Elise Barring Berggren

About

I have worked extensively on Norwegian-Jewish history and am a PhD Candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Previously, I have been a visiting scholar at Harvard and 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. In my PhD, I examine the post-Holocaust restitution of property in Norway, where I analyze the restitution case of every single Norwegian Holocaust victim, focusing on the larger human significance of restitution and returning home. Hugely passionate about my subject, I regularly disseminate my field. I have taught in a number of university courses, as well as held lectures for peers and the larger public, and I have also worked in the museum sector. A book I co-wrote as a BA and MA student initiated one of the largest historical debates in Norwegian history.

About my PhD

During the Holocaust and in close connection with the physical murders of around 750 of the little over 2 000 Norwegian Jews, the Nazi perpetrators seized all homes, possessions, and businesses belonging to people they defined as Jewish. After the war, the Norwegian state created a system of restitution institutions aimed at all who had lost property in the war, and among the many who applied were Holocaust survivors. In my PhD thesis, I research the post-Holocaust restitution of homes and businesses in Norway, focusing on the greater human significance of restitution. Through this lens, I examine the larger topics of Jewish Norwegians’ rebuilding of their post-Holocaust lives and the post-war Norwegian government’s response to the genocide.

I exploit the unique methodological opportunities of the Norwegian case, posing it as an especially opportune case for Holocaust research. Because of the small size of the Norwegian-Jewish minority, I have been able to examine the life stories and applications for restitution of every single one of the little over 2 000 Norwegian Jews. My study is therefore driven neither by generalizations or the use of examples and thus distinguishes itself from previous literature – my data is complete and precise, my study having a national scope with full resolution down to every individual. Working within digital humanities, I have created a database with information on every person and the restitution of their property, containing 300 000 cells of data. Using this unique tool, I combine qualitative close readings with quantitative analyses. In all, my approach allows for shedding light on topics otherwise lost to time and people who otherwise have not left significant source material.

My research sheds light upon a system of restitution that was severely unfavorable to Norwegian Holocaust survivors. The restitution laws failed to take their needs as victims of a genocide into account when designing the laws. This set post-Holocaust restitution up for failure, but did not necessitate it. Rather, the outcome was sealed when the restitution institutions tasked with carrying out their provisions almost consistently used their room for maneuver to make cuts in Jewish applicants' restitution.

Focusing on the larger human significance of restitution, I argue that for survivors, restitution was not about money – it was about reinstating their means of existence, returning home, rebuilding family businesses and communities, property’s connection to loved ones and memories, re-establishing daily lives, and the quest for justice. While restitution was a way to pursue these aims, it was also a process that burdened those very same things – taking up resources, hindering rebuilding, barring fulfilment of justice and recognition, and evoking painful memories. In the face of the difficulties of the aftermath of genocide and an unfavorable system of restitution, the survivors exhibited great persistence in their immense effort to rebuild their lives.

Research

In Search of Lost Homes: The Post-Holocaust Restitution in Norway 1945–1950s

In my PhD thesis, I examine the post-war restitution of Norwegian-Jewish property taken during the Holocaust and the rebuilding of Norwegian-Jewish lives after the genocide.

In the Shadow of Loss: Health after the Holocaust in Norway

I am currently building a project on the aftermath of the Holocaust on Norwegian survivor's health. What were the physical and psychological aftereffects, how did they affect the rebuilding of survivors' lives, and how were they treated by the state?

Back to Business: Small Family Businesses after the Holocaust in Norway

I am developing a project on the post-Holocaust fate of the small family businesses owned by Jewish Norwegians. Through this lense, I examine post-genocide rebuilding of their daily lives and negotiations of Norwegian-Jewish identity in public spaces.

Publications

Grini fangeleir og Holocaust i Norge: Grinis funksjon i forfølgelsene av norske jøder 1941–1945

Som gjesteforsker på Jødisk Museum i Oslo undersøkte jeg den nazistiske fangeleiren Polizeihäftlingslager Grini og dens bruk i anti-jødiske tiltak under Holocaust i Norge. Funnene er publisert i Historisk tidsskrift.

Exclusion by Ignorance: Lawmakers' Lack of Attention to Norwegian-Jewish Needs in Restitution Legislation 1945–1947.

In my master thesis, I examined the development of the restitution laws that were disproportionately unfavorable for Holocaust survivors seeking to have returned to them the belongings and homes taken in the genocide.

2020

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

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
Academic article

Books

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:

KRIG3100 – Historican Research Methods, 2024: Lecturer
KRIG3020 - War in the Modern World, 2024–25: Lecturer
HIST3105 – Research Methods in History, 2022: Lecturer
HIST3205 – Genocide, War and Society, 2023–25: Lecturer
HIST2007 - Nationalism, Imperialism and Democratization after 1750, 2022 and 2024: Lecturer
HIST1500 – Modern History after ca 1750, 2023–25: Seminar leader and supervisor seminar papers
HIST1505 – Introduction to Historical Theory and Methods, 2022: Seminar leader and examiner
HI104 History After 1930: Introduction to Norwegian and International History, 2024: Examiner
The summer school in Prague in 2022 and 2023: Lecturer

I am also the representative for the temporary employees on the board of the Department of Modern History and Society. Feel welcome to contact me!

Previous roles:

Vice representative for the PhD candidates in the PhD programme council at the Faculty of Humanities
Representative for the temporary employees on the Humanities faculty board
Representative for the temporary employees on the Humanities Employment Committee

Outreach

Tiden etter Holocaust: Staten og de overlevende

Jeg ble invitert til å holde foredrag på HL-senteret om hvordan den norske staten behandlet norske Holocaustoverlevende og hvordan de overlevende opplevde tiden etter folkemordet.

På sporet av tapte hjem: Etter Holocaust

Jeg ble invitert av HL-senteret og UiT til å holde et foredrag om PhD-prosjektet mitt, der jeg ga publikum et innblikk i forskningsprosessen og tok dem med på å undersøke kildene sammen med meg.

Da staten ranet jødene

Jeg bidro til andre episode i NRKs podcast-serie «Da staten ranet jødene». Episoden handler om hjemkomsten til norske Holocaustoverlevende og deres forsøk på å gjenoppbygge sine liv og få tilbake sine eiendeler og hjem etter folkemordet.

Grini: Fangeleirens rolle i Holocaust

Jødisk Museum i Oslo inviterte meg til å holde et foredrag om mine forskningsfunn om de jødiske grinifangene og Grinis rolle i Holocaust – funn som var et resultat av et tidligere opphold som gjesteforsker ved samme institusjon.

Skadene ved passivitet: Lovgivernes manglende hensyn til jødiske behov i restitusjonslovgivningen 1945–1947

HL-senteret inviterte meg til å holde et foredrag om funnene i masteroppgaven min om hvorfor restitusjonen av eiendom etter krigen var så ufordelaktig for nordmenn som hadde overlevd Holocaust.

I kjølvannet av Holocaust: Restitusjonen

Jeg ble invitert av Jødisk Museum i Oslo til å holde et foredrag om innholdet i de norske restitusjonslovene og deres ufordelaktige effekt på tilbakeføringen av norsk-jødisk eiendom.

2025

Lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2025) Tiden etter Holocaust: Staten og de overlevende. HL-senteret Tiden etter Holocaust: Staten og de overlevende , Oslo 2025-03-09 - 2025-03-10
Interview

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2025) Hjemkomsten til Norge etter krigen. NRK NRK [Radio] 2025-01-27

2024

Academic lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2024) På sporet av tapte hjem: Restitusjonen av norsk-jødisk eiendom etter Holocaust, 1945–1955. Falstadsenteret Intern Kunnskapskalender , Falstadsenteret 2024-01-16 - 2024-01-16
Lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2024) Norsk-jødisk historie og forskningsdesign. Det Historiske Selskab Minervas ugle , Trondheim 2024-11-21 - 2024-11-21
Academic lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2024) Post-Holocaust Restitution of Businesses: The Unique Opportunities of the Norwegian Case. Business History Conference The BHC 2024 annual meeting , Providence, USA 2024-03-14 - 2024-03-16
Academic lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2024) På sporet av tapte hjem: Restitusjonen av norsk-jødisk eiendom etter Holocaust, 1945–1955. Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab Høytidsdagen , Trondheim 2024-03-01 - 2024-03-01
Academic lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2024) In search of lost Homes: Post-Holocaust Restitution in Norway 1945–1955. Business History Initiative, Harvard BHI Fellow Talk , Harvard, USA 2024-10-16 - 2024-10-16

2023

Lecture

Berggren, 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
Interview

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2023) Da staten ranet jødene. NRK NRK [Radio] 2023-08-23
Academic lecture

Berggren, 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
Interview

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2023) Nazistene tok alt: Kleskjeden hans er bygd opp fra ingenting. NRK NRK [Newspaper] 2023-09-13
Lecture

Berggren, 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
Lecture

Berggren, 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
Academic lecture

Berggren, 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

2022

Lecture

Berggren, 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
Lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2022) Grini: Fangeleirens rolle i Holocaust. Jødisk Museum i Oslo Foredrag , Oslo 2022-06-01 - 2022-06-01
Interview

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2022) Dagens: 80 år siden deportasjonen. NRK radio NRK radio [Radio] 2022-11-25

2021

Lecture

Berggren, Elise Barring. (2021) I kjølvannet av Holocaust: Restitusjonen. Jødisk Museum i Oslo Foredrag , Oslo 2021-02-24 - 2021-02-24
Lecture

Berggren, 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

Språkvelger

Elise Barring Berggren