Norwegian Jews Report Hiding Identity and Feeling Isolated After October 7, HL-Center Study Finds

A large number of Norwegian Jews feel forced to hide their Jewish identity, according to a new report by Norway’s Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies published on May 31, 2026. The HL-Center report is based on interviews with close to 100 Norwegian Jews conducted between November 1, 2025, and May 1, 2026.

Many of those interviewed described the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, as a turning point in their life in Norway.

“It has been good to be Jewish in Norway until now,” one interviewee said. Another recalled showing friends news of 300 or 400 people killed at the Nova festival and receiving the response: “Yeah, yeah, Israel, right? ” Many respondents said their close friends never contacted them after October 7.

Children reported exclusion in classrooms and playgrounds. One respondent described a teacher posting images online in which the Star of David was transformed into a swastika. ” Norwegian Jews hide their identity by not wearing Star of David jewelry, avoiding speaking Hebrew in public, and not telling new acquaintances they are Jewish.

“I try not to talk with my children about Israel or Jewish identity in the street. If they start talking about it, I change the subject. I don’t speak Hebrew on the bus,” one person said. Some said this constant battle led them to experience emotional and physical burnout.

“I walked around like a zombie,” one person reported. “For many months, I was angry all the time,” another said. ” Nearly all participants in the study were descendants of Holocaust survivors. Some spoke of how the stories of their ancestors created a fear that history may be repeating itself.

Local Government and Regional Development Minister Bjørnar Skjæran said the report provides documentation of how Jews themselves experience the situation and that it is serious that Jews in Norway experience insecurity and isolation. Ester Nafstad, co-founder of Kos & Kaos, the Nordic Jewish network, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that the report is important because it describes something many Jews in Norway have been trying to explain for a long time.