To whom it May concern

"To whom it may concern" – it was this phrase that was on the Jews' slip when they were released from the German death camps after World War II. Thus, the title was clear to the Norwegian author and translator Arnold Jacoby. That also applies to you was first published in 1976 by JW Cappelen Forlag.

The red shelf in the bookshelf has remained untouched for several years. Page on page with letter from the author. The writing, with two dots over the islands, shines on me. The headline requires me to bring them up – "To whom it may concern". It's you and me, that.

Capture No. 79235

Arnold Jacoby was born 1913 in New York and died 2002 in Larvik. His first book was created by a bet. Among the later books came the book about the Jewish childhood friend Herman – recounted Arnold – a story that must be told again.

In front of me lies 38 years old, both handwritten and typewritten letters from the author.

Arnold's friend, Herman Sachnowitz (1921–1978), was deported during World War II, while his father and sisters Marie, Rita and Frida were sent straight to the gas chambers. The family on the farm Gjein in Stokke were taken aboard the "ship that will end in a nightmare in the notorious concentration camp Auschwitz, where the SS amused themselves by throwing crusts on the ground that the prisoners dragged each other to get hold of. »His four brothers are also killed as a result of the occupation during the death march of the Buna Camp on January 18, 1945.

It will take many years for Herman to tell. Before the introduction is ready.

"For thirty years I have postponed writing about my lost youth. I have not had the health to do so; there are points in life, small, hard knots one does not dare to touch for fear that everything will fall apart. Nor have I felt the task adult; to portray something that no one can portray, to make others understand the incomprehensible. The attempt is doomed to fail, but – still I have to tell what I remember best. I owe it to all my dead, "says Herman.

In the years 1958-1976 he tells his friend Arnold as much as he can remember.

Correspondence between student and author

In front of me lies the 38-year-old handwritten and typewritten letter from the author. They were sent to me when I was a young schoolboy with a special assignment in front of me. "... myself I'm not an interesting person to write about. A good tip: Make it short! ”

He tells me he's become shy because so easily misunderstandings and mistakes occur, but he chooses to tell – and lets me use the substance as it suits me.

"I was born in N.York 1912, by Norwegian parents," he begins. The letters have been read through – corrected with small handwritten overlays and small additions.

"The Jewish problem has interested me for as long as I can remember. Maybe it started with an episode in 4th or 5th grade in elementary school. For an hour when we had the 'manager' as our teacher, the door to the classroom was suddenly torn open, and a bloody boy in ragged clothes was thrown in by a furious teacher. The boy's name was Elias and he was an older brother of Herman Sachnowitz. He had gotten into an argument with another boy, and then they had all thrown themselves at him. The question of guilt was probably doubtful, but the manager also took sides with him without further ado, which upset me. Since then, I have been transmitting this to all Jews, and I'm pretty sure it was contributing when I decided to write the book about Herman.

"What happened to him again, and it does not necessarily apply only to the Jews."
- Arnold Jacoby

He is still concerned about the situation of the Jews at the time of our exchange of letters. He wished that the then prime minister of Israel, Menachem Begin – who ruled the country between 1977-1983 – did not make it so difficult for his people:

"I'm afraid the Jews lose sympathy because of him."

Why exactly were the Jews persecuted?

"If we could find the answer to this, we would have solved one of history's greatest mysteries. Some say it was because of Christ, but Nazi Germany was 'unchristian', and we find Jewish persecution many years before the birth of Christ. How old are the Jewish persecutions? Why was the Jew just brought to Egypt? Why were they taken to Babylonia? Why have we been persecuted by Jews and anti-Semitism in most European countries and also in other countries? It was not Hitler who created anti-Semitism. It was there (and is there), and it was only for him to put it into practice, because it was useful to national socialism. Anti-Semitism is a many thousand-year-old monster with feet deep in the unfathomable night of the human mind. "

We could talk about this for a long time, he continues.

"I am afraid that the attitudes here in Norway are also more widespread than we have thought so far. One famous American singer (negress), who is one of my friends, once said to me: 'You have enough of the Negro hat here too, but you do it in a different way. In all kindness, it is as if you are saying: Aren't we magnanimous receiving you as nicely as we do? ""

Tribute – and one critic

"It's rare that the printed word moves his lonely reader so he bursts into tears – It also applies to you, have this power, ”wrote Erik Egeland in Aftenposten in 1978.

Two years later, Jacoby sends me an essay, something he doesn't want to publish "for reasons I don't want to get into here." He asks me to use the information I want, but emphasizes that they are just for me. "I kindly ask you to return all the fabric as soon as possible after use." I did that.

When the letter was written, the book was published in the fourth edition in Germany. He is radiant and uses exclamation points: "Germany!" Jacoby has received good reviews everywhere, but a statement from Johan Borgen in Dagbladet has obviously stuck.

Borgen has responded to the wording in Jacoby's book – a passage in which homosexuality was mentioned. He has written an answer essay, but it should not be published, and perhaps that is why he chooses to share it with a high school student. The letter concerns the objections of the Borg. "At that time, Borgen was very ill and down, and he was in and out of hospital with him several times a week. We must therefore apologize that in his discussion he shows a somewhat failing logic, ”Jacoby writes, explaining.

"I wrote: The only form of sexual life that could sometimes be traced among prisoners was homosexuality. The gays in our camp were scattered around the various barracks. It didn't help much. They found each other anyway. "

"But these are just plain facts!" he exclaims in the letter, clearly upset.

Jacoby further states that no one else has seen anything discriminatory in the planning. "Another thing is that for a Jew, homosexuality stood out as something inadmissible. Borgen should understand this. "

The Mosaic Faith Society confirms this in 2017 on its website. "Homosexuality is described in the Torah as a forbidden sexual relationship, and is therefore not permitted under Jewish religious law." They add that Judaism says that all people should be treated with respect, and that this of course also applies to homosexuals.

The essay Jacoby wrote about the case, is attached to the letter to me. I read and return. I get an insight into a writer's reaction to the criticism. Maybe I commented back. It was never published.

Do you think history can repeat itself?

"Yes! Therefore, it concerns us all! [...] I feel it as strongly as full conviction, what he reappears, and it does not necessarily have to apply to the Jews. ”

In an interview with Johan Fr. Heyerdahl in 1978, Sachnowitz said: "In all peoples there are good and erratic individuals. That is why I have been prepared to reach out to a new German generation to help create another future. Understanding and tolerance are two necessary keywords to contribute to a better world. ”

The book about Sachnowitz was later mentioned when I wrote the youth book in 2002 My name is Nameless – about identity, foreign cultures and being different. I acquired the Jacoby epilogue – because it concerns us.