The Jewish Memories Project
The Jewish Memories Project at Nordiska Museet, the Swedish National Museum of Cultural History, started in 1994 and ended in spring 1998. The project was made possible by donations from the Fanny and Leo Koerner Charitable Trust among others.
The project has collected Jewish life stories in Sweden, the emphasis being on the years of world war two. The life stories describe the rich variety of experiences of Jews living in Sweden today. Many stories in the collection are from survivors of the Holocaust, who came to Sweden in the spring and summer 1945. Their stories paint a picture of life in many different Jewish communities in Europe before the war, communities that were to be completely annihilated. They describe how their relatively sheltered lives changed as the chaos, horror, starvation and death of the ghettos and concentrations camps became part of their existence, how they survived and eventually came to Sweden and how they managed to build up a new life in this country.
The few refugees that managed to leave Nazi Germany and were admitted into Sweden tell about their experiences and what it was like to come to this country and to live here during the years of the war. In the collection, there are also stories about the lives and experiences of Jews born in Sweden. They describe their reactions to what happened during the 1930s and 40s.
The result of this documentation is rich and extensive. The collection consists of more than 400 life stories, mainly interviews and written autobiographical material. The life stories are accompanied by many photographs, documents and artefacts, in addition to several more extensive individual collections.
For further information:
Nordiska museet, The Swedish National Museum of Cultural History
Box 278 20, SE-115 93 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46-8-5195 60 00
e-mail: nordiska@nordm.se