When Moritz Rabinowitz was deported from Norway by the Nazis in May 1941, it marked the end of City Dressmagasin. The store had opened on Rådhusgata in Kristiansand six years prior, as evident from this newspaper advertisement:
"A large department store for ready-made men's clothing will open its doors at the beginning of April. Those desiring smart attire at a reasonable price are encouraged to await the store's opening. In addition to our own line of suits and coats, a wide range of men's apparel will be available."
Rabinowitz arrived in Norway in 1901 and was one of the approximately 800 Jews deported from the country during the Second World War. He died in Sachsenhausen i 1942 and many of his family members were killed in Auschwitz.
For tourists and school groups
The story of Moritz Rabinowitz is just one of many stories from the Second World War that can be uncovered on an interactive walking tour from Odderøya to Arkivet.
“We want to showcase the people who don't necessarily get a place in the history books,” says Abit Hoxha, assistant professor in the Department of Nordic and Media Studies at the University of Agder (UiA).
There are ten stops on the tour, which is accessible to all through the Clio Muse Tours website. The walking tour is specially designed for tourists and school groups, and with audio guides in Norwegian and English, Hoxha hopes it will reach many people.
Game about source evaluation
The walking tour was created as an extension of RePAST. This project investigated how narratives about old conflicts still impact European societies today. Norwegian stories were not part of the original project, but with one million kroner in funding from the Research Council, UiA has been able to create new teaching tools in collaboration with Arkivet.
Ingeborg Hauge and Anna Aase Ugland at Arkivet have been involved in developing Historiejakten and the digital walking tour.
Together with the walking tour, the game Historiejakten will be launched. The game is about evaluating sources about the Second World War in Kristiansand. “The game will be used for teaching activities at Arkivet but can also be used for lessons in history and social sciences in secondary schools,” says Professor Kenneth Andresen.
“Critical evaluation of sources has become more challenging, since the supply of information is so much greater. But it is also more important than ever,” says Andresen.
One of the scenarios in the game is about what happened at Arkivet in Kristiansand during the war. The player is presented with a number of different sources and must assess how relevant and reliable they are.
Among the interviewees you meet is a prisoner of war who was tortured at Arkivet, and a neighbour who has been a Nazi all his life. Both appear in the source material at Arkivet.
“The two characters may look and sound quite similar, but they bring two completely different messages. I think the game can initiate interesting discussions about which sources to trust,” says Andresen.
“The game Historiejakten can make us more aware of which information and which sources we can trust. It is an educational tool to practice evaluating and using sources, but also for putting together a story by using different sources,” says Director of Arkivet, Kristine Storesletten Sødal.
Innovative learning
Kristine Storesletten Sødal is director of Arkivet. She hopes that the walking tour will lead to an increased historical awareness, and that the game will open for reflection and critical awareness about the use of sources.
“We greatly appreciate this collaboration with UiA, where we together can create innovative ways of learning from and about history in our local area,” she says.
The game and the walking tour were launched on 1 June with an event at Arkivet, a lecture by Philip Stone from the University of Central Lancashire, one of the leading researchers in the world on tourism to places linked to conflicts, so-called dark tourism.