Bjørn Westlie

Norwegian journalist, historian, university college lecturer and non-fiction writer

Bjørn Westlie
Photo from 2014
Born	(1949-07-23) 23 July 1949 (age 74)
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation(s)	Journalist, historian, university college lecturer and non-fiction writer
Spouse	Anne Hege Simonsen
Awards	Brage 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

References

^ ^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.
^ Nilsen, Anne Grete. "Brageprisen". In Bolstad, Erik (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
^ ^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.