The stern, ochre-colored Villa Grande on the Bygdøy peninsula was once the home of Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling. His former HQ is now the Center for Holocaust Studies and Religious Minorities, and is in part a learning center and in part a museum. Exhibits include a hard-hitting exhibition on the Holocaust, using multimedia images and interactive displays to bring the horrors of the Nazi extermination camps alive. Although there's no Engli sh-language labeling on the exhibition, a useful audio-guide compensates.

From where the Holocaust Center stands on the waterfront there are tranquil views across Oslo Fjord, which was the departure point for the Norwegian Jews taken to Auschwitz in Poland during the Holocaust. Between the museum and the water is a series of empty, cast-iron chairs by UK sculptor Antony Gormley signifying absence and the loss of life.