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Thirty thousand shoes at the former Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland (File photo) Dave Thompson/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Norwegian police apologise for deportation of Jews during WWII

Over 700 of the 2,100 Jews living in Norway at the start of World War II were deported, only 34 survived concentration camps.

NORWEGIAN POLICE HAVE apologised for their role in the arrest and deportation of hundreds of Jews in the Scandinavian country during World War II.

Representatives of the Jewish community welcomed the apology while noting that it was long overdue. The statement coincided with the 70th anniversary of the 1942 deportation of 532 Norwegian Jews and Jewish refugees on the SS Donau.

“I want to apologise on behalf of the Norwegian police and those who were responsible for carrying out the deportation of Norwegian Jews to concentration camps,” newly appointed police director Odd Reidar Humlegaard told the daily Dagsavisen.

The collaborationist government of Vidkun Quisling, who was executed in 1945, ordered the deportation of hundreds of Jews from Norway in 1942.

The roundups were carried out by Norwegians, and not Germans, according to the Norwegian Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities.

The police apology, which came 10 months after that of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, was well-received by the country’s small Jewish community.

“That’s good to hear, but it was high time for these apologies,” Samuel Steinmann, 89, the last survivor of the Norwegian Jews who were deported to Auschwitz, told news channel TV2 Nyhetskanalen.

“It’s never too late,” said Ervin Kohn, president of the Mosaic Religious Community in Norway.

Of the 2,100 Jews who lived in Norway at the start of World War II, 772 were deported. Of those, only 34 survived the concentration camps to which they were sent, according to the Holocaust research centre.

- AFP, 2012

Read: Germany expanding compensation for Nazi victims

Read: Belgian premier apologises for WWII deportation of 25,000 Jews

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    Mute Ted Murray
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    May 21st 2018, 8:28 PM

    He’s done a fair amount of treating Russian businessmen “unfairly”, especially if they don’t see eye to eye with him :p

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    Mute Ossi Fritsche
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    May 21st 2018, 8:27 PM

    Any Russian Oligarchs that are close to Putin have to be scrutinised, and about time too.

    107
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    Mute Polly Dolan
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    May 21st 2018, 8:30 PM

    Sure Russia would never discriminate!

    94
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 21st 2018, 8:25 PM

    “Peskov said many Russian Businessman are treated unfairly”. Would it be those that just happen to be buddies with Putin.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    May 21st 2018, 8:40 PM

    MMMMmnm they are not Russian to give him a visa

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    Mute wattsed
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    May 21st 2018, 8:35 PM

    He may be an investor, as are other Russian oligarchs. Just a pity for them that they “invest” their really “hard earned” cash in rubbish soccer teams.

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    Mute Sean Conway
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    May 21st 2018, 9:26 PM

    @wattsed: They beat an even bigger rubbish team on saturday.

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    Mute wattsed
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    May 21st 2018, 9:46 PM

    @Sean Conway: Agreed. But they’re still sh**e.

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    Mute Philip Mc dermott
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    May 22nd 2018, 12:32 AM

    @wattsed: rubbish? Since he took over in 2003 Chelsea have been England’s most successful team you plum, so not a bad investment really.

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    Mute prop joe
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    May 22nd 2018, 9:05 AM

    @Philip Mc dermott: 500 million it’s cost him/the average Russian. Should invest his money in Russia that is the source of his wealth.

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    Mute Seán Ó Briain
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    May 21st 2018, 11:43 PM

    Russia needs to stop whining.

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    Mute Seán Dillon
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    May 22nd 2018, 8:35 AM

    He’s a gangster like a lot of russian millionaires who made billions on the misery of others.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8965518/Roman-Abramovich-should-face-criminal-investigation-over-Sibneft-oil-deal.html

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    Mute David Grey
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    May 21st 2018, 11:50 PM

    He might be forced to sell Chelsea, if he wants to keep his money!
    You don’t mess with Putin

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    Mute Dave Walsh
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    May 21st 2018, 11:52 PM

    Its probably like”Archer” behind the scenes..

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    Mute Sean Conway
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    May 22nd 2018, 8:36 AM

    I think they created a monster by bringing down the USSR.

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