Bjørn Westlie

Bjørn Westlie
Photo from 2014
Born (1949-07-23) 23 July 1949 (age 75)
NationalityNorwegian
Occupation(s)Journalist, historian, university college lecturer and non-fiction writer
SpouseAnne Hege Simonsen
AwardsBrage Prize (2008)

Bjørn Petter Westlie (born 23 July 1949) is a Norwegian journalist, historian, university college lecturer and non-fiction writer.

Career

In 1995, as a journalist for the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, Westlie published a major article about the looting of the Norwegian Jews during the Second World War.[1] In many cases the survivors were not able to reclaim any valuables, businesses or properties.

Together with historian Bjarte Bruland’s research this article started a public settlement process ending with the Government giving financial compensation and issuing a public apology.[citation needed]

In most of his books Westlie has focused on the Second World War. Maktens ansikt (The Face of Power) from 1991 is a portrait of Milorg leader and later politician Jens Chr. Hauge. In 2002 he published Oppgjør: I skyggen av Holocaust (Revisitation – In the Shadow of the Holocaust). Fars krig (My Father’s War) from 2008 told the story about his father, who was an SS volunteer.[1] This book received the Brage Prize for non-fiction for 2008,[2] and was later translated into Ukrainian.[1]

His book, Fangene som forsvant. NSB og slavearbeiderne på Nordlandsbanen (The Disappeared Prisoners. NSB (Norwegian State Railways) and the Slave Labourers on the Nordland Line) came out in 2015.[1]

In 2019 he published the book Det norske jødehatet: propaganda og presse under okkupasjonen.[1]

Radicalism

For about ten years, from 1974 and onward, Bjørn Westlie was a member of the Workers' Communist Party. In interviews he has described his activism mainly as a reaction to the Vietnam War. According to himself, Westlie has repeatedly been rethinking his own embrace of extreme political movements when trying to decipher his father’s choices.[3]

Personal life

Westlie was born on 23 July 1949.[1]

Bjørn Westlie lives in Oslo.[citation needed] He is married to researcher, journalist, university college lecturer and writer Anne Hege Simonsen.[3] As of 2013 he had two daughters and one grandchild.[3]

Selected works

  • 1988: I grenselandet: når forskning flytter grensen mellom liv og død.,[1] Universitetsforlaget
  • 1991: Maktens ansikt: et portrett av Jens Chr. Hauge[1] – with Alf Ole Ask, Gyldendal
  • 1995: Drømmen om det perfekte mennesket. Fra arvehygiene til genhygiene, Gyldendal
  • 1996: Coming to terms with the past: The process of restitution of Jewish property in Norway, Institute of the World Jewish Congress
  • 2002: Oppgjør – I skyggen av Holocaust, Aschehoug[1]
  • 2008: Fars krig, Aschehoug[1]
  • 2012: Hitlers norske budbringere, Aschehoug[1]
  • 2015: Fangene som forsvant. NSB og slavearbeiderne på Nordlandsbanen, Spartacus
  • 2019: Det norske jødehatet - propaganda og presse under okkupasjonen, Res Publica[1]
  • 2022: Mørke år. Norge og jødene på 1930-tallet, Res Publica

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Svendsen, Trond Olav; Herzog, Ingvild Christine. "Bjørn Westlie". In Bolstad, Erik (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  2. ^ Nilsen, Anne Grete. "Brageprisen". In Bolstad, Erik (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Hoffengh, Sissel (9 February 2013). "Oppgjørets svime - Dagsavisen" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
Awards
Preceded by Recipient of the Brage Prize for prose
2008 		Succeeded by