During World War II, millions of Jews from all over Europe are deported and killed in German concentration camps. When the German troops invade Norway, the Norwegian Jews feel safe and protected. But anti-Semitism knows no borders and as the war escalates in Europe, the situation changes drastically. Suddenly, their radios are taken away; their passports are stamped with a big J and one day, all the men men over the age of 15 are arrested and taken to prisons camps. Many of the women left behind are too frightened to escape and are desperately waiting for their husbands and sons to come back home. On November 26, 1942, hundreds of Jews are picked up by the police in the middle of the night and are transported to the dock in Oslo. Unknowing and frightened men, women, children, sick and old are forced on board the awaiting German cargo ship "SS DONAU". The ship leaves with 532 Norwegian Jews onboard; 302 men, 188 women and 42 children. The end station is Auschwitz.
Acting
Kujath Thorp's Ragnhild shatters—watch her face as she realizes.
Direction
Svensson makes the banality of deportation feel personal, not statistical.
Production
The SS Donau itself: a floating coffin rendered in harrowing detail.
Director
Eirik Svensson
Jakob Oftebro
Charles
Silje Storstein
Helene Braude
Carl Martin Eggesbø
Harry Braude
Michalis Koutsogiannakis
Benzel Braude
Kristine Kujath Thorp
Ragnhild
Anders Danielsen Lie
Knut Rød
Nicolai Cleve Broch
Leirkommandant
Pia Halvorsen
Sara Braude
Axel Bøyum
Leirvakt
Mads Ousdal
Karl Marthinsen
Robert Skjærstad
Haakon Høst
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
Amalie Laksov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Eirik Svensson spent years securing the actual dock where the SS Donau departed; the concrete still bears 1942 scratches.
Norway's 1998 official apology for Holocaust participation came after decades of silence—this film helped reopen that wound.
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