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On Wednesday, several descendants of opponents met with attorney John Christian Elden. They are considering lawsuits against authors Marte Michelet and Gyldendal if the book is not withdrawn.
– We have received a clear signal to proceed with the case. We want Gyldendal to correct obvious errors in the book, attorney Elden says after the meeting.
The allegations of the relatives are not true, says the author Marte Michelet to the newspaper Sunnmørsposten.
Photo: BERIT ROALD / NTB
He believes there is a basis for a libel lawsuit against the publisher.
Expression: History fakes hit Gyldendal’s reputation
– Deeply unfair
On the way to the meeting, Jens Christian Hauge Jr. claims that Michelet has mistakenly hung up his father.
He is the son of Jens Christian Hauge, who was the leader of the Milorg resistance group during the war. After the war, Hauge was Minister of Defense and was instrumental when Norwegian heavy water was sold to Israel as part of its nuclear weapons program.
– It’s deeply unfair. My parents were Jewish friends, with us it was “Jews could do nothing wrong.”
Hauge Jr. believes that the author has omitted essential information to point the book in a certain direction.
– There’s a lot to react to. Michelet believes what he writes, but believing is not enough. When you take someone off the pedestal, you have to know better, says Hauge.
Jens Christian Hauge’s son was not alone in the meeting. There was also the grandson of Gunnar “Kjakan” Sønsteby, grandson of Bishop E claim Berggrav and son of Ragnar Ulstein.
After the meeting, the descendants want Elden to comment on their behalf.
Elden says they have a basis for legal action, but hopes the case will be resolved out of court.
My jødane blei svikta
The book “What did the home front know?” that arrived in 2018 has created a lot of debate. 773 Jews were deported from Norway during World War II. Only 38 survived.
Michelet has challenged the heroic representation of the Norwegian home front and believes they are betraying the Jews. The book shows that anti-Semitic attitudes prevailed before and during the war. Now the debate about the book has arisen after three historians in their own book objected to the use of sources and Michelet’s presentation.
The book claims to have serious errors
Anders Ulstein is the son of the opponent Ragnar Ulstein. He is critical of the book by Marte Michelet and wants him to retire.
Photo: Remi Sagen / NRK
Anders Ulstein is the son of war hero and author Ragnar Ulstein, who died last year. Ulstein reacts strongly to the accusations that appear in the book of Mars Michelet. His father also criticized the book before he died, saying that Michelet did not understand the story.
– The book is full of serious errors and this is a book that will remain both in the library and in the syllabus. We cannot have it so that the image we have of war is turned upside down, says Anders Ulstein.
His father spent much of his life telling about the war and feels that the book is a frontal attack on history.
The relatives write in a chronicle that the book owes their parents and grandparents for having betrayed the Jews on purpose.
The publisher is not recognized
Publisher Gyldendal says they are impressed that the bereaved are considering going to court, but the publisher is confident they have done a good job on the book.
– It is a description in which we do not recognize ourselves. This is a work that the author and editor has worked with for many years, and we are continuing this work based on the new comments and recordings that have now come through in this discussion. If there are errors in the book, we will of course correct them.
NRK has given Marte Michelet the opportunity to respond to the criticism. She refers to the editor for comment on lawsuits.
She wrote in an email to Sunnmørsposten on Tuesday that the family members’ allegations are not true. She herself experiences that the historians’ counterbook gives a distorted picture of what she has written, according to the newspaper.
