Nielssen Finn & Valdis

Follestad, Einar Follestad, Agnes Wilhelmsen, Agnes Wilhelmsen, Carl Bonnevie, Alfhild Bryn, Harald Bryn, Nanti Nielssen, Finn Nielssen, Valdis Nine Norwegian citizens saved a number of Jews from Oslo, including Herman Raskow and his pregnant wife, Fanny. According to the testimony of Fanny Raskow, her husband, Herman, was in hiding at Hadeland about an hour’s drive outside of Oslo, in October 1942. One day, her neighbor, Einar Follestad knocked at her door, asking where Herman was. Fanny told him that she was very worried because someone had threatened to denounce her husband. Einar suggested that the Raskow couple come live temporarily at his apartment as soon as Herman came home. The Follestads were active members of the Pentecostal movement and were owners of a men’s clothing store. Agnes, Einar’s wife phoned her parents, Agnes and Carl Wilhelmsen to ask for their help in finding a safe refuge for the Raskows. The Wilhelmsens already knew that their daughter was worried about her Jewish neighbors because she had told them about it in her last visit and asked them then to help. They immediately invited the Raskows to come stay with them. At the same time, Agnes Follestad’s sister, Alfhild Bonnevie, who lived in Sogn, but had come to visit her parents in Oslo, prepared an escape route for the Raskows. She turned to Harald and Nanti Bryn for a contact to help the Raskows cross the border to Sweden. They arranged a hiding place for the couple with the painter and art critic in Dagbladet, Finn Nielssen and his wife Valdis. Mrs. Raskow’s brother Israel (Rolle) Scheen also found refuge with the Wilhelmsens for one night and then joined his sister at the Nielssens’ apartment. Every night the Bryns would come over and bring food and discuss the escape route to Sweden. After several days, Finn Nielssen himself was in danger of denunciation, so they had to leave the house and he himself went into hiding. During the following two months, the persecuted familychanged hiding places a few times until they were taken across the border to freedom. Fanny Raskow gave birth to a daughter, Irene (later Levin) two month later, in March 1943, in Sweden. Fanny’s mother and her sister were also helped by the couples Follestad, Wilhelmsen and Bryn. On August 10, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Einar and Agnes Follestad, Agnes and Carl Wilhelmsen, Alfhild Bonnevie, Harald and Nanti Bryn and Finn and Valdis Nielssen, as Righteous Among the Nations.