Migratory birds: Silent panic and play – Reflections on memories of childhood and adolescence from World War II

Heidi Stenvold; Åshild Fause

doi:10.7557/13.3640

Authors

Heidi Stenvold University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway
Åshild Fause University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/13.3640

Keywords:

oral history, war memories, war experience, Second World War in northern Norway

Abstract

The museum of reconstruction for Finnmark and Northern Troms uses personal war memories from childhood and adolescence e.g. in exhibitions, articles and lectures. However, 70-year-old memories are most likely processed and changed over time, and critics often consider memories untrustworthy. Some scholars claim that positive memories stick better than negative memories, while others vice versa. The first research question addresses this problem by asking: “Are good or bad experiences most likely remembered?”. Discussing this revealed different factors affecting the memories, such as the desire to honor the parents, the questionnaire design, and more. The purpose of the second research question was to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that might would enhance or hinder resilience or vulnerability in the face of their war experiences at the time.

Author Biographies

Heidi Stenvold, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway

Social anthropologist and PhD student at University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway. Stenvold works as a researcher, at the Museum of Reconstruction for Finnmark and Northern Troms, located in Hammerfest, Norway. The Museum and her PhD degree is dedicated to the social history of World War II in the most northern part of Norway, especially the human consequences of the scorch earth tactics that was implemented in 1944. Stenvold presents her original research to the public through various lectures, exhibitions and publications, in close cooperation with her colleague Nina Planting Mølmann, an historian and the leader of the museum.

Åshild Fause, University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway

Registered Nurse and Phd in Health Sciences. She works as an Associate Professor in nursing studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway. Research interests: nursing history, mental health nursing and history of mental health. Publications in the history of nursing, mental health nursing and history of mental health care.