Norway’s largest newspaper is afraid the country is losing its
Jews.
“Norway is in danger of becoming a country without a Jewish
population,” the daily Aftenposten wrote in an editorial over the weekend
calling on the state to provide more protection for the Jews in the country who
are affiliated with the two synagogues there – one in Oslo, and the other in
Trondheim.
According to the paper, half of the membership fees from the
Oslo synagogue go to security. That synagogue was the target of a shooting
attack in 2006.
“Twice the congregation has applied to the Ministry of
Justice for support to safeguard the congregation’s buildings. Twice they have
been met with a refusal,” Aftenposten wrote. “Minister of Justice Grethe Faremo
now confirms the ministry has an intention to reassess the synagogue’s security.
This should be natural after the prime minister’s Holocaust speech about nobody
being forced to feel unsafe about their religion in Norway.”
Two weeks
ago Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stolenberg said during a speech on
International Holocaust Remembrance Day that “without relieving the Nazis of
their responsibility, it is time for us to acknowledge that Norwegian policemen
and other Norwegians took part in the arrest and deportation of Jews. Today I
feel it is fitting for me to express our deepest apologies that this could
happen on Norwegian soil.”
Stolenberg said 772 Jews were arrested and
deported during the Holocaust, and only 34 survived. He also said that Norwegian
Jews today say they are living in fear, “afraid to be visible as
Jews.”
“We cannot accept this in Norway,” he said. “No one should have to
hide their faith, cultural identity or sexual orientation.” Stolenberg said
Norway needed to be a safe place for Jews, and that “no one – no individual, no
minority – should have to live in fear in this country.”
According to
Aftenposten, less than half of the country’s Jews are affiliated with either of
the country’s two synagogues, and these congregations have lost 20 percent of
their members over the last decade.
The paper put the number of Jews
affiliated with the two synagogues at 819, and said “the numbers are dropping
due to migration and marriage out of the community.”
But, the paper
wrote, some people are not affiliating because of the fear of being “visible as
a Jews.” If that is true it is a sign of Norway’s “bankruptcy,” Aftenposten
wrote, adding that the country had a responsibility to protect people subject to
violence because of their religious affiliation.