Kari Melhuus Jenssen

Kari Melhuus Jenssen’s “Homecoming”, a theater performance about Jewish life in Trondheim. Jewish cultural festival Trondheim in collaboration with Trøndelag theater and Den kulturelle skolesekken.

Creator of the show’s script and direction as well as actor is Kari Melhuus Jenssen. Played in the Teaterkelleren at Trøndelag theatre.

When the war was over, the Jewish population in Trondheim was halved. Those Jews who returned to the city, either from captivity or flight, now stood on bare ground. Both assets and property had been taken from them during the war, and they did not get everything back after liberation. Still, it was a relief to come home, but at the same time there was a strong despair over everyone who was gone. Many Jews had a desire to rebuild the Jewish community in Trondheim, although anti-Semitism could also appear after liberation.

Certain Jews became strongly involved in the reconstruction in Trondheim after the war, and used such activity to distance themselves from the memories of the atrocities. Other Jews had difficulty dissociating themselves from memories of the inhumanity they had experienced. Common for most Jews after liberation was the silence about what they had experienced.

The Holocaust is well portrayed through documentaries, books and films. But what actually happened to the Jews who returned home? And what is a home when you have neither family nor a house to return to?

Through interviews with witnesses and descendants, Kari Melhuus Jenssen has created a performance that deals with the return of the Jews to Trondheim in 1945.

The performance was Kari Melhuus Jenssen’s master’s thesis in drama and theater NTNU in 2022. Since then, the performance has been played a number of times under the auspices of the Jewish Museum Trondheim and the Jewish Culture Festival.

The performance has been produced with support from NTNU, Fritt Ord, Sparebanken Nidaros, Trondheim Historiske Forening and Jødisk Museum Trondheim.

Today, Kari studies pedagogy at NTNU and works as a guide and pedagogue at the Jewish museum in Trondheim.

Director, script and actor: Kari Melhuus Jenssen.