Now I know my topic, I am able to start reaching out for interviews. I have researched relevant charities, support groups and experts on the subject. Unfortunately, according to the articles I have read, after the dismissed court case in 2008, a number of Lebensbørn children have drifted out of contact, and many do not want to be contacted and have the pain be dredged back up in their mind.
I have decided the best way to organise my interview requests is to create a colour-coded flow chart, I’m finding at the moment a lot of people are passing my emails on to colleagues or friends that may be able to help, and to keep up with who I am talking to this is helping a great deal.
At the moment I am trying to contact Elna Johnsen- she is a war child herself and knowledgeable of what happened in Bergen in particular. Professor Stein Larsen of Bergen University recommended I speak to her, but my emails to her keep bouncing back. I have also tried to contact her on Facebook but no reply as of yet. If I can get Elna to help, it will be a really interesting human interest angle, I’ll just need to find a historical expert for academic context and some sort of charity or organization to link to war children today.
Annoyingly, I am only in Bergen from Thursday-Sunday (as a student, my funding for the trip is very, very small), this means that a lot of people I have emailed aren’t available over the weekend. Nearly everyone that has turned me down has been really helpful and passed me onto other contacts though, which is a positive.
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