About the Event
Title: “The Secret WWII Concentration Camp Diary of Odd Nansen” with Timothy Boyce
Description: Hailed by The New Yorker as “among the most compelling documents to come out of the war,” From Day to Day is a World War II concentration camp diary — one of only a handful ever translated into English — secretly written by Odd Nansen, a Norwegian. This inspiring diary brilliantly illuminates Nansen’s daily struggle, not only to survive, but to preserve his sanity and maintain his humanity. After having been out of print for over 60 years, Boyce rescued the diary from oblivion after reading the memoir of another Holocaust survivor, whose life, as a 10-year-old boy, was saved by Nansen while both were prisoners in Sachsenhausen. Through selected readings, Tim will explain who Nansen was, why he was arrested, why he wrote the diary, how he preserved it, and why this diary is as important today as it was when first written.
Date and Time: Wednesday, February 25, 2026, from 7-8:30 p.m.
Lecture Location: Turchin Center for the Visual Arts 1102
Online Location: To join via Zoom, register at bit.ly/TBoyceAppState.
Sponsor: The Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies (CJHPS)
Audience: The lecture is free and open to the public. For a disability accommodation, visit odr.appstate.edu.
Questions? Contact CJHPS Director Dr. Davis Hankins by email at hankinscd@appstate.edu or by phone at (828) 262-6610.
About Timothy Boyce
Timothy Boyce practiced law for many years, most recently serving as the Managing Partner of the Charlotte, NC office of Dechert LLP, a global law firm. He holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Finance, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He received a B.S. from Georgetown University.
Boyce's articles have appeared in The Quarterly Journal of Military History, World War II Magazine, The Scandinavian Review, and Viking Magazine.
Boyce, who lives in Tryon, retired in 2014 to devote full time to writing and speaking.