Witness Against Tyranny: Odd Nansen in the Age of Hitler

Odd Nansen was an architect, humanitarian, and political prisoner who endured years in the Nazi concentration camps Grini and Sachsenhausen. A son of Norway’s celebrated explorer and statesman Fridtjof Nansen, he cofounded Nansenhjelp (Nansen Relief), aiding Europe’s persecuted minorities and refugees. His efforts to rescue European Jews and his opposition to the Quisling government led to his arrest in 1942.

While imprisoned, Nansen secretly kept a diary, accompanied by drawings made in the camps. Published postwar, the illustrated diary provides powerful testimony to his humanity amid the horrors of imprisonment. After his release, Nansen continued helping Europe’s suffering populations—now including even the defeated German population.

In this richly illustrated first biography, Anne Ellingsen demonstrates why Odd Nansen deserves recognition in his own right. His humanity, complete with foibles and flaws, emerges through his own writings, recollections by contemporaries, archival sources, and interviews conducted by the author.