A museum visit in Norway

My Scandinavian tour of Jewish museums is complete. Last weekend I got to tick off the last country off my list: Norway. Established in a building that used to be a synagogue, the Jewish Museum of Oslo is located conveniently in the center. You can recognize the museum from its iron gate so be brave, buzz the door bell and enter. Entrance tickets are reasonably priced (50 NOK for adults).

Unfortunately, it was not allowed to photograph inside, but basically the museum has two aspects that you could expect it to have: the other aspect tells the story of Jews in Norway during WWII and the occupation, and the other is a classic story of a Jewish year, explaining all related holidays. Nearly everything was translated into English, for those who do not know any Norwegian or other Scandinavian languages.

The day that we (yes, my boyfriend joined!) visited the museum was no ordinary day... There was a "family Sunday" arranged around Pesach. There was a play by local teens telling the story of Moses and Exodus, and activities around the Seder dinner and plate for kids: coloring, cutting out and pasting paper maror etc. on a paper Seder, and a tasting menu of matza and the rest that you can find on a Seder plate. A note was given to typically Scandinavian kids: charoset cannot be eaten by those who are allergic to nuts (because all the kids in the Nordics are allergic to something!). The museum was rather packed because of this event, and it was quite endearing and heart-warming to see such a small but tight community getting together for the holiday season.

A snapshot of the museum's website about Family Sunday - Pesach.

It was interesting to read about what went on in Norway during the WWII. All the Nordic countries had very different destinies during this war. Sweden remained untouched, Finland messed with the Germans but kept Finnish-Jews safe and Denmark and Norway were occupied. It was shocking to learn that prison/labor camps were established in Norway and Jewish prisoners were under more harsh treatment in these places. So the camps weren't just in Poland and elsewhere in Central Europe - also here in the Nordics. Many Norwegian Jews fled to Sweden, but nearly 800 Jews were murdered - for the most part in Auschwitz. Those who fled to Sweden or beyond, often chose not to return.

The Norwegian government cooperated with the Nazi regime as the Norwegian Royal Family left for exile during the war. Jewish families were not allowed to own radios, their IDs were stamped with the letter "J" and as mentioned, possessions were confiscated and many ended up dying at concentration camps. Today, the community has been revived with somewhat 1500s Jews in Norway that are well integrated in the society, however the Chabad-Lubavitch has a permanent presence in Norway.

The building served as a synagogue until 1942. Outside the museum, there are metal placates on the ground with names of those Jews who lived in the area and were sent to Auschwitz.

If I had to rank the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish Jewish museums, I'd say the Norwegian one is the best and most comprehensive one. There's also a great gift shop with many Jewish items. Unfortunately, though, I have seem to come 100% with Judaica and Jewish items, since I could not find anything that I didn't have to buy at the gift shop!

As there was nothing new to add to my souvenir collection, I took the recipe for Natascha's blintzes :-).

PS. An interesting tidbit I learnt while visiting this museum was the vague connection between astrology and Judaism. The Kabbalah is into astrology, and the Zodiac signs almost seem to sync better with the Jewish calendar months better than the Gregorian months... I always wondered why Capricorn isn't 1st-31st of January but overlaps from December to January etc.

A museum visit in Sweden

As discussed before, one of the first things I do when visiting another city is to check if there's a Jewish museum in town. This time, I get to add Stockholm - the capital of Sweden - to my list of Jewish musems visited. Heja Sverige!

Located in the beautiful area of Vasastaden, the museum isn't something you would come accidentally across with. Compared to the fellow museums in Paris or New York, where there's a whole building dedicated to the cause, the museum in Stockholm is in more humble settings - downstairs a typical apartment building. You need to ring a bell to get in, and be aware of the opening ours (12:00-16:00 daily, except for Saturdays of course).

But don't worry, once you're round the corner, the signs will lead you there.

The museum has a permanent exhibition that is the size of a large livingroom. It presents the basics of the Jewish faith as well as some Swedish aspect to Judaism. You get your classic introduction to Torah and the Jewish holidays, but also family trees of Swedish-Jews and a small shrine to Raoul Wallenberg. There are also authentic memorabilia from the Holocaust, provided by the survivors. The Red Cross of Sweden arranged the so-called "White Buses" (army buses painted white) after the WWII ended and transported 30.000 survivors of the concentration camps to Sweden. Around 10 000 of them were Jews.

A long time since I saw a mezuza somewhere else than at my home. And first time I could actually read something in Hebrew when visiting a Jewish museum!

Barbie converts to Judaism? Not quite, but there were miniature doll settings of Jewish holidays (a wedding chuppah and sukkot), as well as artifacts used in Passover and Hanukkah.

A smaller room is dedicated to exhibitions with changing themes, and when I visited the theme was Jesus Christ Super-Star. Well, not quite, but Jesus the Jew anyway. It was a kind attempt to bridge the gap between Judaism and Christianity with the one thing that both connects but separates the two religions. There were artifacts from exclavations from Jesus' times, and points how Jesus was a Jew. Even his "golden rule" in the New Testament is actually just a borrowed mindset from the Old Testament.

A false prophet or the son of G-d, the man that creates controversy even after 2000 years...

Today, the Jewish population in Sweden is estimated to be around 20.000, half of them living in Stockholm or the nearby region. In Stockholm, there are three synagogues with conservative and orthodox services. And of course, let's not forget the small gift shop of the museum, where I bought the below article. It replaced my old Sex and the City movie "Love" key chain replica. The message stays the same, though!

Ahava.

A nice museum visit all in all! Convenient and compact, but I must say that my command of Swedish language came handy - not all the information was available in English too. And a small tidbit that also the Finns will recognize: the gherkins & pickles, ketchup etc. branded Felix that you find in every supermarket here --- well, a company founded by a Jewish immigrant in Sweden!

Modern art pieces

It was a sunny Sunday and I had scheduled to go to Kiasma (the Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki). To be honest with you, I've never been a huge fan of modern art. It is really hard for me to appreciate something that, for the most part, could be created by a five-year-old or even by myself. The 10 EUR entrance ticket felt a bit pricey because I knew I wasn't going to get much out of the visit, but I justified it to myself as a donation for Helsinki's cultural efforts. No Guggenheim, so go Kiasma.

The visit was just as I had expected. A rolled up carpet leaning against the wall or a ashes on the floor didn't provide my soul with high, cultural nutrition. I don't know if I'm missing a gene because most of that stuff didn't open up to me? Fine, some Romanian artist had made some witty wall drawings and slogans regarding today's world, but that's pretty much it. My friend and I roamed the concrete floors of the museum with no clue what we're supposed to get out of it.

Without a quick visit to the 5th floor (which we didn't find by the way before asking the staff for directions), I wouldn't have had anything to share with you. Below are a couple of piece inspired by Judaism, containing Jewish symbols or made by a Jewish artist. Please, don't ask me to explain them to you in detail. I just know what the descriptions said for the pieces and that's it. :-)

Monument (La Fete du Pourim) from 1989, by Christian Boltanski. The collected clothes and faces tell of lives lived. The work does not refer to any specific persons but Boltanksi recycles faces from work to work. Purim is a Jewish celebration that involves wearing masks and costumes.

Wall writings I (2009-2010) by Outi Sunila. Afar, it looks like this...

...and upclose, like this. Random wall writings in public places captured by the artist and put into pins. Tip to the museum: I went to the gift shop to buy a pin from this collection - there weren't any.

Father, not Uncle (Freud/Katharina) 2008 by Michal Heiman. The work re-enacts one of Freud's case studies where a young woman asks him for help with her anxiety attacks. In the video, the artist reads Freud's study (in Hebrew!) while the texts in the video challenge and underline the details. Freud did later admit to altering the story.

Want to visit Kiasma? See their website for more details.

Names on the wall

It has become almost like a habit for me to google any foreign city I am traveling to, to see if they have a Jewish museum in town. Surprisingly, quite many capitals or otherwise large cities do have one (Helsinki being the obvious exception here). I have visited Jewish museums in Athens (Greece), New York City, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and now most recently, Paris.

In many languages the word “holocaust” is the brand name for what happened to the Jews in WWII. This word of Greek origin, meaning whole/everything burnt, has found its way to most of the languages of the world. But the French language - bien sûr - is different. They use the Hebrew word “shoah” (meaning calamity) instead. Hence, voilà, in Paris you can find a museum called Mémorial de la Shoah.

Nearby the memorial, these signs will guide you to your destination.

In fact, there are two Jewish museums in Paris that I could find. Pressed for time, I had to choose one and opted for the Shoah Museum - a very dark theme to explore in a city known famous for its Light. Dragging along a very hesitant and unwilling companion, we buzzed the museum door and after a quick security check (very Israeli of them, by the way!) could roam free the inner court of the museum.

The outside and inner court of the museum are dominated by walls. There is a wall dedicated for the French people who helped Jews during the times of despair. A wall much bigger, with a lot more names on it, 76.000 to be exact, is a list of all those French Jewish men, women and children who were deported from France.

Names of the just people.

And the deported ones.

Inside, the museum is quite formal (much so, as there is no funky gift shop but just a bookstore). Unlike the other Jewish museums I have visited, this one stays in the subject and really, true to its name, concentrates on the Shoah. There are countless original photographs, posters, private letters to tell the story we all are familiar with. Yet, every time I am left speechless by it. And this time embarrassed, too, as Finland is marked in the maps on the same level as Hungary, Romania and other allies of Germany.

Antisemitism isn't anything new. It started already in 597 B.C.

Nazi-German propaganda on racial features, here children used as examples.

All railroads of Europe lead to Auschwitz back then....

Yellow stars were produced in France, too. The Dutch wrote "Jood", here in French "Juif".

A map of European countries during the war. Finland listed as scum with the rest of them.

Clothes of a survivor.

Mémorial de la Shoah is Europe's biggest information center on the subject and since there is no entrance free, a visit there should not take much effort if you are in Paris.  The museum is consequently located in the Jewish area of Paris known as Marais, but I will write more about that in another post...

In the memory of all those who were lost.

JHM

Nestled in the center of the beautiful city by or rather among water, namely Amsterdam, you can find the local Jewish Cultural Quarters. The Quarters consist of the Jewish Historical Museum, JHM Children's Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue (see earlier post) and the Hollandsche Schouwburg, a Dutch theater. Nearby, you can also a monument for the Jewish Resistance.

It was a while ago I visit the the Jewish Historical Museum there but somehow I was more taken by the visit in the synagogue, so I never got around to reporting about the museum itself. Until now, of course.

Like many other Jewish museums, this one showcases the basics of the religion, history of the local Jewish culture, WWII events and Judaism in the modern day. Downstairs the museum, you can read all about the religion, its habits and holidays. Spiced up with videos and a portable private audio phone, if you have time, you can learn everything. Since I'm already more or less familiar with the basics, I tried to tune in for information I didn't know. A tidbit like this I found and share with you now: it is common among Jews to engrave ”mazal tov” inside wedding rings.

Moving upstairs, you will learn about how the Jewish community formed in the Netherlands. Sephardi Jewish merchants fled from the Iberian peninsula to the more free-thinking Northern Europe, and due to their language and business skills were a welcome addition to the already trade & shipping driven Holland in the 1600s. The Ashkenazim Jews from Germany and Poland were less-welcomed, as they usually came from more humble conditions.

The last room upstairs concentrates on 1900s-2000s, what happened to the Dutch Jews under the German rule and how the Jewish culture is nowadays live and well in the Netherlands.

The infamous yellow star badges, mass-produced in Dutch language.

Note in the middle in red text Maoz. A nice falafel place in Amsterdam (but not nearly as good as Fafa's!).

The museum ends in, this material girl's favorite, a gift shop of course! I didn't leave empty-handed this time but picked up a dreidel for myself (which turned out to be much fun), an Einstein energy bar for the diligent student (still not eaten – check the expiry date!), some Hebrew postcards (to learn words) and a Jerusalem card game for my cousin (turned out to be too advanced even for the likes of her).

A lamb cuddled up in the hug of a lion can only mean one thing: shalom - peace!

With the same entrance fee (€12), you may visit all the sights in the Jewish Quarter. For those interested, the shiksa recommends! Wonder how the kids' section is, though?

Prinsengracht 263

The Amsterdam address mentioned in the headline needs no introductions, and neither does a certain young girl called Anne Frank. Her diary, translated into dozens and dozens of languages, is one of the most known and read stories from WWII and the museum draws numerous visitors each day after its opening in 1960.

I had read the Diary before, but hadn't visited the Anne Frank House during my two previous short visits to Amsterdam. Third time is the charm, so dreading the long queue squirming outside the house, it was time to pay the scene of the Diary a visit.

The queue looks worse than it actually is.

The house looks on outside like any other Amsterdam house. Tall, narrow, big windows. Inside, there are steep staircases and creaking floors. But no other house hosts a certain bookcase that served as a hidden entrance to the annex of this building, which was used as a warehouse in the front - and a hiding place in the back.

The rooms in the annex are empty, left that way after Otto Frank's wishes. It is meant to symbolize the void left after all the people that never came back from the camps. The 46m2 of the annex housed eight people and for two years provided them hopes of surviving - until someone (still unknown) tipped them off. Otto Frank was the only one of them to survive. All that is left now are faded pictures of movie stars glued on the walls of the annex, and marks on the wall showing how much Anne had grown in height during these two years. Something so normal and humane, abruptly ended by something so abnormal and inhumane.

It was touching to visit the scene and think that this was the exact location where Anne had written her Diary. You get to walk the same floors, take the same stairs, see the same view from the attic. Anne's stories come to life, as you can place each resident of the annex in the locations doing their own things and chores, silently and patiently waiting for the war to end.

The House is yet another reminder and testimony of the horrific things humankind did and allowed to happen not so long ago. For those interested, I highly recommend reading the Diary and visiting the museum and witnessing this young girl's short, but powerful legacy.

Exactly 70 years ago, 25th of September 1942, Anne wrote the following to Kitty (= the Diary):

"Mouschi, the cat, is becoming nicer to me as time goes by, but I'm still somewhat afraid of her."

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A museum visit in Denmark

Last weekend I had scheduled to attend a party in Copenhagen, Denmark. As the invitation was +1, we together with my significant other immidiately started planning a meet-me-half-way weekend in this Scandinavian capital. Well, these plans went to hell eventually but I did my best to include something Jewish on my agenda anyway.

Honestly, I wasn't aware of Copenhagen hosting a Jewish museum. It was by accident that I noticed it on the map when looking for the Danish Architecture Center. I've been to Copenhagen several times, especially to that area where the museum is, and I can't believe it's been there all the time right under my nose! Now it was time to visit it, but I was worried it would be closed as it was sabbath. Luckily, the doors opened at noon anyway.

Entrance to the museum is from the heavy, metal door in the back.

I was there early, and not the only one swarming around, waiting for the place to open. The entrance fee was 50DKK and you had to leave any bags bigger than A4 at the entrance. Unfortunately, it was not allowed to take photos inside the museum - but you can see some pictures at their website.

The museum presented the somewhat 400 year history of Jews in Denmark. The exhibition is divided into five different parts. First one of them being Arrivals, showing how Jews to Denmark came from various countries with very different backgrounds. The second part was Standpoints - how the only common ground for these people was in fact the religion but apart from that diversity was immense among the Danish Jews. The third part, Mitzvah, presented the story of those Danish Jews who were sent to Theresienstadt - and those who made it safely to Sweden. Traditions presented typical objects and items used in Jewish holidays while Promised Lands looks into how Denmark has become their final destination, their home.

I had a quick chat with the museum staff who were Danish students. They both had started working there this summer and said it had been busy over the past few months. Most visitors, however, are from the American cruise ships that stop for a day in Copenhagen - locals rarely find their way to the museum. Inspite of being non-Jewish themselves, both students seemed excited to work there as it somehow related to their studies.

One of the best untapped resources for shopping in almost any city is, in my opinion, museum gift shops. The shop at the Danish Jewish Museum was no exception and I didn't leave empty handed...

Supporting material for my up-coming studies - in form of a canvas shopping bag.

This duck has found its true calling.

And the gift shop's hit product: white, Magen David shaped candle holders. Here mixed with my Finnish Iittala ones.