In my PhD thesis, I research the post-Holocaust restitution of homes and businesses in Norway, focusing on the greater human significance of property and return. 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. 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 reveals 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 and prioritized victims of traditional war damages and resistance fighters. This outcome was sealed when the restitution institutions almost consistently used their room for maneuver to make cuts in Jewish applicants’ restitution.
Furthermore, 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 their post-Holocaust difficulties, the survivors exhibited great persistence in their immense effort to rebuild their lives.