Papers presented by Elise Berggren since 2019

2024 Providence, Rhode Island

"Post-Holocaust Restitution of Businesses: The Unique Opportunities of the Norwegian Case"

Abstract:

Family businesses were the financial backbone of the pre-Holocaust Norwegian-Jewish minority. While Norway was home to only a little over 2 000 Jews, there were as many as 400 businesses run by Jewish-Norwegians. The Holocaust devastated this small community, including not only their murder, but the attempted annihilation of all traces of their lives – including the confiscation of their businesses. In my paper, I explore a central sub-topic of my ongoing PhD-project on the post-Holocaust restitution of Norwegian-Jewish property 1945–1955: To what degree were confiscated businesses restituted by the Norwegian state after the war and how did this impact the rebuilding of a minority dependent on them? Among the findings thus far is the insight that lack of restitution of Jewish businesses contributed to negative spirals where loss led to more loss. Enabled by the small size of the minority, I examine the restitution of the property of every single Jewish-Norwegian. I have created a database containing information on every Norwegian Jew and their businesses, currently comprising over 180.000 data cells. The Norwegian case presents opportunities arguably present in no other national context, combining systematic quantitative nation-wide studies with a complete selection and close qualitative examinations of each individual. While the Norwegian case remains almost unresearched apart from my own work, post-Holocaust restitution is a large international field. In line with recent historiographical shifts, I argue that these businesses represented more than financial values: they were livelihoods, lives’ works, and an integral part of daily lives. The methods made possible by the Norwegian case makes it ideal for applying and further developing this perspective. With this approach, the project is not only an empirical contribution, but a case study with unique possibilities in methods and perspectives – both on restitution internationally and on the significance of family businesses for their owners.

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