Rotvold Markus

Nikolai & Anny Nilsen and their children Edmund, Nordal, Jenny and Pauline Markus Rotvold Kare Kleivan The Smith family lived in Tromso, in the north of Norway. The parents of Herman (born 1907) had emigrated from the Baltic countries, first to Scotland, where they changed their name from Scmitke to Smith, and then to Norway, where Herman was born. After the German occupation of Norway, Herman warned his fellow Jews in the small community of Tromso of what he believed to be a great danger. He decided not to wait and soon after the occupation of Norway took his family – his non-Jewish wife and his two daughters and left. This proved to be most prudent – Tromso had a strategic importance since it was one of the only two harbors in the area where the water didn’t freeze in winter and that therefore could operate all year round. Therefore the Jews of Tromso were arrested before the first roundups in Oslo. The Smiths went to Balsford, situated 80 km. from Tromso, where they stayed with their friends, Nikolai and Anny Nilsen. There were no Jews in the small town, and their hosts kept the presence of their guests a secret from their neighbors. Three weeks later the family decided to flee to Sweden. Nordal Nilsen took them to Skibotin, where they began to walk on foot with Nordal leading the way. He helped them carry their belongings and crossed the mountains with them. At some point he gave them directions and returned home. The Smiths continued their journey. On the way they came across Markus Rotvold (aged 25) and Kare Kleivan (aged 23), who had left their homes in Tromso and wanted to leave Norway so as to join the Allied forces in order to fight against Nazi Germany. The Smiths were exhausted from the long trek, and the two Norwegian youngsters decided to help them. Although this slowed them down, they decided to stay with the Jewish family and help them and carry the two girls in their arms. Soon after they reached Cavi, where they stayed for severalmonths and then crossed to Finland. It was in Finland that Bergliot Smith received word that her sister had died in Tromso, leaving two young orphans. She was extremely anxious and Herman decided to return with his family to Norway. In January 1941 they were back at the Nilsen home in Balsford. Edmond Nilsen would travel back and forth to Tromso and take messages and letters from Herman to his friends and acquaintances. Finally the family returned to Tromso. However in June 1941 all Jewish men, including Herman were arrested and taken to a nearby camp in Sydspissen. From there Herman was taken to the Grini concentration camp near Oslo and had to perform slave labor in paving roads. On 26 November 1942 Herman Smith was deported to Poland. The deportees were put on the ships Donau and Monte Rosa, taken to Stettin, where they were put on a train to Auschwitz. On arrival, 345 of that transport were sent directly to the gas chambers and the remaining 186 became prisoners in Birkenau, among them Herman Smith. He lived for another two and a half months and finally died of the terrible conditions on 13 February 1943. Until the end of her life, Begliot Smith blamed herself for having caused her husband’s death by convincing him to return to Norway. Shortly after her husband’s arrest, Bergliot gave birth to a son. Being the wife of a deported Jew she had to report to the police daily. She stayed with her three children at the Nilsen home until the end of the war. After the war Bergliot Smith moved to Oslo and joined the Jewish community. The two daughters of her eldest daughter Eva immigrated to Israel. When Kare Kleivan reached his 80th birthday, his family and friends asked him what he would like to have as a present. Kleivan responded that he wanted to have a monument to be erected in his hometown Tromso in memory of the 17 Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. His wish was fulfilled, and the monument was built in the town’s central square. On 22 January2006 Yad Vashem recognized Nikolai & Anny Nilsen and their children Edmund, Nordal, Jenny and Pauline and Markus Rotvold and Kare Kleivan as Righteous Among the Nations.