30 December 2002
Bjarte Bruland, a representative of the Norwegian commission to investigate the fate of Jewish property that was plundered during WWII, will bestow a list of 792 names of Jews who were murdered or expelled from Norway during the Holocaust, including the names of 30 survivors, during the International Conference “Confronting History - the Historical Commissions of Inquiry” at Yad Vashem. The names - as well as photos of most of the victims - will be presented to Yad Vashem by Bruland on a CD-ROM in the name of the Jewish community of Norway.
The ceremony to present the names and photos will take place in the afternoon session of the conference (3:30 - 5:30), in the presence of MK Rabbi Michael Melchior, Chairman of the Norwegian Society for Yad Vashem, Herman Kahn, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev, and Director of the Yad Vashem Hall of Names, Alexander Avraham.
Aside from his membership in the Norwegian commission to investigate the fate of Jewish property, Bjarte Bruland was hired by the Jewish community in Oslo to organize their historical archives. The material that will be given to Yad Vashem includes new information that was collected as a result of his archival research. At the conference at Yad Vashem, Bruland will lecture on “The Restitution of Jewish Property in Norway.”