Prior to the Second World War, there were a total of 150 Jewish-owned shops in Trondheim. Three hundred of the city’s 80,000 inhabitants were Jews.

Why did so many Jews find their way to provincial Trondheim? As refugees, what was their journey to Trondheim like? And what was it about Trondheim that made the Jews settle down and establish a new life there?

“Trondheim was a rapidly growing city at this time, and the economic upswing gave the Jews the opportunity to engage in trade of textiles and fashion goods. Just in the few streets that make up the so-called ‘Nerbyen’ quarter in Trondheim, there are approximately 60 addresses where various Jewish businesses were registered before the Second World War,” said Jon Reitan.

Reitan is a historian and researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and has studied how and why the Jews came to Trondheim, and what their lives were like in the city at the beginning of the 20th century.

Jewish accounts disappeared with the Holocaust

Reitan has used ‘microhistory’ as a method to do his research. Microhistory shows how the small details, the lives and actions of ordinary people, help to shape the bigger picture.

The starting point is an autobiographical story by Simon Mahler. He was a Jew who fled Latvia in the early 20th century.

“Simon Mahler is quite unique in that he left behind a written account from the pre-war period. There are very few of these types of sources from the history of Norwegian–Jewish immigration. It provides us with valuable insight into the immigration and integration of Jews in Norway. Much of this knowledge disappeared during the Holocaust,” Reitan said.

The story of Simon Mahler

Simon Mahler was born on 31 December 1886 and grew up in a shtetl in the small town of Saldus in Latvia (‘shtetl’ means village in Yiddish – one of the main Jewish languages).

At that time, the Jews were well represented in Saldus. They worked as shoemakers, textile merchants and metalworkers, and in the sawmills and timber industry. Mahler had five siblings and grew up in poverty.

“There are several indications that crop failures, poverty, hardship and discrimination were the reasons why many Jews emigrated from their homelands. What perhaps makes Simon a ‘typical’ migrant for his time was that he grew up in modest and difficult circumstances, and that he was young and unmarried,” said Reitan.

Simon Mahler left Saldus at the age of 17 in 1903 or 1904. Unlike other Jews who followed family or brought the rest of their family at a later date, he travelled completely alone.

At this time, the railway and steamship industries were growing rapidly. Modes of transport were becoming faster, and tickets were becoming more affordable. This allowed the labour market to become global and offered new opportunities – a crucial factor for Jewish migration.

First stop Sweden

Reitan said it was most likely that Simon Mahler, who was travelling alone, chose to depart from Riga or Liepaja in Latvia, which were not far from his hometown of Saldus. From there, steamships sailed to both Stockholm and Copenhagen.

The Jews’ experience as craftsmen made it natural for them to make a living through itinerant trade.

Many of the Jews who came to Norway had already been in Sweden for a lengthy period of time. The researcher therefore believes that Sweden was likely their primary destination, but that various circumstances led several migrants to continue on to Norway.

“Sweden must have been a safe haven for many Eastern European Jews. Steamships made the journey across the Baltic Sea a short one, and from 1860 to 1914, Sweden did not have any passport requirements for people entering the country,” said Reitan.

Sweden as a transit country

The Jews’ experience as craftsmen made it natural for them to make a living through itinerant trade in Sweden.

They went door to door in towns and out in the countryside, selling clothes, textiles and handcrafted products. They lived frugally, and many of them lodged with local farmers. It was there they gained valuable knowledge about the new culture, the Swedish language and social mores. This helped many of them to save enough money to start their own businesses in the major cities.

By the time Simon Mahler arrived in Sweden, itinerant trade had already been prohibited. Like many other new migrants, Mahler chose to continue illegally in secret, but always with the fear of being caught.

“When I was 17, I travelled to Sweden and I was allowed to enter the country. I immediately started doing hard work. I went from door to door carrying a heavy load. All my joints ached from working hard day and night. I spent 8 years of my life like this; I suffered from hunger and cold, and I was tired of life. I walked across fields and meadows. The landscape was covered in deep forests. I walked in the pouring rain and freezing cold to earn just a little money […] and I was constantly afraid that the local sheriff would confiscate my goods. […] The door-to-door salesman’s trudging seems endless, and it was often difficult to find overnight accommodation. Everything I write here I have experienced myself; everything is true and no lies.” (Simon Mahler)

Prohibition on trade may have forced Jews out

Reitan believes it is reasonable to think that the prohibition on itinerant trade in Sweden may have forced many people to move on, including to Norway.

In Skåne, Simon met Malke Rachel Leiman, and they married in the synagogue in Malmö. She was also an Eastern European Jewish immigrant who had lived in Sweden.

After eight years in Sweden, Simon and Malke took the train to Norway in 1911. The railway was expanded in Sweden from the 1880s and ran from Malmö and Lund to Norway. First they travelled to Oslo, and then on to Drammen.

“From the end of the 19th century, Norway gradually developed two core areas of Jewish settlement: Oslo and Trondheim. The vast majority had a fairly similar social, cultural and religious background, in the sense that they came from the same areas in present-day Poland and the Baltics,” Reitan said.

In Norway as a free person

In Norway, Mahler was granted permission by the authorities to work as a tradesperson. After a few years in Eastern Norway, they moved on to Trondheim in 1918.

“Considering that Mahler supported himself for a long time as an itinerant trader, which involved a lot of travelling and establishing customer networks across the country, it is not unlikely that the family found inspiration and motivation to move to Trondheim. It was a city experiencing strong economic growth, with a flourishing Jewish minority community,” said Reitan.

At the time Simon and Malke settled in Trondheim, there was already an established Jewish community reminiscent of the shtetl in their homeland, and the Jews were also successfully integrated into Norwegian society.

“Both Simon and Malke had lived in Sweden for quite a while, a country that resembled Norway in many ways. They could speak Swedish and may therefore have experienced fewer language barriers than many other migrants,” continued Reitan.

Over the course of 20 years, the number of Jews in Trondheim rose from 120 in 1900 to over 300 in 1920. The Mosaic Community in Trondheim had formally existed since 1905, and in 1923, the old railway station at Kalvskinnet was converted into a synagogue.

“This marks a sense of optimism for the future among the Jews, and a collective desire for integration and belonging in Trondheim,” Reitan said.

Good times in Trondheim and hope for the future

The expansion of the railways, the coastal express ferry service, and new steamship connections to Europe provided new opportunities for Trondheim’s business community. Trondheim was growing rapidly; from having 25,000 inhabitants in 1890, the population had increased to 70,000 by 1910.

The population was exposed to new ideas, wider networks and experienced general economic growth. Prosperity increased across the board, accompanied by a rise in purchasing power.

The Jews also benefitted from this through their shops selling fashion goods and textiles, and Simon Mahler started a business selling textiles and knitwear – S. Mahler, at Hospitalsløkkan 10.

The Jewish traders succeeded in building upon the experience they had gained from itinerant trade among farmers and fishermen and used it to their advantage in Trondheim’s commercial community.

Their niche was to offer a different range of goods at a lower price, aimed at new target groups. This is how they differed from existing shops in Trondheim.

Memorial stones

In 1921, Simon Mahler settled down with both his family and business in Tempe, a part of Trondheim.

“This marked the beginning of a steady social climb. Simon Mahler’s family went from poverty in an Eastern European shtetl, through difficult times in Sweden, to finally finding security and stability in Trondheim,” said Reitan.

Malke and Simon had five children. The parents wanted a good future for their children and prioritized their education. Abraham and Salomon attended Trondheim Cathedral School, Selik attended Trondheim Commercial College, and in 1942, Abraham moved to Volda to study at the commercial college there.

The children’s education was a big investment for the family. They had to pay school fees to attend middle school and upper secondary school. In addition, the children’s schooling meant fewer hands contributing to the family business.

In 1940, Simon Mahler ran Trondhjems Avfallsforretning (waste management company) at Kjøpmannsgata 11. Today, you can find four shiny snublesteiner (memorial stones for Holocaust victims) there, for Simon, Malke, Selik and Mina. In Volda, you can find Abraham’s memorial stone.

The last two family members, Sara Bella and Salomon, survived and lived on in Trondheim and Copenhagen.

Insights from Simon Mahler’s story

Through Simon Mahler’s story, we gain insight into the refugee and migrant life of Eastern European Jews, which began and ended with the steamship traffic across the Baltic Sea. Mahler wrote down his story in verse in Yiddish. In his work, Reitan has used a Norwegian translation from the 2000s.

Microhistory makes it possible to gain unique knowledge about the past by studying the small things, the tiny details within the big picture. Microhistory can be used to find answers to larger historical questions.

“By focusing on an individual, it is easier to relate to the person we are studying,” Reitan said, adding:

“One especially nice thing about this migration story, which is about 100 years old, is that it feels so timeless and universal. It has a lot in common with many recent migration stories.”