegian Jews were rescued by the White Buses: Eugen Keil, Josef Berg, Harry Meyer, and Leif Wolfberg.

Of the 28 who survived, at least 21 returned to Norway soon after the war. The rest found homes in other countries.

Upon liberation, the few survivors were scattered across the camps:

• Benno Asberg was refused admission to the White Buses while in Ravensbrück, escaped, and was rescued by advancing Soviet forces.
• Josef Berg happened to be in Sachsenhausen when the White Buses arrived. Thanks to non-Jewish Norwegian prisoners, he was accepted on board the bus, one of only four Jews from Norway to be rescued by the operation
• Paul Ludwig Cohn, was ill in Auschwitz when it was liberated by Soviet forces and, like Kai Feinberg, narrowly escaped.
• Friedrich and Grete Doller were among the last Norwegian sent to Norway. It is unclear how they returned to Kristiansand
• Otto Eisler, a noted Czech architect, returned to his home city of Brno after the war and continued his architectural career
• Having survived a death march from Auschwitz to Buchenwald, Leo Eitinger, Pelle Hirsch, Assor Hirsch, Julius Paltiel, and Samuel Steinmann were liberated there on April 11. On March 1, fellow Norwegian but non-Jewish students had been sent by train from Buchenwald to Neuengamme as part of the White Buses operation, but these five were not allowed to leave on account of being Jewish. Following the liberation, the five had to find their own way home with the help of American and Danish individuals and officials. They arrived by boat in Oslo. Authorities were unable to provide them with any help, not even housing, and they relied on friends to get situated again.
• Berthold Epstein, a noted professor in pediatrics, returned to Prague after the war to continue his medical and academic career
• Kai Feinberg was liberated from Auschwitz and worked for some time in Eastern Europe before he returned to Norway on his own
• Pavel Fraenkl was liberated from Theresienstadt and returned to Norway by unknown means, where he had a distinguished career as a literary professor
• Moritz Kahan returned to Norway via unknown means
• Eugen Keil returned to Norway from Sachsenhausen via the White Buses
• The twins Fritz and Hans Lustig returned to their home town of Brno after the war but emigrated years later, settling in Norway
• Harry Meyer was in Sachsenhausen at the end of the war and was one of four Norwegian Jews rescued by the White Buses
• Moritz Nachtstern was kept in Block 19 at Sachsenhausen as part of Nazi Germany's efforts to counterfeit Allied currency. He found his own way home after liberation
• Georg Rechenberg and Robert Savosnick were liberated from Sachsenhausen without the benefit of the White Buses. Thanks to the help of Norwegian officer Helmer Bonnevie, they returned on their own to Norway
• Fritz Georg Ruzicka did not return to Norway but settled in Denmark to a successful career as an entertainer
• Herman Sachnowitz was liberated from Bergen Belsen, put under the care of British troops and returned to Norway on his own
• Leopold and Lisa Segal settled in Great Britain after the war
• Jacques Stanning was liberated by Soviet forces in Auschwitz. He returned to Norway in August 1945.
• Leif Wolfberg was rescued by the White Buses when his fellow non-Jewish Norwegian prisoners forged his papers to have him renamed Rolf Berg.

As of December, 2012 Samuel Steinman is the only remaining survivor of those deported from Norway.