NORWAY The Skarpnes Committee The mandate of the committee was to establish what happened to Jewish property during the World War II. This activity includes describing the rules laid down by the Quisling regime concerning the seizure of Jewish property, the procedure for such seizures, and the estimated value of the property seized. The committee was also instructed to determine how and to what extent seized assets and property were restored after the war as well as the value of the restored assets. The committee reported to the Ministry of Justice in June 1997. Because the committee was not able to agree on a single report, two separate reports were submitted. The government chose the minority’s views and used its report as the basis for further work. A detailed summary of the majority report, written by Oluf Skarpnes, Thor Falkanger, Ole Kristian Grimnes, and Guri Sunde can be found in English at http://odin.dep.no/jd/norsk/publ/utredninger/NOU/012005-020017/index-hov029-b-n-a.html A detailed summary of the minority report, written by Berit Reisel and Bjarte Bruland, can be found in English at http://odin.dep.no/jd/norsk/publ/utredninger/NOU/012005-020017/index-hov030-b-n-a.html Additional information about the Holocaust in Norway and restitution issues can be found at Bjarte Bruland’s Web site at http://home.online.no/~bbruland/ Contact: E-mail: Bjarte Bruland: Bbruland@online.no Berit Reisel: Reisel@online.no Government Compensation to Norway’s Jewish Community On the basis of the findings of the Skarpnes Committee, the government decided that the historical and moral debts with regard to the economic liquidation of Jewish assets needed to be settled. In autumn 1998, the Ministry of Justice presented a White Paper to the Parliament with the conclusion that in addition to an official apology to Norwegian Jewry, the government should make a payment of NOK 450 million ($70 million), an amount corresponding to the part of the total loss that was confiscated by the Norwegian treasury during World War II. The White Paper was unanimously adopted by Parliament on March 11, 1999. The compensation was divided into two main categories: individual compensation, the fixed sum of NOK 200,000 ($28,000) to be given to those persons in Norway who suffered from anti-Jewish measures during the war; and collective compensation, NOK 250 million ($35million) to be divided among Jewish communities in Norway. Contributions will also be made to establish a research center for Holocaust studies and minority research in Norway. The Norwegian Ministry of Justice was responsible for overseeing the individual restitution process, which formally concluded December 17, 2000. A Holocaust Center is currently being established in the former Quisling Residence in Oslo. Contact: Ministry of Justice Section for Civil Affairs P.O. Box 8005 Dep 0030 Oslo, Norway Conferences Norway participated in the London Conference on Nazi Gold. Norway participated in the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets. Proceedings of the Washington Conference can be found at http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/holocaust/heac.html Norway participated in the Vilnius International Forum on Holocaust Era Looted Cultural Assets. Proceedings of the Vilnius Forum can be found at http://www.vilniusforum.lt/proceedings/index.htm