By:Marcia Abramson
I am always reminded by Norwegian friends that it was Leif Ericsson and the Vikings that landed on the American continent 500 years before Christopher Columbus. They point to the year 1000 as the real discovery date of the New World when the Norsemen landed in Newfoundland and New England. The Vikings were known to be fierce fighters, but aside from the Viking Museum in Oslo, the capital of Norway, I found little evidence of that quality in the people I met. They appeared to be a much gentler breed, taking great pride in the works of playwright Henrik Ibsen, artist Edward Munch and composer Edvard Grieg. At this destination, my daughter and I decided to forego the Renaissance Cruises' shore excursions, the Norwegian Adventure and Hadeland Glass Works, and explore Oslo on our own.
Prior to our docking in Oslo, the capital city of Norway, the Renaissance Cruise 8 ship sailed through some of the most beautiful scenic areas with the never-to-be forgotten fjords, historic buildings and rural areas. But we did want to see the Resistance Museum, Akershus Castle and the amazing statuary in Vigeland Park and also check out the shopping opportunities in Norway. We no sooner disembarked the Renaissance Ship when we found ourselves in a huge duty-free shopping center in the terminal. We could not resist the temptation to start our shopping since the 50 percent sale sign worked to my weakness. Yes, in June with temperatures up in the high 7Os, soft all-wool hand knit Norwegian designed sweaters can be purchased from $50 and up, more than half the winter price. We also bought the Viking helmets for my grandchildren and adorable Norwegian dolls on skis. Our only dilemma was to have the merchandise held until we returned. We cajoled the merchants until they agreed. Another pleasant surprise was to have the value added tax returned at
the terminal. I considered this a great plus before we headed off to the Resistance Museum where we caught a glimpse of the Castle guards on parade.
Actually, the Resistance Museum is on the grounds of the Akershus Castle, a fortress and still a military arsenal with a walking distance of our anchored ship in the harbor. The Castle has resisted all invasions and is the site of the Resistance Museum, in a building, remembered as the "Double Battery" erected in 1650 to house six cannons and a powder magazine. There is also a "frame house" which was built in the mid 18th century for use as a military storehouse. It is also memorable as being the site of the execution of Norwegian patriots by the Nazis during World War II and therefore deemed suitable for the Resistance Museum. In 1966 an independent foundation was formed to present a true and authentic portrayal of the Nazi occupation of Norway during World War II, with pictures, printed matter and objects collected, preserved and exhibited to give young people of future generations a true-to-life impression of the evil represented by occupation by a foreign power.
I saw newspapers from that era, the radio used to contact the Norwegian resistance in Great Britain, extracts of Quisling's speech broadcast simultaneously with his taking over the government and declaring resistance to troops a crime. The authentic pictures, documents and objects pertaining to the persecution of Norwegian Jews was very moving for me. To see the suffering and slaughter of the Jews similar to their fate in Germany and the other occupied countries was frightful. Seventy-four Norwegian children of Jewish parentage from two months to sixteen years of age were sent to the gas chambers together with all other European children, according to the records from Auschwitz on display here. I don't recall ever seeing the original cyanide tin before at other Holocaust museums with instructions to use against vermin, the code word used for Jews donated by the Museum of Auschwitz.
After leaving this area my daughter Jill and I were directed to a tram located just outside the Castle grounds to take us to Vigeland Park. The weather was ideal for a Sunday stroll in this fascinating park, world renowned for its outdoor gallery of 150 Gustav Vigeland sculptures. I was astounded by the magnificence of a piece entitled the "Monolith," proclaimed to be the world's largest granite sculpture. It is more than 50 feet high with 100 sculptured human forms. Quite frankly, I also found it pleasurable to see the park crowded with children, young courting couples enjoying the bands, the ventriloquists and the awesome sculptures and the beauty of this fabulous Norwegian treasure. Satisfied with our long day's journey, we headed back to the terminal to collect our purchases and embark on the Renaissance ship to our next destination, Copenhagen.
Copyright by Marcia Abramson
E-mail: mascribe@aol.com
