The Secret WWII Concentration Camp Diary of Odd Nansen | Book Talk with Timothy Boyce

Hailed by The New Yorker as “among the most compelling documents to come out of the war,” From Day to Day is a World War II concentration camp diary—one of only a handful ever translated into English—secretly written by Odd Nansen, a Norwegian. Arrested in January 1942, Nansen, son of polar explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen (Nobel Peace Prize, 1922), was held captive in various Nazi camps in Norway and Germany. This inspiring diary brilliantly illuminates Nansen’s daily struggle, not only to survive, but to preserve his sanity and maintain his humanity.

After having been out of print for over 60 years, Timothy Boyce rescued the diary from oblivion after reading the memoir of another Holocaust survivor, whose life, as a 10-year-old boy, was saved by Nansen while both were prisoners in Sachsenhausen.

This evening, Tim will explain who Nansen was, why he was arrested, why he wrote the diary, how he preserved it, and why this diary is as important today as it was when first written. Following the discussion, copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Nansen’s diary is remarkable on many levels: as an eloquent personal record, as an eyewitness account of the Holocaust, and as an inspiring example of the human spirit at its best.