My Father’s War is simultaneously a history of the Nazi occupation of Norway in World War II and a son’s sincere attempt to understand the silences, motivations, and experiences of an estranged father. In this carefully researched book, combining family memoir and historical retelling, Bjørn Westlie uncovers his father’s actions as a volunteer soldier for the Waffen-SS, the military wing of the infamous Schutzstaffel (SS), in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Balancing his role as both son and critical investigator, Westlie unflinchingly interrogates his father’s fascist convictions, which speak to the appeal Hitler’s ideology held for a small, disgraced segment of Norway’s mid-century population. A story of collaboration, tragedy, and treason, My Father’s War reveals the little-known history of Norway's frontkjempere (front fighters), the atrocities the Waffen-SS committed against Ukrainian Jews, and the complex legacies of ethnonationalism in Norway. 

With an insightful introduction from translator Dean Krouk, My Father’s War is a contemporary classic of war literature. Committed to genuine understanding without falling into undue sympathizing, this sober and reflective book presents an eye-opening, moving, intense, and necessary account of the allure of fascism in a world at war—and its personal costs.

Bjørn Westlie, who has worked as a journalist and historian, is the author of Oppgjør i skyggen av Holocaust (Reckoning in the Shadow of the Holocaust) and four other books. 

Dean Krouk, associate professor of Scandinavian studies at the University of Wisconsin–
Madison, is the author of two books, including The Making of an Antifascist: Nordahl Grieg between the World Wars.

Translator’s Introduction
 
 
Prologue: The Little Wooden Box from Ukraine   
 
PART ONE
1. The Attack
2. The Transformation
3. The Path to the SS
4. The Soldier Factory
5. The Storm
6. Limitless Brutality
7. The Long, Cold Winter
8. Honor and Allegiance
 
PART TWO
9. Punishment
10. Fear
 
PART THREE
11.  Black Dogs
12.  The Good, Difficult Discussion
 
Epilogue: The Secret of the Little Wooden Box
 
Notes
Bibliography