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October 1943

October 1943

ROYAL DANISH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE MUSEUM OF DANISH RESISTANCE 1940-1945

OCTOBER 1943 The Rescue of the Danish Jews from Annihilation THERKEL STRÆDE is professor of contemporary history at the University of Southern , Odense, specializing in World War II and Holocaust studies. His exhibition “Denmark in : The Rescue of the Jews from Annihilation”, prepared for the Museum of Danish Resistance 1940-45, has been seen by 500,000 people in 30 countries since 1993. He has published on 20th century history, the Nazi concentration camps and anti-Semitism; numerous contributions to the Danish National Encyclopedia and the US Holocaust Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos. “Congressional Citation” award by the US House of Representa- tives 2001.

Front page photo: This fishing boat took 15 Jews including 5 children on a ten hour trip from southern Denmark to , arriving only after daybreak. One of very few authentic photos from the Oct.’43 rescue operation. October 1943

The final solution’ a halt. In September, the Germans decide ‘The final solution of the Jewish question’ to strike against the Jews. An action to -- such was the Nazi term for the geno- deport them to German annihilation cide which from 1941 to 1945 cost the camps is unleashed on the night of Octo- lives of more than half of the ten million ber 1st/2nd. Jews in German-controlled . The majority of the Danish Jews Lists of the Jewish population, coun- manage to slip away from the German try for country, are among the extant police, though. They go underground in documents from the Wannsee Confer- a matter of hours, and within just a few ence in , where details days more than 7,000 Jews are illegally were discussed following the decision to sailed to safe haven in nearby neutral exterminate the Jews. Tabulated in cold, Sweden. Close to 500 end up in Ther- bureaucratic columns are the populations esienstadt, where they share the hardships to be murdered for the sake of the Na- of the other ghetto inhabitants, however tional Socialist racial utopia: an ‘ethnical- without being subject to further deporta- ly pure’, ‘Jew-free’ Europe under German tion to the extermination camps. rule. 5,600 is written next to Denmark -- a small figure in a larger context. But no one will be overlooked. The rescue action

was spontaneous and improvised, driven An exception by civilian resistance against the German occupation and the barbarous Nazi world 5,600 Jews (and an inaccurate figure at view. Until then, occupied Denmark was that) make up a little group, even in rela- a somewhat opportunist, half-hearted tion to the 4 million Danish inhabitants. nation. Anti-Semitism and xenophobia The Danish government is opposed to were not at all unknown, and oftentimes any and all racial legislation. So in Den- foreign refugees fleeing from dictator- mark, the Germans decide, ‘Endlösung’ ships throughout Europe found Danish can wait. Autumn 1943 is a pivotal borders closed. However, in the autumn point. The ‘August Uprising’, a large-scale of 1943 many people were now taking a protest movement, succeeds in bringing stand and helping the refugees. close cooperation between the Danish Many factors contributed to the suc- government and the occupying power to cess of the rescue action, among them the

1 October 1943

fact that German sources leaked a warn- German navy has lost ‘the Battle of the ing about the impending deportation. Atlantic’: Britain has not been cut off But above all, it was the ingenuity and from American supplies. will of many people wanting to protect Allied troops have forced the Ger- an oppressed minority that guaranteed mans out of North Africa, and have the successful outcome. landed in . In September 1943, Italy surrenders, so is forced to oc- cupy northern Italy as well as the Balkan areas formerly held by Italy. Meanwhile Allied air raids make the German popula- tion feel the reality of war ever more.

National Socialism

The war was a consequence of . From the very inception of ’s dictatorship in 1933, Germany’s prime objective was to expand its imperial Arriving in Sweden -- safe at last ‘Lebensraum’ and carry out an ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Europe. The National Socialist ideology was Europe, Autumn 1943 based on crude Social-Darwinism: hu- man beings were seen as fundamentally World War II still rages after four years. unequal, some peoples and races as more Following the Blitzkrieg conquests and valuable than others; those who were best the campaign against the , suited should survive. Others would have Germany now controls the vast majority to subject themselves to the rulership of of the European continent. the ‘master race’ or perish. According to However, the Third Reich now faces Nazi ideology, the Germans were chosen difficulties. The German troops in Stal- to be ‘rulers’. ingrad have given up, and the National Socialism was a racist ideol- has since forced the German Eastern ogy, and anti-Semitic in its core. Anti- Front hundreds of kilometers back. The Jewish sentiment was one of the most

2 October 1943

recurring elements in Nazi politics. Jews perpetrators and collaborators from many were assigned the role of the ultimate evil occupied countries were involved. in the Nazi world view. They were re- ferred to as parasites, vermin and disease, and were deprived of all human traits and rights.

Persecution and annihilation of the Jews One of the most important objectives for the Nazis was to marginalize the Jews from the rest of society. As soon as they came to power they began doing so. From 1933 on, the encroachments Auschwitz-Birkenau: The largest of all the against the German Jews worsened step German extermination camps. A train has by step, leaving them isolated and robbed arrived carrying Jews. 10-15 % are selected of all means of existence. Two thirds of for forced labor, the rest are sent directly to the the 500,000 Jews living in Germany gas chambers. (including Austria) felt forced to flee. After the attack on in Septem- Denmark in the 1930’s ber 1939 and the ensuing war of expan- sion, Germany had assumed control of A small island state with 4 million inhab- the majority of Europe’s 10 million Jews. itants living from agriculture, industry, These Jews were now subjected to ruth- fisheries and shipping. A homogenous less oppression and discrimination, con- population, Danish-speaking and fined to ghettos and conscripted to forced Lutheran, with only small ethnic and labor. The Holocaust was launched in religious minorities. A country that had 1941, aiming at the systematic annihila- taken in many immigrants from Ger- tion of all Jews. Even without a previous many, Holland, Sweden and Poland over master plan, the genocide was carried out centuries, quickly integrating them into with cold-blooded, calculating efficiency. the majority society. Several hundred thousand German

3 October 1943

Danish foreign policy - after the Denmark saw little of the radical class armed conflicts with Germany 1848-51 divisions that polarized many societies and 1864 - was consensus-seeking and during the inter-war period. Like today, peace-oriented. Denmark was neutral the standard of living was among the during WWI and supported the League highest in the world. In many ways the of Nations after the war. Military forces Danish people were highly privileged and had been reduced to a minimum. steeped in self-complacency.

Peacefulness and a strong democracy typified Denmark’s domestic situation. A gradual, organic growth in industry even- tually replaced farming as the country’s most important trade. The vast class of self-employed family farmers, saw their political dominance dwindle in relation to the well-consolidated, albeit moderate , Denmark’s capital and largest labor movement. city by far, was the center of Jewish life and From 1924 to 1982, the Social culture. The Synagogue from 1833 is at the Democratic Party formed the govern- far right edge of this photo, within walking ment with but a few short intervals of distance of the University, City Hall and Liberal-Conservative rule. The Social Lutheran Cathedral. Liberal Party, pacifist in conviction and supported by smallholders and the intel- Denmark: ligentsia, was its solid support and a regu- 43,000 km2 of lar participant in the government during islands and one most of this period. A fusion of regulated peninsula bridg- market liberalism and social solidarity ing Scandinavia - or what has come to be known as ‘the and the Euro- Scandinavian model’ - characterized Dan- pean continent. ish politics throughout ‘the short 20th century’.

4 October 1943

April 9, 1940 who have official duties to carry out Germany attacked Denmark despite the should be met with loyal behavior.” 1939 non-aggression pact that had been The Germans had granted signed at the initiative of the Germans. Denmark certain guarantees at the The attack was part of an operation to outset: they did not come with hos- occupy Norway. Foreign Minister Peter tile intent and would abstain from Munch expressed the intervening in Danish domestic af- cabinet’s defense policy in this manner: fairs, they said. Since Denmark was Denmark can only be defended by way of not formally at war with Germany, diplomacy, not by military means; social the government saw an opportunity justice, integration and democratic reform to retain at least a part of Danish are safer means to security than arms and autonomy and national sovereignty. soldiers. Therefore, the Danish military So the political system continued to was limited and defensive, designed mere- function. Its objective was to avert ly for a position of neutrality. So fighting any warfare on Danish soil, limit was quickly stilled. The occupation lasted the extent of German influence and five years until May 5, 1945. block the Danish Nazis from rally- ing support.

Occupied Denmark Cooperation and resistance The Social Democratic/Social Liberal coalition agreed to continue and took The Danish authorities began in auxiliary ministers from the Liberal cooperating closely with the occupy- and Conservative Parties. A government ing power. For Danish businesses to proclamation on April 9, 1940 laid out survive, the highly export-oriented the course: economy to sell its goods, and “The Danish government shall strive energy needs to be met, it was seen to protect our country and the Danish as necessary to appease the German people from the disasters of war. At the demands. The Danish populace and same time we encourage all to exert the government were in agreement: the utmost calm and restraint in the face of majority was pro-British but admit- the present situation. Law and order must ted that Denmark had no other prevail throughout the country and all choice than to adjust to German

5 October 1943

dominance in Europe. The term col- ously called Denmark ‘Hitler’s parakeet’, laboration was avoided, but it covers the although they showed understanding attitude of the Danish government and for Denmark’s difficult position at Nazi people very well. Germany’s doorstep. At the same time, a wave of national Germany’s moderate occupation sentiment washed over the country. But policy had pragmatic as well as ideo- not until after the German attack on logical reasons. Germany did not rob the Soviet Union and the outlawing of Denmark, but took out considerable the Danish Communists on June 22, amounts of supplies -- without actually 1941 did an actual resistance movement having to pay, since the Danish National emerge which grew only slowly. On the Bank offered credits that would hardly be other hand, the Danish ambassador in paid. Equally important was the fact that Washington, Henrik Kauffmann, made the Danes were considered ‘Germanic’, it clear as early as in 1940 that he would ‘Aryan’ -- in other words ‘of good race’. In not accept orders from the German-con- the long run, as it were, the Danes would trolled government in Copenhagen but be part of the German people, and the would instead represent ‘the independ- Danish territory would become part of ent Denmark’. Later Eduard Reventlow, the German Empire. the ambassador in London, also declared Few Danes fell swoon to National himself independent, pressurized to do Socialism, though. Besides the ethnic so by ‘The Danish Council’, an exile German minority in the southern Jutland organization founded by activist Danes region bordering Germany, their war- in London, including Danish seamen, ring parties gained little support. By the who had joined the Allied forces in great 1930’s, Anti-Semitism - a part of main- numbers. stream Danish culture during the 19th century - had been contained to the far right fringe. From here, the Waffen-SS Denmark in the Nazi ‘Grossraum’ recruited some 7,000 Danish volunteers. Danish National Socialist parties never Denmark’s situation under the ‘peaceful achieved more than 2-3 % of the vote, occupation’ was calm until 1943, and not even at the 1943 elections where they German policy very moderate. In , had generous German sponsorship. The Denmark was referred to as a ‘model occupying power was unable to find a protectorate’. The British contemptu- malleable Quisling-type in Denmark.

6 October 1943

King Christian X The Danish king - in spite of the occupa- tion - continued his morning rides on horseback through the capital with only two plain clothes police escorts following him on bicycles. He became a symbol for rich and poor alike, a positive contrast The Danish military was powerless in face of to German militarism and to the cult of the modern German offense. the Führer. The king had only symbolic power in a constitutional monarchy such as Denmark, but the democratic govern- ment unanimously protected the Jews.

Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning addresses Parliament April 9th, urging calm and com- posure.

During the war a rumor surfaced in the free world that Christian X had German inspectors at a Danish export slaugh- countered German demands for anti- terhouse: Denmark became an important Jewish legislation by threatening to wear part of the German war economy and was the ‘Star of David’ in protest. The king able to gain political maneuvering space. The in fact never did such a thing, but in De- need for supplies and racial considerations cember 1941, after an arson attack on the motivated the moderate German occupation synagogue in Copenhagen, he did send a policy 1940-45.

7 October 1943

letter of sympathy to Rabbi Marcus Mel- public exposure and direct contact with chior. The Jews were not registered, nor Germans. They tried to live as normally forced to wear the yellow star, because as possible but were constantly on the the Germans never brought the alert. proposal, knowing that the government turn it down. “There is no Jewish question in Hitler-refugees and Palestine Denmark”, were the words of Foreign pioneers Minister when ap- proached by the top Nazi Hermann During the 1930’s, some 200 young Göring in Autumn 1941. Scavenius was Zionists came to Denmark each year in willing to make far-reaching concessions order to receive training in agriculture to the Germans, but even for him, three and fishing and prepare for emigration to issues were out of the question: the death Palestine, where they would help build a penalty, Danish participation on the Ger- Jewish state. The farming students (‘Ha- man side of the war, and racial laws. luzim’) were highly regarded in Denmark for their determination and work ethic. Following the pogrom in Germany - The Jews during the occupation ‘the Crystal Night’ on November 9, 1938 - Danish women’s organizations took The German occupation put Danish Jew- the initiative to help hundreds of Jewish ry under enormous strain. The persecu- teenagers come to Denmark. German tion of Jews in Germany was well-known Jewish parents who were unable to escape via newspapers and personal acquaint- themselves sent off their children, hoping ances. Early on, the Danish government they would be saved from persecution proclaimed that it would oppose all racial and eventually make it to Palestine. legislation and discriminatory measures. Jewish refugees had already come to But would it be able to withstand intensi- Denmark during the first years of the fied German pressure? Hitler regime. However, it was difficult The synagogue, Jewish schools and to get visas and work permits as Dan- other institutions were discreetly put ish refugee policy became increasingly under the surveillance of young Jews and restrictive. When the Germans invaded hooked up to the Danish police alarm Denmark, Jewish aliens suddenly became system. The Jews were advised to avoid very vulnerable. A few were even handed

8 October 1943

over to the , but as it turned constitution in 1849 brought equal out, the Danish authorities protected the political rights. Many younger Jews took vast majority of the Jews in Denmark, advantage of the newly attained opportu- whether they were Danish citizens or not. nities to gain higher education. The 19th century was a prosperous time for the Jewish community in Denmark. Many The first Jews in Denmark pioneers in business, politics, and cultural life who became the architects of modern The first Jews came to Denmark in Denmark were of Jewish background. the 17th century. They were wealthy Sephardic Jews summoned by King Christian IV to help modernize the coun- Community life and assimilation try. Doctors, mint masters and jewelers settled and lent money to the Crown. Before long though, less wealthy Ashkenazic Jews from Central Europe made up the majority. They were shop- keepers, merchants and entrepreneurs of such new branches of industry as tobacco and manufactured textiles. Jews had been excluded from the traditional trade guilds and mainly had to operate in niches of the economy. But Jewish stockbrokers, for example, played an important role as Jewish tailors at Feldstein’s tailor shop in credit agents during the Danish maritime Copenhagen, recent immigrants from Russia, exploits. about 1914.

The flourishing 1800’s Since 1833, the large main synagogue was the center of community life in Free trade became a reality in 19th Copenhagen. A flourishing infrastructure century Denmark, as did democracy. The with Jewish schools, homes for the elderly emancipation of 1814 gained the Jews and philanthropic institutions was estab- equal judicial status, the first democratic lished. Abraham Alexander Wolff, Chief

9 October 1943

Rabbi from 1829 until shortly before his ity was strong in modern Danish society death in 1891, participated actively in the and urged new immigrants to adapt public debate on politics, morals and re- to Danish cultural norms. A mild, but ligion, enlightening the majority popula- insistent urge for assimilation left little tion about Judaism and at the same time room for minority identities. So although trying to unite the congregation in favor immigration was substantial, as seen rela- of moderate reforms that would render it tive to the ‘old’ Jewish families, the total more attractive to young Jews. But many percentage of Jews never comprised more chose to assimilate -- nearly half of the than 0.3 % of the Danish population. young Jews married outside the commu- And only a few migrated to after nity. So the Danish Jewish Community 1948. never had more than 2-3,000 members, and outside Copenhagen, community life eventually died out in the course of the 20th century.

Pogrom Jews’ from Russia

During the early 20th century, tens of thousands of Jews fled persecution and pogroms in Russia, Poland and the Baltic. Writer and critic, Georg Brandes (1832- Around 3,000 ended up in Denmark, 1927) and nuclear physicist, Niels Bohr bringing not only renewal to local Jewish (1885-1962, Nobel Prize 1922) were two community life but also Yiddish culture of the many prominent personalities from the to the country. ‘The Russians’ were poor Danish Jewish community. workers and petty craftsmen, though clearly upwardly mobile. Another wave of Jewish refugees came in the 1930’s from Germany, Austria and German-occupied Czech lands. Around 1970 several thousand refugees fled from anti-Jewish campaigns in Communist Poland. The idea of ethnic homogene-

10 October 1943

Denmark under growing German Best opted for continued cooperation pressure with the Danish government and busi- The German occupation policy was ness community. In fact, in 1943 he even moderate in Denmark. But as time went allowed parliamentary and local elections on, the atmosphere grew more tense to be held. and German encroachments worsened steadily. The Blitzkrieg strategy allowed the Third Reich to succeed in winning 1943: the change of tides victories that would not burden the Ger- man population severely. Indeed, Hitler Stalingrad, El Alamein, the landing of Al- had been reluctant to put demands on lied troops in Italy, and major bombard- the German people, even though by late ments of German cities like 1941 it became clear that the war would -- all of these events helped to produce be long and costly. Instead, the policy was a change in the Danish stance from to exploit the occupied countries all the compliance to defiance. The resistance more. got off the ground. Illegal publications In the autumn of 1941 the Germans and newsletters were circulated in ever pressured Denmark to join the Axis larger numbers. German military targets powers’ “Anti-Comintern Pact”. A year and businesses working for the occupy- later, the Danish king’s chilly reply to a ing power were increasingly subjected birthday greeting from Hitler unleashed to sabotage actions as resistance fighters a serious crisis, accompanied by German became more experienced and daring, demands to appoint pro-German min- and received air-dropped explosives and isters. General Hermann von Hanneken training instructors from Britain. was sent to Denmark as new Command- By July/, the er-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht, and SS- feared an Allied invasion on the Jutland General was appointed the coast. Danes sensed the panic and fos- German Reich’s Plenipotentiary and head tered the hope that a German defeat was of the German civilian administration. impending. Hanneken and Best were meant to tighten German rule in Denmark, but

11 October 1943

‘The August Uprising’ German action against the Jews A wave of sabotage actions hit the coun- The systematic genocide of the Jews had try in the summer of 1943. Unrest at been going on since 1941 at astonishing Danish factories and shipyards is on the pace. By August 1943, 3 million Jews had increase: social and political demands are already died in massacres or extermina- voiced, authorities and organizations are tion camps. Earlier German advances at meeting open criticism for their coop- raising ‘the Jewish question’ in Denmark eration with the Germans. The unrest have been weak, though, mainly aimed at culminates in massive strikes supported pacifying racial activists in Berlin. A small by vast gatherings in many cities. Jewish population like the Danish one The occupying power senses the grav- could wait, but now the time had come. ity of the situation, and reacts sharply As the Danish government ceased to in some spots, flexibly in others. The function on , 1943, and the uprising continues however for most of Danes announce that no new govern- August. Many Danes want to end what ment would be formed, the cooperation they see as indignable collaboration with policy between Denmark and Germany the Nazis. seemed to have collapsed. Best had used the strategy of punishing the Jews for resistance in the majority population August 29, 1943 earlier when he was stationed in , and now the state of emergency proved The Germans declare a military state of to be an opportune time for anti-Jewish emergency, so authority is handed over action in Denmark: protests could be eas- to the Wehrmacht Commander-in-Chief ily suppressed, and Best could blame the who hopes to edge out Best. Best is called Wehrmacht and thus keep the door ajar to the Führer’s headquarters and repri- for resuming cooperation of some sort manded for yielding too much to the with the Danes in the future. Danes. Two days later, however, Hitler returns the ultimate political responsi- bility to Best. He directs his energies at “The time has come” assuming dictatorial power in Denmark and requests that Berlin send police bat- On September 8th, Best sent a telegram talions to support it. He now intends to to Berlin: hitting hard at the Jews is part govern Denmark “with a hard hand”. of his new ‘strong hand’ policy, so

12 October 1943

“it is my opinion that if this new course of action is to be carried out fully in Denmark, the time has come to turn our attention to the solution of the Jew- ish question.” One week later Hitler approved the deportation of the Danish Jews. Plans were immediately undertaken. A Ger- man police battalion was set up under the leadership of SS-Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Mildner, former Gestapo chief in August 1943: the funeral of an executed Katowice, Poland, and leader of the po- saboteur in Aalborg develops into a mass litical department at Auschwitz. Special- gathering, and demonstrators boldly assault ists from Adolf Eichmann’s department German soldiers. at the Reichssicherheitshauptamt arrived in Copenhagen. Special German police forces were called in from abroad. The Wehrmacht, however, promised only lo- gistic support, and would have no direct part in the manhunt. The actual commencement of the operation was postponed somewhat, probably because the Germans wanted to end ongoing trade negotiations on next year’s Danish supplies to the Reich first. On , 1943 they were brought The ‘August Uprising’ is also directed against to an end, and on that very evening the the Danish authorities’ compliance with operation began. the occupying power. Here, a Danish police vehicle is overturned by protesters during the general strike.

13 October 1943

Denmark’s Jews in danger On the day the state of emergency was declared, hostages were interned, among them prominent Jews. Since the Dan- ish authorities had not conducted any registration of the Jews, the Germans and their Danish collaborators raided the Odense, center of the protest movement: the Danish Jewish Community offices for ad- Germans suppress the general strike by force, dress lists. Panic and uncertainty spread but keep most troops in the barracks. A back among the Jews: was there an action door is kept open for a continuation of impending? Many went underground, cooperation with the Danish establishment. some fled to Sweden. Danish officials confronted the Germans with the ru- SS-General Werner Best, mors, which were immediately dismissed. lawyer and head of the But an anxious calm prevailed during the German occupation ad- month of September. ministration in Denmark 1942-45. Best was a Na- tional Socialist fundamen- The German police action talist and former deputy of Reinhard Heydrich. On the night of October 1st/2nd, 1943, Best had masterminded the German police operation begins. the Gestapo and designed the special Einsatz- Throughout the country Jews are ar- gruppen which were responsible for numerous rested. In Copenhagen, the synagogue is massacres of Jews in the occupied Polish and defiled and used as a pick-up spot. De- Soviet territories. According to Best, Germany spite the fact that it was Rosh Hashanah should clamp down when it came to ‘inferior’ (the Jewish New Year) many Jews left peoples, and on the other hand be flexible to- their homes. A few hundred persons were wards people ‘of good race’. Werner Best called arrested -- among them the elderly from for the deportation of the Jews in Denmark. the community’s old people’s home. After the liberation, at the war crimes trial As a rule the Germans don’t break against him in Copenhagen, he claimed that into Jewish homes, since the action he had attempted to avert the operation. The is supposed to appear ‘sober’ and not initiative was, however, his alone. look like pillage. Most of the Jews have

14 October 1943

sought refuge at the homes of friends and “Here was something Eichmann and acquaintances, or even complete strangers his men weren’t accustomed to: the Jews who spontaneously lend a hand. Others had slipped from their very grasp and have fled to beach cottages and forests. disappeared, so to speak, behind a living wall raised by the Danish people in the space of one night.” The warning (Leni Yahil: The Rescue of the Danish Jewry. Test of a Democracy. During September it had become quite 1969) clear that an action was impending, and on the 28th an unequivocal warning G.F. Duckwitz was issued. On this day, Werner Best (1904-73), a received the final go-ahead from Berlin. long-time Nazi He informed Duckwitz, a German secret party member, agent with contacts among the Danish worked for the Social Democrats, that the operation German embassy in was at hand, and Duckwitz conveyed the Copenhagen as an warning straight away. expert on maritime Leading Social Democrats immedi- issues and was a ately inform persons in the Jewish com- member of the munity. C.B. Henriques, Supreme Court German intelligence attorney and head of the Danish Jewish agency Abwehr. In September he worked Community, first responds with disbelief. closely with Best and leaked the warning of For three years now, Danish legislation the impending deportation to the Danes. In and cooperation policy has protected the 1950’s he served as ambassador of the Danish Jewry, and it is hard to admit that Federal Republic of Germany to Denmark. the legalistic strategy has failed to advert the disaster. On the next morning the warning is conveyed further during the service in the synagogue and through informal Jewish networks. Others receive word through gentile friends, business acquaintances or strangers wanting to help.

15 October 1943

Hans Hedtoft (1903- 55, Prime Minister 1947-50), Member of Parliament and chairman of the . Although a proponent of the cooperation policy, he was forced to step down by the Germans for not being willing enough. 1944-45 he became a central link between the politicians and the underground resistance. Hedtoft and other leading Social Democrats were the first to be warned about the impending operation against the Jews

Richard Ege M.D. (1891-1974) and his wife organized a rescue organization which helped Jewish refugees hide and flee the coun- try. Doctors, hospital staff and students were instrumental in the rescue work, as were boy scouts, socialist activists and others.

16 October 1943

Arrested in Copenhagen

“On October 1st at 10 p.m. there was a sudden Where I was standing was fully lit by flood- banging on my door. I had no choice but to lights, but it was still impossible to see the mili- open up. Before my eyes were two enormous tary person who gave the command “Anlegen!” German soldiers with guns at their sides, along I stood calmly and coolly, waiting to feel where with three civilians waving their revolvers at the first bullets would hit me and hoping my life me. They commanded me to get dressed imme- would end quickly, without prolonged agony. diately, meanwhile ransacking all my drawers. During those few seconds I thought about my Hardly five minutes had passed, then they com- family. Then suddenly I heard a new voice com- manded me to come along, at the same time manding me to get into a truck waiting nearby. mumbling almost confidentially that it was all I got to the truck, crawled up and remained right to bring cash and other valuables. there a while in total darkness. The door had The soldiers let me walk several steps been locked. Then it was opened, people got ahead of them, and I have to admit I did con- in, and the door was shut again. The truck was sider whether there was any chance of escap- gradually filled in this manner, to the degree ing. But I didn’t dare take such a major risk. that we had to hunch together to make more Finally they stopped in front of the gates room. Finally we were driven off to some place of Forum, where a number of German officers -- but where exactly, no one knew.” were standing. One of them was particularly ag- (Account in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem; Forum gressive and gave me a couple of hard knocks was a Copenhagen sports arena that the Ger- on the head so that I fell to the ground, and I man police used as an assembly spot.) had barely got to my feet when another officer forced me up against the wall.

17 October 1943

A warehouse at Asitisk Plads in Copenhagen The helpers represented all walks of life docks (today the site of the Danish Ministry of and diverse political beliefs, and they Foreign Affairs): a group of Jews waiting to be went to great lengths to help. The Dan- taken by boat to safe haven in Sweden. Sud- ish police and coastguard also took sides denly, people were torn out of their everyday with the oppressed by refusing to assist lives and forced to flee in the middle of the in the manhunt and informing helpers night. Uncertainty and despair were too much of the Germans’ movements. Even some of a strain for some, and they chose to take individual Germans offered help, and at their lives in despair. roadblocks Wehrmacht soldiers some- times looked the other way -- moved by compassion or bribes. A wall of people

It was widely felt among the Danes that Crossing the Øresund the German action against the Jews trans- gressed all decency and violated Danish Geography was important. In some jurisprudence. No matter if you thought places, the Swedish coast was only 5-10 of Jews as aliens or ordinary Danes, you kilometers away. But getting across could would have to help them in order to save be perilous; the Germans had only few your self-esteem. And 30-40,000 or more patrol boats operational, but the crossing did so spontaneously by conveying warn- represented a risk factor, as did German ings and organizing hiding places, food airplanes. and transportation to the coast. In spite Many fled in small craft or even of the uncertain and trying, illegal condi- kayaks at first. Tragic accidents were una- tions, rescue networks cropped up over- voidable in the leaky, over-filled dinghies night, working with amazing efficiency. that many inexperienced Jews set out in. Tragic deaths occurred when young,

18 October 1943

daring Jews attempted to swim across and When rescue organizations intervened got taken by the currents. as intermediators, prices were standard- Fishermen played a vital part in the ized and dropped. They also made provi- rescue operation. Even if the German sions so that wealthy Jews would pay coastal surveillance was not all that ef- more, enabling those who couldn’t pay ficient, they had reasons to believe that to get across as well. In today’s prices, the their boats, business and the livelihood cost of an average crossing equaled 5-6 of their families were at stake if they got months wages for an unskilled worker, caught smuggling Jews. Some operated so substantial funding was needed. The for free, others demanded high prices for money came from Danish organizations, saving lives. companies and private individuals -- and from the Jews themselves.

Børge Laursen and his mate Jacob Andersen operated the small fishing boat K1657 “Marie” from the Copenhagen Skudehavn harbor. In early October 1943 they made about ten crossings, each time with 2-3 Jewish fugitives hidden under the herring nets. October was the peak season for herring, which is why the many nocturnal trips didn’t raise suspicion.

19 October 1943

like Gilleleje it was next to impossible to keep anything secret.

The Gestapo is coming!

On the evening of , 1943, a Gestapo search unit came to Gilleleje. A boat carrying fugitives had set out despite A rowing boat that was used to ferry Jews warnings and was stopped by German from the beach to fishing vessels waiting gunfire. Rescuers tried to round up and offshore is now on display at the Yad Vashem quickly hide new groups of refugees Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, flocking to the town. Further sailing Israel. Behind it a panorama of the harbor of from the harbor was impossible, so the Gilleleje. shipping-out of Jews was relocated to open beaches.

Gilleleje A tragedy Gilleleje, a medium-size fishing harbor, lies at the northernmost point of the The following evening the Gestapo re- island of Zealand with train connections turned with reinforcements. They found to Copenhagen. About 20% of the Dan- a large group of fugitives hiding in the ish Jews escaped to Sweden via this town. parish hall. The church was surrounded Fishing boats as well as coastal freighters with floodlights and machine guns. Yet took part in the operation. another group was hidden in the church Jews were familiar with Gilleleje from attic. That night the Germans arrested 80 countryside summer holidays and came Jews, the majority of whom were deport- to the area in droves. A committee of lo- ed to Theresienstadt. cal people was quick to initiate rescue aid, The Gestapo, unfamiliar with the even before representatives of Copenha- area, demanded that the Danish police gen-based rescue organizations arrived. assist in the raid, but the Danish police Many helpers were needed to organize refused. A local informer, however, led hiding places and food. In a small town the Germans to the church. Tragic as

20 October 1943

it was, this was the only case of a large number of Jews being caught during the clandestine rescue operation.

The illegal crossings

In an illegal sealift named “Small Dun- kirk” by the resistance fighters, seven thousand persons were conveyed by fishing boats and other small craft in the course of just a few days. Nothing had been planned in advance, so improvisa- tional talent and courage were vital keys to success. The contacts and experience that the rescue operation provided benefited the The Gestapo arrested a large number of Jews resistance in the long run. A whole net- who were hidden in the church attic, but one work of illegal service routes was devel- young Jew escaped by climbing the clock tower oped. One of these - the Danish-Swedish and hiding there. Refugee Service - was established by Zionist activists in Sweden. Some Danes proceeded from helping Jews to joining Gestapo officer the resistance movement which also had a Hans Juhl from much easier time collecting money for its Flensburg led the activities after October 1943. raids along the northern coast of Zealand in October 1943 and arrested more than a hun- dred Jews.

21 October 1943

The rescued and the lost Then the grey, shabby-looking fishing boat was finally moored. It was a long way up to “We hadn’t even noticed it, we weren’t even the asphalt on the jetty, but the officers stood afraid, when suddenly the news went from ready to give a hand, lifting people and taking one person to the next: ‘We’ve passed the their small bundles. three-mile boundary! We’re in Sweden! Free! We stepped onto Swedish soil, now stand- Saved!’ Despite our exhaustion our hearts took ing on solid ground. But even that solid ground to beating again furiously, this time from sheer was still moving, rocking to and fro like the sea emotion and joy. that had carried us across.” The boat wasn’t very big at all. The sixteen (Hanne Kaufmann: Hvorfor er denne nat stowaways, aside from the infants, had all anderledes end alle andre nætter. Copenhagen managed to get up to the deck. There, I saw my 1968) mother, my sister and my brother. All looked pale and miserable. I probably looked the same Danes and Jews way. Seeing each other again, we didn’t utter a word. We were in safety now, and the feeling On , 1943 medical officer H.G. was so overwhelming that we simply couldn’t Widding, who received refugees in Höganäs, speak. I felt an irrepressible desire to cry. Sweden, made the following note in his diary; We docked at Trelleborg. Despite his observation was typical for the early morning hour the harbor was many Danish Jewish families teeming with people. Civilians and because of widespread integra- police officers were standing along the tion and assimilation: dock and the jetties. It was a time of “Many of the children massive welcoming. The refugees from were frightened and couldn’t Denmark were going ashore. understand Our mood was beyond descrip- why they themselves had to tion. Everyone was telling their life stories. flee. They were Danes and never gave it a Discussing the war and its possible outcome -- thought that they were also Jews.” hopefully, it would end soon. Stalingrad. Those despicable Nazis. Uncertainty about the fate (Chr. Tortzen: Gilleleje, October 1943. Copenha- of relatives. Fear for one’s own life was now re- gen 1970) placed by the fear for the lives of others. Surely The illegal transports departed from har- it was the luck of a traitor to have been brought bors on the islands of Zealand, Lolland, Falster to safety. Was it fair that one hadn’t shared the and Møn, sometimes even from open beaches. fate of the unfortunate? Everyone talked and A few crossings were even made from the gesticulated, as if the words could assuage the distant coast of the Jutland peninsula. unspeakable fear that now had passed.

22 October 1943

German failure A victory for civil resistance The German police succeeded in The success of the rescue was due to catching only a small part of the several factors. The Jewish population Jewish population. Wartheland, the was small and Sweden was close by, so the steamship that was to sail the arrestees evacuation itself was a swift operation. to Germany, left harbor as planned Moreover, the time that lapsed between from Copenhagen October 2nd with the declaration of the state of emergency only 202 Jews aboard. 150 Danish and the actual commencement of the Communists were deported along with German Aktion was long enough for the them. A special train carrying Jews Jews to get organized and into hiding, from the western parts of Denmark not to mention the role of the warn- also ran more than half-empty. During ing that was given. But above all, it was the ensuing weeks the Gestapo made due to local help: ordinary Danes were more arrests, but the total number of willing to take personal risks in order to deported did not reach 500, whereas help others in need. It was a widespread over 7,000 Jews managed to escape feeling in those days that any persecution and reach Swedish harbors. of minorities was a breach of the values of Adolf Eichmann and his deputy democracy and Danish culture that had Rolf Günter, who lead the operation to be fended off. in Copenhagen, had both suffered The German authorities had never a defeat. Werner Best’s ambivalent expected such a massive reaction -- in policy had played into the hands of most other countries, it had been easy to the Danish rescue activists. He tried isolate and deport the Jews. But many to give the poor result the impression Danes saw protecting Jews as a way of of a victory, proclaiming: “Denmark defending basic human standards, Dan- has been cleansed of the Jews”. At ish sovereignty and self-esteem. And least, the Jews had been expelled from they were eager to deliver a blow to the German-controlled territory. His occupying power before it was too late. superiors in Berlin were more than skeptical, though.

23 October 1943

The deportation Alijah children who had come to Den- The arrests had been violent, there had mark from the German-Austrian territory been shouting and occasional shoot- before the occupation. ing -- but only to a certain extent, since news media from around the world were watching the events. The Germans Danish protests largely refrained from breaking into Jew- ish homes, and there was no confiscation Rumors of the impending campaign of Jewish property. Few locals used the against the Jews were enough to incite opportunity to enrich themselves at the Danish protests. The king protested. cost of the haunted. Leaders of the Social Democratic Party - The deportees were brutally treated, with 43% of the voters Denmark’s largest especially when they arrived in Ger- party - expressed many. Danish Communists interned in “(…)the deep grief that these actions 1941, now being conveyed to a German have brought upon the Danish people. concentration camp by the same trans- The Danish Jews are a vital part of the port, witnessed rude assaults on frail and Danish people, and the people as a whole aged Jews, kicked, beaten and shouted are therefore deeply affected by the meas- at by young Gestapo officers. The Jews ures taken, which, we feel, violate Danish were then crammed into cattle wagons jurisprudence.” destined for Theresienstadt. Organizers and business people pro- tested, and Lutheran priests read aloud a pastoral letter which viewed the persecu- Jewish refugees in Sweden tion of Jews as conflicting with Christian beliefs. The university closed down for The Danish-Jewish refugee community a week, enabling staff and students to in Sweden numbered 7,906 persons in participate in rescue efforts. May 1945, including “half-Jews” and 686 non-Jewish spouses, most of whom were women. There were 1,364 children Jews for Danish soldiers? under 15 years of age, including babies born in Sweden. Among the Jews from The Danish military had continued Denmark were 1,376 stateless exiles and to function after , albeit in 435 agricultural students (Haluzim) and reduced form, since Denmark was still

24 October 1943

considered an independent nation -- at triation of the deportees were, however, least that was the fiction that served the only of little success. interests of both Danish and German sides. Only on August 29th, 1943 did the “Denmark caused us more Wehrmacht violently disarm and intern difficulties than anything else.” the Danish forces. Adolf Eichmann at his war When released again in October, the crimes trial in Jerusalem 1961. Germans justified this move with the suc- Even then, the organizer of cessful “removal of the Jews from Danish the deportation of Jews from society”. This propaganda trick failed, all over the German sphere of though. The Danish heads of defense power to the extermination sharply opposed the alleged causality, camps was still annoyed by his Danish failure. calling it a defamation of the Danish armed forces. Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard, bishop of Copenhagen, made the Danish Lutheran church Aid to the deportees denounce the persecutions in spite of cautious clergymen A new Danish government was not who were afraid of German formed, even though the Germans called reprisals, and a small faction of off the state of emergency. Parliament anti-Semitic priests. also stopped working. But the Danish civil service continued functioning, as the Nils Svenningsen, Director of state secretaries formed an administrative the Ministry of Foreign Af- cabinet to head daily business in informal fairs, was in charge of contact contact with leading politicians. Thus, with the German authorities Danish cooperation with the occupying in Denmark 1943-45. His power resumed, albeit in a more dis- proposal that the Danish au- tanced mode. thorities intern the Jews, made One issue of continuous contact was in the hope of keeping them on the effort to help the deportees in Ther- Danish soil, would have involved the Danish police esienstadt and in German concentration in the manhunt and delayed the deportations mar- camps. Attempts at obtaining the repa- ginally at best; but the Germans turned it down.

25 October 1943

Theresienstadt tion and forced labor. A Jewish adminis- tration, appointed by the Gestapo to help distribute misery and organize transports to the death camps, tried to keep up morale by organizing cultural and sport events, school classes etc. But the real rul- ers were the SS. Frequent transports were dispatched to Auschwitz, where most Jews were Work detail outside Theresienstadt. Jo Spier, killed immediately upon arrival. The a prisoner, had to make 18 hand-painted Jews who had been deported from lithographic prints that pictured ghetto life Denmark were, however, allowed to stay as idyllic normalcy. The prints were given to in the ghetto -- a promise the Danish the Danish officials who visited the ghetto in authorities had obtained from Eichmann 1944. The inspectors, ignoring the plight of via Best. The Danes had no success in the other prisoners, pretended to believe the pushing for , but their wish beautified image in order to nail the Nazis on to send inspectors to Theresienstadt guarantees for the Danish Jews. was supported by Best who wanted to improve relations with the Danish au- thorities and business circles. Eichmann The Jewish deportees from Denmark for his part was hoping to present to the were taken to Theresienstadt between world an idealized propaganda image and Dresden and Prague. Here were tens of use Theresienstadt to conceal the fact of thousands of Jews crammed together mass genocide, which by autumn 1943 in an old fortified city that served as a had cost the lives of 3 million Jews. special ghetto. Of all the Danish Jews, these were the only ones who were forced to wear the Star of David. A Danish commission visits the ghetto Theresienstadt was the destination for Jews who were not intended for im- On June 23, 1944 Danish officials mediate annihilation. Conditions were inspected the ghetto and were presented not quite as extreme as in regular Nazi with a heavily made-up stage set. The concentration camps, but the prisoners camp had been hastily remodeled, and were starved, and suffered from depriva- thousands of prisoners had been sent off

26 October 1943

to Auschwitz so that the camp would not There! And everywhere! My body is stud- appear overcrowded. Each of the prison- ded all over with flea bites and reddened ers who were chosen to speak with the swellings that itch and itch.” inspectors were instructed about what (Alex Eisenberg: Theresienstadt-elegi. to say, and knew that a false word would Aarhus 1993) have grave consequences for themselves and their fellow prisoners. Members of the commission repre- Safe in a Swedish harbor sented the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish and International When the Swedish government was given Red Cross. They obviously realized that notice that the Danish Jews would be de- they were implicated in a major Nazi ported to Germany, it announced that its charade, but hoped that by playing along borders were open. The nuclear scientist, they would be able to secure the Danish Niels Bohr, fled to Sweden in September Jews at least minuscule protection. Soon, 1943 and arranged that the new Swedish Denmark was also able to send food and policy be made public on Swedish radio. medicine to Theresienstadt, and thanks This convinced doubtful Jews that the to these supplies the Danish deportees situation was grave -- and that there was experienced lower mortality than any in fact a refuge. other group in the ghetto.

Refugee life in Sweden Horribly unhygienic conditions 45 camps were established in Sweden, Alex Eisenberg came to Denmark from along with Danish schools in the ma- Leipzig, Germany as a young boy in 1939 jor cities. Exiled Danish administrators and was a prisoner at Theresienstadt from started a refugee administration under 1943-45: the auspices of the Danish legation in “At night, when the entire side of my Stockholm, which had by then declared body is exposed to attacks from holes in itself independent of Copenhagen. Work the mattress, I fling my hands about fran- was done in cooperation with the Swed- tically to catch the fleas and crush them. ish authorities, but by and large, fund- But they attack from all sides. First this ing for the refugees came from Danish spot, then that spot, then all over. Here! sources.

27 October 1943

Denmark during 1944 The refugees tried to establish a relatively normal life under the circum- Following the operation against the Jews, stances. Nevertheless they were plagued the state of emergency was called off. by inactivity and anxiety about the fate of Without the reconvening of Parliament the Theresienstadt prisoners and relatives or the forming of a new government, still in Central Europe. Some, however, the Danish administration, agriculture were able to leave the refugee camps to and industry still cooperated with the work and study in Sweden. And many of Germans, only more reluctantly. A kind the artists among the refugees contrib- of dual power situation prevailed, as uted to Swedish music and cultural life. the Danish population distanced them- For Sweden, sheltering the Danish selves from the ‘old politicians’ who had Jews meant a turn away from a compli- engaged in the collaboration and increas- ant policy toward German rulership. It ingly looked to the Danish Freedom wasn’t long before the underground army, Council (an umbrella body of all left- and built up by the Danish resistance began right- resistance organizations). receiving weapons illegally from Sweden, The August uprising in 1943 pro- and Danish exile forces, ‘The Danish voked a more ‘heavy-handed’ German Brigade’, were trained in Sweden for policy. On December 30, 1943 Hitler deployment in case of a German collapse ordered new terror measures: in response and possible Communist revolt (which to acts of sabotage, newspaper offices, Stalin’s Danish followers actually never amusement places and Danish businesses contemplated). refusing to supply armaments were to be blown up by the Germans and auxiliaries recruited among Danish Nazis. The resistance had become ever more accurate in its attacks against pro-Ger- man businesses and attempted to block the transport of Wehrmacht troops by blowing up railway installations. The occupying power responded by issu- Homesickness: the Danish coast was visible ing death sentences and sending many from Sweden. There were many children members of the resistance to German among the Jewish refugees -- over 1,000 under concentration camps. On September 19, the age of 10.

28 October 1943

1944 they even interned and deported Suspected collaborators were interned, the Danish police force. and traitors, SS volunteers and war crimi- nals brought before the courts. The trials were later criticized for hitting ‘the small ... and 1945 fry’ hard and letting ‘the big fish’ off the hook, but lynching was widely avoided. Many lives were lost during the liberation days, though, as small, desperate groups of Danish Nazis refused to surrender and resorted to sniper activity and fierce fight- ing.

The White Buses

Growing support for the freedom movement was countered by terror by the Germans and increasingly desperate Danish Nazi collabora- tors. A Danish newspaperman was murdered in retaliation for resistance actions.

The final battles of the war did not take place in Denmark. On May 5, 1945 the occupiers capitulated, and the freedom Scandinavian and other prisoners were evacu- movement presented itself to the pub- ated from German concentration camps in a lic. An interim ‘liberation cabinet’ was Danish-Norwegian-Swedish rescue operation founded, composed of equal numbers during the last months of the war. of ministers from the resistance and the parties that had been in charge during During the last months of the war, Dan- 1940-43, the latter gaining the more ish and Norwegian prisoners in German powerful posts. prisons and concentration camps were successfully rescued and sent on to Swe-

29 October 1943

den. The initiative had come from Nor- In general, abandoned Jewish prop- way, manpower and supplies were mainly erty had been left untampered with. But organized in Denmark, and the Swedish in some cases strawmen to whom proper- Red Cross joined in effectively during ties had been turned over refused to step the last stretch. Count Folke Bernadotte’s down. And there were many apartments negotiations with SS leaders gave rescu- that had been let to other tenants due to ers ‘in the field’ maneuvering space to the acute housing shortage, so some Jews negotiate large numbers of prisoners out had to live in provisional housing for of the camp commandants’ grasp. But months or even years. anti-Semitism was persistent in the Third Post-war Denmark was not free of Reich until the very end, and Bernadotte anti-Semitic sentiments. The Nazi perse- did not insist on rescuing the Jews at cution had in fact transformed the Dan- Theresienstadt. Senior members of his ish Jews into something they hadn’t been staff secured their release through bribery previously: a separate and visible group. nevertheless. Also, thousands of Jewish The exiled refugees from Central Eu- prisoners from the women’s concentra- rope faced a dilemma: should they return tion camp Ravensbrück were freighted to to places where Jewish culture had practi- Denmark and on to Sweden during the cally been eradicated, or should they try last weeks of the war. to root themselves among the Danes? Only after a considerable amount of red tape could those who wished it receive The homecoming of the Danish Danish citizenship. Jews Weeks passed before the refugees from Jewish life in post-war Denmark Sweden could return to liberated Den- mark. For some, the homecoming was Community life and the Jewish institu- not a joyous moment. The escape had tions were quickly re-established, and life been costly for many, and people had returned to normal. Some concluded that been forced to flee from jobs and busi- even the most total integration could not nesses without warning. Civil servants, guarantee against anti-Semitism, so for however, were given back their jobs and that reason one should uphold the Jewish received salary all through their absence. heritage. Few, however, chose to immi- grate to Israel.

30 October 1943

Many felt that the Nazis had forced a Jewish identity upon them which they wanted to rid themselves of as quickly as possible. Community membership fell: many wished to resume and speed up the assimilation process they had been torn out of. At bottom, they wanted to return to what they had prior to October ‘43: an altogether ordinary Danish life. And due to the lucky combination of motives and circumstance that secured the survival of Chief Rabbi Max Friediger, having returned the vast majority of the Jews of Denmark, from Theresienstadt, presides over the first this option was offered to them to an service in the synagogue in Copenhagen at its extent that was seldom seen in the vast reopening on June 22, 1945. areas of Europe that had been under Nazi rule. In 1993, to mark the 50th anni- versary of the October ‘43 events, the Museum of Danish Resistance 1940- 1945 produced a travelling exhibition on the rescue of the Danish Jews from annihilation. The exhibition presents the story of Danish Jewry, the rescue and its Danish and international background on 36 large placards. Versions in a number of languages have since been displayed in 30 countries and visited by an estimated 500,000 spectators in Europe, Australia and the Americas. The booklet that ac- companied it now circulates on its own, and has been used in schools in many countries. Latest update: January 2010.

31 Published by The Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Public Diplomacy and Communication Asiatisk Plads 2, DK-1448 Copenhagen K, www.um.dk, [email protected], and The Museum of Danish Resistance 1940-1945, Churchillparken, DK-1263 Copenhagen K. www.nationalmuseet.dk/sw23424.asp Text: Therkel Stræde Photos: The Museum of Danish Resistance, 2 maj, Yad Vashem, Nordfoto, et al. Translation: Teresa Mesquit, Therkel Stræde The text may be reproduced with or without indication of source Printed in Denmark 2010 ISBN: 978-87-7087-425-0

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