Cissi Pera Klein (19 April 1929 in

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

– 3 March 1943 in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

) was a Norwegian

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

girl who is commemorated every year as one of the victims of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in her hometown in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. Her parents had immigrated to Norway from the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

around 1905, at first living in

North Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

, but then establishing a retail store in Trondheim. She was arrested at her school on 6 October 1942, detained, and ultimately

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

with the transport ship ''Gotenland'' from

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

, from which she was sent by train first to Berlin and then to

, where she was murdered the day she arrived, on 3 March 1943. She was 13 years old. Cissi Klein became famous in her hometown of Trondheim in the mid-1990s, when the city decided to appoint one of its 72 residents who were deported as a symbol for the persecution during the war. In 1995, the street where she lived was named ''Cissi Kleins gate'', and a statue of her made by

Tore Bjørn Skjølsvik Tore may refer to: Places * Tõre, Estonia, a village * Tore, Scotland, a village * Töre, Sweden, a locality * Töre River, Sweden * Tore (volcano), Papua New Guinea People * Tore (given name), a Scandinavian given name * Elihan Tore (1885–1976 ...

and Tone Ek was unveiled in the park nearby in 1997. In memory of the day she was removed from her school by police, pupils from the Kalvskinnet Primary School visit the park on 6 October every year to lay flowers. The composer

Ståle Kleiberg Ståle Kleiberg (born 8 March 1958) is a contemporary classical composer and musicologist from Norway. Biography Kleiberg was born in Stavanger in 1958. He graduated from the University of Oslo with a degree in musicology and later from the Nor ...

has written a musical piece in her memory. The statue of Cissi Klein was used in an opening scene of The Birdcatcher (film)

Gallery

Cissi Klein Gedenktafel (Trondheim).jpg, Stolperstein für Cissi Pera Klein (Trondheim).jpg, Stolpersteine und Strassenschild Cissi Kleins gate (Trondheim).jpg,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Cissi 1929 births 1943 deaths The Holocaust in Norway Norwegian Jews who died in the Holocaust People from Trondheim People from Narvik Norwegian civilians killed in World War II Norwegian people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Children who died in Nazi concentration camps Norwegian children Jewish children who died in the Holocaust Child murder in Poland