The beautiful and democratic Norway has taken itself into an unnecessary problem due to a decision made by the Royal family (or by King Harald V and his wife, Queen Sonia’s, advisers): celebrating a Nazi writer. The excuse given is based on the need of differentiating the quality of a literary work and the vileness of a personal conduct. A criminal can also be a good artist and the examples are numerous. Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian novelist who won the Nobel Prize in 1920. His fame however was acquired much earlier, due to his works Hunger (1890) and Pan (1894).

As in every human issue, the subject is not as simple as black and white. Therefore it is necessary to reflect upon its nuances. This year would be Hamsun’s 150th birthday, a round number that could as well inspire one celebration or two. But is it sufficient to put up an exclusive museum, organize several activity programs on his homage and dedicate the entire year to his memory? In Hamaroy, north of the Polar Circle and where the writer lived for a certain period of his life, the Hamsun Center will be inaugurated, with a spectacular tower designed by Holl. The city of Grimstad, north of Norway, will also honor him with a square and a monument. What is intriguing is that since March 2009, Norway chairs a task force comprised of twenty-seven nations dedicated to the international cooperation on educating and preserving the memory of the Holocaust.

Knut Hamsun wasn’t just any average Nazi sympathizer. He vigorously supported national-socialism, stood up for the German invasion of Norway in 1940, supported the government of Quisling (which name is now a synonym of traitor in Norway) and contributed for the deportation of Jews to death camps. In order that no doubts would still be raised about his ideology, Hamsun personally gave his Nobel Prize award to Joseph Goebbels in 1943. Still not satisfied, after the war was over and its atrocities revealed to the world, he wrote an obituary for Hitler, describing him as a ”fighter for humanity and for the rights of all nations”. Until his death in 1952, he never regretted his actions.

Vidkun Quisling was judged as a national traitor and sentenced to death by a firing squad. Hamsun almost had the same fate: he was also judged as a national traitor, but eventually escaped from death penalty. What is curious is that these judgments took place in the courts of Grismtad, the same city that now looks at a monument being built in its square.

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation’s president wrote a harsh protest letter to Queen Sonia, who has been supporting these honors, and princess Mette-Marit, proclaimed as ”patron” of the festivities. ”There were many Nazi geniuses, but I do not know about anyone who has been honored by Heads of States”, he claimed, among other statements.

The Norwegian people have been reacting with perplexity and indignation to such celebrations. One of the protests made was the ”decoration” of one of Hamsun’s monuments with flags caring the swastika symbol. They want to make clear that they have not lost their memory, as it seems to be happening to those in power.

One can argue that Norway should not forget to honor it’s Nobel Prize laureate. But the country has two more: the poet Bjomstjeme Bjornson, in 1903, and the extraordinaire chronicler and historian Sigfrid Undset, who won it in 1928.

Sigfrid Undset was the brilliant counterbalance of Hamsun. Although born in Denmark, Undset acquired the Norwegian nationality while she was still young. In 1924, she converted to Catholicism and started working as a secular teacher. Her public aversion to Nazism led her to flee to the US in 1940, when the Germans invaded her country. As soon as the war was over, she returned to Norway. Her most well-known work is a splendorous trilogy about medieval Scandinavia, entitled Kristin Lavansdatter, comprised of three volumes published between 1920 and 1922; all of them incredible original. The trilogy is a touching portrait of a woman, from her birth to her death. Later on Undset published other novels, characterized by modernist boldness, such as a flow of conscience and other techniques. Having been translated to several languages and studied by critics from all over the world, Sigfrid Undset is a paradigm of moral integrity combined with a brilliant writing talent.

Other authors have taken intermediate paths. The lists of Nazi, anti-Nazi and neutral authors are extensive, endless. Many were assassinated, other committed suicide; a few were able to survive. Names as Stefan Zweig, Walter Benjamin, Ana Frank, Emil Ludwig, Lion Feutschwanger, Imre Kertész, Primo Levi, Bertold Brecht, Iréne Némirovsky, Elías Canetti, Hermann Broch, Alfred Döblin, Thomas y Heinrich Mann, Nelly Sachs, Jorge Semprún, Gershom Scholem, Robert Musil, Joseph Roth stand out; they were all anti-Nazis who suffered the consequences of resisting.

In order to illustrate the nuances of the subject – as I proposed in the beginning of this article – let’s talk about another powerful and emblematic artist: Ernst Jünger. He wasn’t Scandinavian as Hamsun, but German, which makes it even more interesting. He was born in a mythical center of culture: Heidelberg. Ever since he was young, he was fanatically attracted to nature associated with nationalism, a rare combination that could anticipate adventures life that was ahead of him. Turning 18 years he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and fought in Africa. After that, he had an active role in the World War I, for which he was later condecorated. By the time he was 25 years old, he published Storms of Steel, where he describes his personal experiences during the time of war. This work brought him fame and recognition.

While Hitler advanced on his unstoppable quest for absolute power, Jünger took part on a complex political-cultural movement called Conservative Revolution, comprised of authors such as Karl Smitt and Oswald Spengler that were against liberalism and democracy. Jünger then published other books that increased his prestige: War as an interior experience, General mobilization and The Worker.

Nonetheless, Jünger’s refusal to embrace anti-Semitism was incomprehensible and started to get him in trouble. For this very reason he bravely turned down the invitation to take part in the German Poetry Academy, which had been purged by the Gestapo a few weeks before. He didn’t flee Germany nor the Nazis dared to touch him. And that went on until 1934, when he insolently requested the government to stop manipulating his writings, refused to take a seat in the Reichstag and published a provocative work criticizing racism. He was a headache that couldn’t be easily healed.

He was forced to participate in the World War II, when he was sent to Paris during the city’s occupation. Over there, Jünger started to go to literary salons and general places where he could smoke opium. He started socializing with military who plotted to kill Hitler and he secretly saved many Jews from the Holocaust. Around this time he wrote in his journal ”the uniform, the military honors and the shine from the guns that once I loved so much now disgust me”. In 1942, Jünger was sent to the Russian front and in 1944, after the plot of murdering Hitler had failed – plot in which Jünger secretly participated – he quit the Army after almost being executed.

During the post-war, many contradicting stories about his past began to come up and consequently Jünger was prohibited of publishing his works until 1949. Despite that, he managed to publish Der Friede ( The Peace , 1946), Atlantische Fahrt (Atlantic Journey, 1947) y Aus der Goldenen Muschel (From the Golden Shell, 1948) in Amsterdam.

In the 1950`s he became friends with Albert Hofmann, the creator of LSD, and many of Jünger books, directly or indirectly, began to reflect his personal psychedelic experiences. His publications coincided with the ones written by Aldous Huxley.

Jünger coined the term ”psiconauts” and exposed in many of his works his experiences of different kinds of substances. He received the Goethe Award in 1982, the same award given before to Sigmund Freud. One of his last works was Die Schere (The Scissors), published in 1989 when he was 95 years old. Of great historical and literary value, his journals written during World War II, Radiations, are now considered the biggest contribution to German literature in the twentieth century. He died in February 17, 1998, two weeks before his 103rd birthday and a few months after he had been converted to Catholicism.

Hamsun, Undset and Jünger comprise a curious group of authors surrounded by the poison of Nazism. They lead a procession of writers who have taken the similar paths as theirs. Nonetheless, in Hamsun’s line there are authors such as Martin Heidegger, Ferdinand Céline and many other geniuses whose brains got poisoned by alienation.

The Queen of Norway assured – after having received so many international critics – that the celebrations of the Nazi Knut Hamsun will also comprise of an extensive teaching against totalitarianism and discrimination, teaching that this fascist criminal and traitor lacked, whose only merit for so many honors is only the fact that he was born a hundred and fifty years ago.

Knut Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920, but met Hitler during the German occupation of Norway in 1943 and later wrote an positive obituary for him. He also encouraged Germany to ‘bring England to its knees’ in a wartime newspaper article. After the war, he was put on trial, but he was declared mentally incompetent and was fined rather than imprisoned.

Baruch Tenembaum, who runs the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, named after the Swedish diplomat who rescued Jews from the Holocaust, objected to the stamp, saying: ‘Celebrating the life of a Nazi, regardless of his literary merits, is despicable. Doing so through a stamp is even more obscene.

‘A stamp carries a picture, a name and a price tag. It does not come with any background information about who the man was. Millions of Norwegians will get expose to Hamsun’s stamp and the lesson they will learn is that Hamsun was a man to be worshipped. One would expect that only rol models appear on stamps. Not bigots.’

Tenembaum wrote to Norway’s government saying he was ‘astonished and concerned’. replied that the stamp ‘in no way condones Hamsun’s support for the Nazi regime. His pro-Nazi activities must continue to be condemned.’

Norway Post said: ‘There was much internal discussion before we decided to honour Hamsun’s literature with a stamp, in connection with the 150th anniversary of his birth. He is the only Norwegian writer who has won the Nobel Price for Literature and had not yet been depicted on a stamp.’

The Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jon Benjamin, said: ‘One would have hoped that the decision to include Hamsun in this issue would have been taken after discussion with all Norwegians, including Jewish ones and veterans of the fight against Nazi occupation. We are not aware of that being the case. To rehabilitate an active Nazi sympathiser, whatever his literary attributes, seems to set a dangerous precedent.’

Back on August 4th., the world celebrated the 97th birthday of a Swedish hero, Raoul Wallenberg.

At the same time, the Norwegian Royal Family and Government are throwing a one-year celebration in tribute to their writer Knut Hamsun, a Nobel laureate who betrayed his own people during WWII. While his fellow countrymen fought against the Nazis, Hamsun supported them. He even went as far as to give Goebbels his Nobel prize.

And now the Swedes. It is true that there`s is freedom of expression there, but the Swedish government would not impair such a freedom if it stated that the blood libel published in one of the nation`s tabloids, is repugnant. Let alone, it should not reprimand its Ambassador in Israel, who was brave enough to condemn this libel.

Sweden and Norway should learn a lot from Raoul Wallenberg.

Miriam Abitbol
Tel Aviv, Israel

A few weeks ago, we learned that Norway’s Royal House and Government have launched a one-year long celebration to commemorate the 150th birthday of their national writer and Nobel laureate, Knut Hamsun. Understandable if it weren’t for the fact that Hamsun was a rabious Nazi supporter, a traitor of his own corageous countrymen who fought and shed their blood against Nazism. The celebrations include a special issue of 1.5 million stamps bearing the semblance of this bigot, who gave his Nobel medal to Joseph Goebbels and even wrote an obituary after Hitler’s suicide. A big outcry came from many decent individuals and organizations, most notably from The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, an NGO which devotes itself to researching the stories of the Righteous Rescuers and creating educational programs to instill their legacies to the young generations. And now it is Sweden’s turn to be ashemed. True: Freedom of expression is a sacred value in Sweden, but the heinous blood libel fabricated by the Aftonbladet, should have least be condemned by the Swedish Government. It is a shame that both Sweden and Norway are distancing themselves from the noble tradition set by Raoul Wallenberg.

Eliahu Shamir
Tel Aviv
Israel

Norway celebrates the 150 years that have passed by since the birth of Knut Hamsun, something that has not gone internationally unnoticed.

The birthday was criticized in Israel, by Jewish organizations and now, by the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, according to the Israeli journal Haaretz.

- It is essential that the Norwegian authorities stop this validation of Nazism and act according to what the world expects from them. If they fail to do so, Norway will have to live up with the consequences of this unacceptable behavior – says Nicholas Tozer, one of the 15 members of the Foundation’s board of directors.

In a protest letter, Tozer joins himself to a group of critics composed of prestigious anti-Semitism activists who believe that Norway has been jeopardizing the spread of knowledge and consciousness about the extermination of European Jews during World War II.

Recently, Norway took over the presidency of ITF, an organization whose goal is precisely to disseminate such knowledge.

The Swedish Raoul Wallenberg saved the lives of thousands of Jewish Hungarians during the last months of the War. He was arrested by soldiers of the Red Army when they took over Budapest from the Nazis. He died some years later in jail.

All this week, Norway is feting a writer who was lucky to escape being shot for his shameless collaboration with the Nazis. Knut Hamsun was either, according to taste, one of the greatest figures in world literature, or a vile old man with a head full of nasty ideas who betrayed his country.

Not many years ago, anyone who went into a Norwegian bookshop and asked for one of Hamsun’s books was likely to get a frosty reply from across the counter. And yet he was, to be blunt, the only world-renowned novelist that country has yet produced.

This week, the town of Hamaroey, 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where Hamsun grew up, has been celebrating six consecutive ”Hamsundagene” (Hamsun Days), with seminars, meetings and exhibitions dedicated to the writer, to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth.

The festivities kicked off on Tuesday, with the formal opening of Norway’s first Knut Hamsun museum, by Crown Princess Mette-Marit and the Culture Minister, Trond Giske. There is a musical in preparation, based on his work, and his face will appear for the first time on a Norwegian postage stamp.

Getting the museum to open has taken 15 years of planning and prevarication, because of Hamsun’s appalling behaviour in old age. The design, by the American architect Steven Holl, won the Progressive Architecture Award as far back as 1996 but it took until 2007 for the government to allocate the money, as it grappled between its anxiety to remember a fabulous writer, and to forget a traitor.

His case poses an old question about art and morality – whether it is permissible, or even possible, to enjoy the music of Carl Orff, or the poetry of Ezra Pound, or Hamsun’s fiction, and overlook the sort of people that they were in life.

Baruch Tenembaum, who founded the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, named in honour of a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps during the Second World War, thinks not. He has written to the Norwegian government to say that he was ”astonished and concerned” that they should be celebrating a man who collaborated with ”one of the most sinister regimes in history”.

Mr Tenembaum told Reuters: ”We cannot understand how Norwegians can honour someone who was a criminal and was inciting crimes.

”Hamsun was a great writer, so what? What is more important – art or integrity? It is a bit like if someone said that since Hitler was a good painter, why don’t we honour him?”

Except, of course, that Hitler was not a good painter, whereas Hamsun was a giant of world literature. What Edvard Grieg was to music, or Henrik Ibsen to drama, or Edvard Munch to art, Hamsun was to literature. The French writer André Gide put him on a par with Dostoevsky, but thought Hamsun was the more subtle. Ernest Hemingway urged F Scott Fitzgerald to study him. To Isaac Bashevis Singer he was the ”father of modern literature”.

Hamsun’s best-known novel, Hunger, first published in 1890, has never been out of print and it is still sold in the UK. It is the fictionalised memoir of a youth driven by an ambition to write who is starving to death in what was then the capital of Norway, Christiana. Utterly wrapped up in himself, and interested in no one else, he is completely alone in a crowded city.

The author had no literary training. But his collaboration with the Nazis cannot be put down to ignorance, or compared with the case of PG Wodehouse, a political innocent who found himself living under Nazi occupation and who later confessed that he had been a complete fool to agree to broadcast on German radio. Hamsun’s Nazi sympathies were the natural outcome of prejudices he had harboured for years. He did not like big cities and had mystic ideas about men and people returning to their ancient rural roots, which chimed with Nazi mythology.

He was a life-long admirer of German culture. He backed the Germans in the First World War, supported Norway’s fascist movement in the 1930s, and when Norway was under Nazi occupation, he met Hitler and gave Goebbels the Nobel Prize Medal for Literature that he had been awarded in 1920.

Neither did he relent or apologise when the war was over. A week after Hitler committed suicide, Hamsun wrote an obituary praising him as ”a warrior for mankind”, ”a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations” and ”a reformer of the highest sort”.

He was arrested in 1945 and it was only the fact that he was then aged 85, and the suspicion that he had gone soft in the head, that protected him from the prospect of joining Norway’s wartime prime minister, Vidrun Quisling, in front of a firing squad. Instead, his property was confiscated, he was put under psychiatric observation, and died, disgraced but unrepentant, in 1952, aged 92. The government insists that nothing about this week’s celebrations is intended to excuse or obscure Hamsun’s ghastly politics. Norway’s Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere, insisted: ”The Hamsun anniversary in no way condones Hamsun’s support for the Nazi regime. He received massive condemnation for this after the war and his pro-Nazi activities must continue to be condemned.”

There is no attempt to gloss over Hamsun’s Nazi sympathies in the events commemorating his anniversary, the minister said. ”Democracy and the education of future generations will best be served by being completely frank about these divergent aspects of Hamsun’s life.”

But Mr Tenembaum retorted: ”We can declare a year of commemorations, issue a stamp, write a musical – and then we say we are doing it to educate people about the Nazis.”

On the wrong side: Artists who erred

• PG Wodehouse was trapped in occupied France in 1940, travelled to Berlin and made five humorous broadcasts on German radio. It did not cross his mind that he would be considered a traitor. Despite a huge public outcry, he was cleared, and received a knighthood shortly before his death in 1975. But he never returned to the UK.
• Ezra Pound, one of the greatest American poets of the century, met Mussolini in 1933, and spent the war in Italy making hysterical anti-Semitic, pro-fascist broadcasts. Arrested in 1945, he narrowly escaped execution and spent 12 years in a hospital for the criminally insane.
• Carl Orff, composer of the raunchy opera Carmina Burana, lived and prospered in Germany throughout the Third Reich, but lied his way out of trouble by fooling a de-Nazification court into believing that he had joined the White Rose resistance movement.

Organisers of the tribute said some 2,500-3,000 people, led by Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Culture Minister Trond Giske, officially opened the Hamsun Centre on Tuesday in Harnaroey, a coastal town in Northern Norway where the author grew up.

”We cannot understand how Norwegians can honour someone who was a criminal and was inciting crimes,” said Baruch Tenembaum, the founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

The foundation is named for a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps during World War Two.

”Hamsun was a great writer, so what? What is more important – art or integrity?” Tenembaum told Reuters by telephone.

Hamsun, who died in 1952, gained fame for Hunger, a semi-autobiographical novel from 1890 about a starving young writer’s path towards insanity.

He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1920 for his work Growth of the Soil, but the Wallenberg Foundation says that in 1943 he dedicated the prize to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

When World War Two ended with the destruction of the Nazis, he wrote a laudatory obituary for Hitler published by Norwegian daily Aftenposten where he described the dictator as a ”warrior for humanity”.

After the war he refused to renounce his Nazi sympathies and was sent for treatment in a psychiatric hospital.

Over the next year, Norway plans to commemorate Hamsun’s literary achievements through exhibits and even a musical based on his work, drawing criticism from groups who say the jubilee glorifies a once active supporter of Nazism.

In a letter to Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, Tenembaum said he was ”astonished and concerned” about tributes to a supporter of ”one of the most sinister regimes in history”.

In his reply, Stoere wrote: ”The Hamsun anniversary in no way condones Hamsun’s support for the Nazi regime. He received massive condemnation for this after the war and his pro-Nazi activities must continue to be condemned.”

Stoere said that through public debate about Hamsun, Norwegians gained ”a nuanced and critical view of him, both as an acclaimed author and a person who sided with the Nazis”.

Norway spent most of the war under Nazi rule but is proud of its partisan efforts to help the Allies in Europe’s far north.

Stoere said full reference was made to Hamsun’s Nazi sympathies at exhibitions and that ”democracy and the education of future generations will best be served by being completely frank about these divergent aspects of Hamsun’s life”.

Tenembaum disagreed, saying: ”It is a bit like if someone said that since Hitler was a good painter, why don’t we honour him?

”We can declare a year of commemorations, issue a stamp, write a musical – and then we say we are doing it to educate people about the Nazis.”

According to the organizers, around 2,500 and 3,500 people attended on Tuesday to the official opening ceremony of the Hamsun Center in Harnaroey, a little coastal village in northern Norway where the author grew up. The ceremony was led by Princess Mette-Marit and Minister of Culture, Mr. Trond Giske.

”We cannot understand how Norway can pay such homage to someone who was a criminal and encouraged crime”, said Baruch Tenembaum, the founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

The name of the foundation alludes to a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

”Hamsun was a great writer, but so what? What is more important, art or integrity?”, Tenembaum told Reuters by the phone.

Hamsun, who died in 1952, earned his fame for ”Hunger”, a semi-autobiographical novel written in 1890 about the road to madness of a young starving writer.

He won the Nobel Prize in 1920 for his work ”Growth of the Soil”, but the Wallenberg Foundation states that in 1943 the writer dedicated his award to German propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

After the end of the War and the Nazi regime destruction, Hamsun wrote Hitler a passionate obituary in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, describing him as a ”warrior for mankind”.

Once the war was over, Hamsun refused to abandon his predilection for the Nazi doctrine and was sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

During the next year, Norway plans to celebrate the literary achievements of Hamsun through several exhibitions and even with a musical based on his work, causing many negative reactions from groups that believe the celebrations glorify someone who was an active supporter of the Nazi regime.

In a letter addressed to the Norway Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Jonas Gahr Stoere, Tenembaum said that he was ”astonished and worried” about the homage to a sympathizer of ”one of the most cruel regimes in History”.

Stoere replied saying that ”Hamsun’s birthday does not approve, in any way, Hamsun’s support of the Nazi regime. He received massive condemnation for this after the war, and his pro-Nazi activities must continue to be condemned”.

Stoere said that through public debates around Hamsun, the Norwegian developed ”a critical and nuanced view of him as both an acclaimed author and a person who supported the Nazis”.

Norway spent most of the War period under the Nazi occupation, but the country is proud of its efforts to help the Allies in the distant Northern Europe.

Stoere said that several mentions were made during the exhibitions to Hamsun’s support of the Nazi regime and that ”democracy and the education of future generations will best be served by being completely frank about these divergent aspects of Hamsun’s life”.

Tenembaum disagreed: ”It is as if someone wanted to honor Hitler for his painting skills”. ”We can declare a whole year of celebrations, exhibit a post stamp, write a musical – and then say that we did it to educate about the Nazis”.

Organisers of the tribute said some 2,500-3,000 people, led by Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Culture Minister Trond Giske, officially opened the Hamsun Centre on Tuesday in Harnaroey, a coastal town in Northern Norway where the author grew up.

”We cannot understand how Norwegians can honour someone who was a criminal and was inciting crimes,” said Baruch Tenembaum, the founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

The foundation is named for a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps during World War Two.

”Hamsun was a great writer, so what ? What is more important — art or integrity ?” Tenembaum told Reuters by telephone.

Hamsun, who died in 1952, gained fame for ”Hunger”, a semi-autobiographical novel from 1890 about a starving young writer’s path towards insanity.

He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1920 for his work ”Growth of the Soil”, but the Wallenberg Foundation says that in 1943 he dedicated the prize to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

When World War Two ended with the destruction of the Nazis, he wrote a laudatory obituary for Hitler published by Norwegian daily Aftenposten where he described the dictator as a ”warrior for humanity”.

After the war he refused to renounce his Nazi sympathies and was sent for treatment in a psychiatric hospital.

Over the next year, Norway plans to commemorate Hamsun’s literary achievements through exhibits and even a musical based on his work, drawing criticism from groups who say the jubilee glorifies a once active supporter of Nazism.

In a letter to Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, Tenembaum said he was ”astonished and concerned” about tributes to a supporter of ”one of the most sinister regimes in history”.

In his reply, Stoere wrote : ”The Hamsun anniversary in no way condones Hamsun’s support for the Nazi regime. He received massive condemnation for this after the war and his pro-Nazi activities must continue to be condemned.”

Stoere said that through public debate about Hamsun, Norwegians gained ”a nuanced and critical view of him, both as an acclaimed author and a person who sided with the Nazis”.

Norway spent most of the war under Nazi rule but is proud of its partisan efforts to help the Allies in Europe’s far north.

Stoere said full reference was made to Hamsun’s Nazi sympathies at exhibitions and that ”democracy and the education of future generations will best be served by being completely frank about these divergent aspects of Hamsun’s life”.

Tenembaum disagreed, saying : ”It is a bit like if someone said that since Hitler was a good painter, why don’t we honour him ?

”We can declare a year of commemorations, issue a stamp, write a musical — and then we say we are doing it to educate people about the Nazis.”

OSLO, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Norway has opened a museum and unveiled a postage stamp to celebrate the 150th birthday of Norwegian Nobel literature prize laureate and Nazi sympathiser Knut Hamsun, provoking cries of outrage from a Jewish group.

Organisers of the tribute said some 2,500-3,000 people, led by Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Culture Minister Trond Giske, officially opened the Hamsun Centre on Tuesday in Harnaroey, a coastal town in Northern Norway where the author grew up.

”We cannot understand how Norwegians can honour someone who was a criminal and was inciting crimes,” said Baruch Tenembaum, the founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

The foundation is named for a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps during World War Two.

”Hamsun was a great writer, so what? What is more important — art or integrity?” Tenembaum told Reuters by telephone.

Hamsun, who died in 1952, gained fame for ”Hunger”, a semi-autobiographical novel from 1890 about a starving young writer’s path towards insanity.

He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1920 for his work ”Growth of the Soil”, but the Wallenberg Foundation says that in 1943 he dedicated the prize to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

When World War Two ended with the destruction of the Nazis, he wrote a laudatory obituary for Hitler published by Norwegian daily Aftenposten where he described the dictator as a ”warrior for humanity”.

After the war he refused to renounce his Nazi sympathies and was sent for treatment in a psychiatric hospital.

Over the next year, Norway plans to commemorate Hamsun’s literary achievements through exhibits and even a musical based on his work, drawing criticism from groups who say the jubilee glorifies a once active supporter of Nazism.

In a letter to Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, Tenembaum said he was ”astonished and concerned” about tributes to a supporter of ”one of the most sinister regimes in history”.

In his reply, Stoere wrote: ”The Hamsun anniversary in no way condones Hamsun’s support for the Nazi regime. He received massive condemnation for this after the war and his pro-Nazi activities must continue to be condemned.”

Stoere said that through public debate about Hamsun, Norwegians gained ”a nuanced and critical view of him, both as an acclaimed author and a person who sided with the Nazis”.

Norway spent most of the war under Nazi rule but is proud of its partisan efforts to help the Allies in Europe’s far north.

Stoere said full reference was made to Hamsun’s Nazi sympathies at exhibitions and that ”democracy and the education of future generations will best be served by being completely frank about these divergent aspects of Hamsun’s life”.

Tenembaum disagreed, saying: ”It is a bit like if someone said that since Hitler was a good painter, why don’t we honour him?

”We can declare a year of commemorations, issue a stamp, write a musical — and then we say we are doing it to educate people about the Nazis.”