Ambassador of Denmark honors countrymen who saved Jews during World War II

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: Jerusalem Post

The Ambassador of Denmark to Israel, accompanied by more than 100 Danish Jews, gathered at a high school in the capital Tuesday to honor the 70th anniversary of Denmark’s rescue of more than 7,000 Jews from Nazi persecution.

During a two-day incursion between August 29 and October 1 in 1943, the Nazis, who occupied Denmark at the time, attempted to deport the country’s nearly 7,500 Jews to death camps, but were defeated during a spontaneous uprising coordinated by Denmark’s citizens.

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“What is unique about this story is that it was not the act of one or two or three people – it was an act by all the people of Denmark who came together to rescue the Jewish community because Jews were an integral part of their society,” he said.

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“No Jew was forced to wear a Star of David in Denmark because the Danes thought it would be an assault on the cohesion and values of their society,” said Vahr. “The people of Denmark said: ‘No! We will not accept any measures that infringe on the rights of any group – be they Jews or any other.’” On October 1, 1943, Vahr said 7,000 Jews were ferried to safety with the aid of fellow Danes, while 400 were deported to Theresienstadt.


Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Ambassador-of-Denmark-honors-countrymen-who-saved-Jews-during-World-War-II-327629

[jessie04]

1. WOW....Just wow.

thank you for posting.

amazing things we don't know.

[leftynyc]

2. Extraordinary courage

May G-d bless each and every one of them.

[Paladin]

3. Never forget. (nt)

[Aristus]

4. Danish Exceptionalism.

Well done...

[grantcart]

5. A little more details from a Danish perspective.

When I was in the UN I spent a year in "close quarters" with my Danish boss and he explained Danish mythologizing and facts about their role during the German occupation.

After the war Danes were justifiably proud that they had been able to more or less remain independent and that they saved almost all of their Jewish neighbors. However the myths tended to grow so big that the Danes took to poking fun at themselves as well. Apparently every Danish politician who ran for office after the war took to claiming significant roles in the Danish underground, and while some were true it was obvious that they couldn't all be true and that some were 'highly exaggerated'.

There is a common Danish joke that if all of the people who claimed to be in the Danish resistance after the war were actually in it then they could have invaded Germany. This was aimed at all of the politicians who after the war claimed that they were active in the resistance when the number of people in the actual resistance was a relatively small number.

He was very proud of his King who, he told me, wore a yellow star to show solidarity with the Jews.

Unfortunately this never happened and was part of some of the mythology that grew after the war.

Snopes has a detailed explanation here:

http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/denmark.asp

It is not as dramatic as some of the stories about the Danes but it is a profoundly heroic story and the Danes should be proud of the courage their nation showed.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Given that, after the war, so many Germans claimed to have been anti-Nazi

that invasion by the inflated Danish resistance would have been a cakewalk!

[grantcart]

7. exactly lol