Minnesota's Greatest Generation Oral History Project: Part II: Interview with Reidar Dittmann

Titles: Minnesota's Greatest Generation Oral History Project: Part II: Interview with Reidar Dittmann (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Reidar Dittmann was born in Tønsberg, Norway. After the German occupation of Norway, Dittman was arrested three times and was eventually sent to Germany where he was imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp. He was then moved to Alsace, France, where he worked in a hard labor camp for several months. He was then sent back to Buchenwald and was liberated there by the Swedish Army in April 1945. He moved to the United States upon receiving a scholarship from St. Olaf College. He married, raised a family, and taught at St. Olaf for many years. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Norwegian childhood activities; celebrating Norwegian holidays; the school systems in Norway; learning several languages and pursuing his interest in the arts; interactions with Edvard Munch; German occupation of Norway; being arrested for singing in public; being arrested while working at a shipyard; being arrested while attending university; being sent to Buchenwald; hard labor in Alsace; being liberated by the Swedish; joining the Norwegian Army Intelligence Corps; traveling to the United States on a scholarship from St. Olaf; experiences at St. Olaf; meeting his wife and beginning his teaching career; traveling and teaching in Ethiopia; having children; leading study abroad trips; becoming Director of International Studies; becoming Professor of Art History.

Dates

• 01/10/2007 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewee: Dittmann, Reidar
• interviewer: Bekke, Douglas

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 115
• Accession Number: AV2008.26.8

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Minnesota's Greatest Generation Oral History Project: Part II' <OH 115>

Quantity: 3 hours sound cassettes 69 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 180 minutes length

Subjects

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