January 27 is International Holocaust Day, in memory of all those killed in the genocide. One of those who escaped was a little girl named Liv Astrid Bakken, who was born in 1932 in Trondheim.
Today she is 90 years old and thinks it is important to share her story, to avoid something like this happening again.
– My mother lost her entire family; four brothers, one sister and the mother. It was terrible. We had none left. I lost eleven cousins, who were killed. It has left its mark on us, the 90-year-old tells Good Morning Norway.
She has shared her story in the NRK series “Last: Jews. The history of the Holocaust in Norway”.
LARGE FAMILY: The girl on the left in the picture is Liv. Behind are the parents and in front is grandfather Abraham and grandmother Dina, who has little sister Harriet next to her. The others in the picture are the uncle, his wife and their six children, as well as the mother’s two brothers and sisters. Photo: Private
Her first childhood years with her parents Bernard and Minna, she remembers as a social life in the Jewish congregation. Five years later she also had a little sister, named Harriet.
At the same time, there was unrest in Europe, which also reached the little girl in Trøndelag.
– We used to have visits from adults who sat and talked around the fireplace. They often talked about the Jews in Germany. I realized even then that it was a terrible thing, she recalls.
The flight alarm went off often
What she remembers particularly well was the talk about a man named Adolf Hitler.
– I thought it was a scary lady. A big, fat lady in a green dress. I hated green, she admits.
When the country was occupied on 9 April 1940, Liv and her family had already escaped to Sweden.
– But we only lived there from April to August, because we didn’t think it would be as bad in Norway as in Germany.
As time passed at home in Trondheim, the situation and the war worsened.
– We were anxious. There was war and aircraft alarms that went off often, she remembers.
At the beginning of 1942, several Jewish men were arrested, including three of Liv’s uncles.
– Father’s brothers were taken. In the autumn, father was about the only Jewish man who had not been arrested.
Afraid of never seeing the friends again
Liv remembers that the adults began to get anxious – even those who were not Jewish.
– My father had a very good friend who was part of the home front. He encouraged my parents to leave. He said to father: “You will be arrested soon, if you do not leave this weekend.”
The man helped with the planning and laid out the escape route for the Jewish family of four.
– It is Arthur Eggen we can thank for getting us away, Liv says gratefully.
While the adults planned their escape from their birthplace and home, Liv was at school. The mother had told the 10-year-old that they were going to travel, but she was not allowed to tell anyone about the plans.
NURSERY GIRL: Liv Astrid around the age of ten. Photo: Private
It was a big responsibility for a little girl, but one she understood well.
– It was a Saturday and I went to school. I remember well that I looked twice at my class before going home.
– I thought I might not see them for a long time. It was very sad.
When the schoolboy returned home, his mother had packed two or three rucksacks for the trip.
– We had normal hiking equipment. If we were caught, we had to say we were going on a berry trip.
Several bags had already been brought on to the escape route, which was long – close to 150 kilometers.
From their childhood home, the journey first went to the railway station in Trondheim, where the train took them on to Hundhammeren.
The family had a cabin there, but it had been taken by the Germans. Fortunately, the mother’s friend gave them refuge on her farm.
Saved by his father’s pack of cigarettes
At the farm in Hundhammeren, the family was picked up by a truck.
– It picked us up at seven o’clock in the evening. My mother, little sister Harriet and I sat in the front, while my father lay on the loading platform under a tarpaulin, remembers Liv.
They were told that the car must not stop, but it did. Along the road in the autumn darkness, they had to get out of the truck to repair it.
– I remember that they used the silver paper from my father’s cigarette pack, recalls the 90-year-old.
The silver paper was the savior and the lorry could drive on towards Stugudalen, where they were to spend the night on a farm. From there the journey would continue to Nedalen.
But the trip on the mountain became demanding for the little ten-year-old girl. Back home in Trondheim it had been bare on the ground, but in the mountains it was full winter in October.
– I remember it getting terribly tiring after a while. When we had walked well and for a long time, I couldn’t take it anymore. I went to bed and said: “You just have to go.”
– We had no choice
The parents and opponents eventually got the ten-year-old back on his feet and the journey could continue towards Nedalen.
At the farm in Nedalen, they were well received by the people who lived there. The plan was to flee on the next day, but there was a terrible storm on the mountain.
– We were advised to stay until the weather improved, which actually took several days. It was very nice for us children. We played games and ate good food at the Rosvold family.
RESISTERS: During the war, there were many Norwegians who opposed the Germans. Photo: NTB
But the joy was short-lived. Word came from the village that the Germans were on their way. Then the family had to hurry on, regardless of the weather.
– The weather was very bad, but we had no choice.
The family borrowed skis and were accompanied by dad Rosvold, one of his sons and another man.
In bad weather with poor visibility, the family with their two little girls, Liv (10) and Harriet (5), set course for Southern Norway’s highest border mountain: Sylan.
– We struggled up the steep mountain towards the border.
Remember the feeling eighty years later
After almost two weeks on the run, the family finally make it across the national border to Sweden.
– Then we were happy! Then we thought we were going to eat chocolate and all kinds of goodies, says the 90-year-old excitedly – even eighty years later.
At the Swedish tourist station, the parents persuaded the caretaker to let them stay, who finally allowed the family to spend the night in a cabin.
AFTER THE WAR: Here is Liv back in Norway. Photo: Private
From there, the father called the sheriff, who sent a military patrol to pick them up on the mountain.
– It had been a three-day long march for us on foot, but they came with skis and sleds, which I got to sit in.
After a short stay at the collection center for Norwegian refugees in Sweden, Kjesäter, the family traveled to their grandmother in Stockholm.
– Eventually we moved to Norrköping, where we lived for the rest of the war.
The mother’s family was killed
When the war ended and Norway became free on 8 May 1945, the small family returned to Trondheim.
– It was wonderful to come home again! I remember so well when we arrived in June, the sun was up in the evening and we saw the Trondheimsfjord again.
Although the joy was great, there was great sadness over the family’s loss.
KILLED: This was the Fisher family. Only Liv’s mother and her one sister survived. Photo: Private
Life Despite this, Astrid Bakken has had a good life, with education from abroad, has been active, has a husband and three children.
