Senter for studier av Holocaust og livssynsminoriteter
- The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies
- Holocaustsenteret
- HL-Senteret
- CHMS
- The Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities
Address
Phone
+47 (0)22 84 21 45
+47 (0)22 84 21 11
History
The center was established in 2001 as a result of a year-long process concerning the liquidation of the Norwegian Jews' economical status during the Second World War.
In the beginning of 2005, the center moved to the historical building of Villa Grande. Villa Grande was during World War II the residence of the Norwegian collaborator and Nazi-leader, Vidkun Quisling. Villa Grande was then known as "Gimle", referring to the heavenly place in Asgard within Norse mythology.
With this symbolic act of re-appropriation, the center transforms the image of this monumental building. Once a house of shame it is now filled with activities in strong contrast to its former role.
Mandates/Sources of Authority
The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies has two main fields of interest: the Holocaust on the one hand and religious minorities on the other. Within these two fields of interest the Center contributes new research, education and information activities, exhibitions and conferences.
The center conducts research within the fields of (1) Jewish History and Antisemitism; (2) Religious Minorities; (3) Nazism, Fascism and Occupation Regimes in Europe and (4) Comparative Genocide.
Archival and Other Holdings
Established in 2004 as a unit for documentation and knowledge, the library is a cornerstone in the HL-center’s research and dissemination activities.
The main topics in the library collection are:
- Holocaust and other genocides
- Religions and life stances
- Minorities
The collection includes books, journals, movies, speech and sound recordings, and some private archives. We have access to international databases, e.g. Testaments to the Holocaust. The library works with other Norwegian and international libraries with an inter-library loan programme.
The Center also preserves a small archival collection. The collection consists of private archives, mainly regarding individual Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Norway. A substantial part of the material has been digitized and registered on the Norwegian archival online service, Digitalarkivet. Metadata is also available on the national archival search service, Arkivportalen.
Opening Times
The Center is open between 10 am and 4 pm every day. Cafe Villa Grande is open Tuesday-Sunday between 10.30 am and 3.30 pm.
The library is open by appointment.
Conditions of Access
The Center’s archives are physically and digitally accessible for researchers and students by appointment and written application.
Research Services
The centre provides individual assistance and is happy to support our users in literature and reference searches, as well as identifying articles from other collections.