11 buckser notes 3/24/03 3:59 PM Page 239 ² Notes Introduction 1. Coincidentally,there is another well-known pianist and comedian in Den- mark named Simon Rosenbaum.The two are not related; in fact, Rosen- baum performs a piece entitled “I Am Not in Any Way Related to Victor Borge, and He Is Not in Any Way Related to Me.” 2. It might seem that an easy way out of this dilemma would be to use gov- ernment statistics on religious affiliation; whatever the different views within the community, the government statistics could stand as an impar- tial benchmark. No such luck.The figures reported in the Danish govern- ment’s statistical yearbook are compiled by the official Jewish Community, and they include only members in good standing of the organization. A man who had resigned his membership in the Community would not show up in these figures, though all would agree that he was still a Jew. Members are reported, moreover, by household, not by individual. Since households vary in size, they give only a suggestion of the actual number of member Jews. Other sources of statistics on Jews carry similar problems. After extensive efforts to find a definitive number, I have reluctantly reached the conclusion that no one actually knows how many Jews live in Denmark.The figure of seven thousand is frequently used in conversation and publications, but most of those who use it have no idea where it comes from. (For a discussion of some of the problems associated with the de- mographics of Jewish populations, see Schnapper 1987). 3. I speak Danish reasonably well, though with a mixture of an American and a West Jutland accent that I suspect many Danes find appalling.When in- terviewing native Danish Jews, I always conducted interviews in Danish.A number of Jewish immigrants, however, particularly those from the Mid- dle East and Poland, spoke better English than Danish, and a few spoke no 11 buckser notes 3/24/03 3:59 PM Page 240 240 ² After the Rescue Danish at all. In such cases, I let the informants choose the language of the interview, and they usually chose English. 4. To say that the comments have been helpful does not imply that they have been gentle. Danish Jews who have read my work have tended to find it interesting, and most of them who have spoken with me about it have said that it captured something true about the community. They have also found things to disagree with, however, and they have not been not shy about letting me know. My favorite reaction came from one of the Jewish Community leaders, an academic, who had me over to dinner shortly after the publication of an article in Ethnic and Racial Studies. “Andy,” he told me,“I have read your latest article, and I have to tell you that it was very interesting and had all the details right, but your thesis is pure anthropo- logical bullshit.” Another woman told me that one of my articles in the community journal was “exactly what is wrong with the way people think about Judaism today.”I anticipate a rich harvest of comments to follow the present volume. 5. Jack Kugelmass offers an insightful discussion of this issue in the introduc- tion to his edited volume on American Jewry (1988). Chapter 1 1. A few authors have written general histories of the Jewish community in Denmark; perhaps the best known are Balslev (1932), Borchsenius (1968), and Bamberger (1983). Most of the available historical writing, however, comes in the form of articles or chapters focusing on specific moments in Jewish history, often published in anniversary volumes (e.g., Feigenberg 1984, Margolinsky 1958a, Margolinsky and Meyer 1964).The rescue of the Danish Jews in 1943 has been the subject of extensive historical writing (e.g., Yahil 1969, Flender 1963, Goldberger 1987, Sode-Madsen 1993, Kreth 1995, Buckser 2001, and Paulsson 1995); recently, the immigration period of the early 1900s has also received extensive scholarly attention (Bludnikow 1986). I do not know why such a disproportionately large portion of the his- torical literature on the Danish Jews has been written by authors with last names beginning with B. It is a trend, however, of which I heartily approve. 2. The following characterization of early Jewish history in Denmark is taken primarily from Balslev 1932, Margolinsky 1958a; 1964, Bludnikow and Jørgensen 1984, Borchsenius 1968, Blum 1972, and Bamberger 1983. 3. There are a number of sources for early Jewish population figures in Den- mark, not all of which agree. In this chapter I rely mainly on Balslev (1932), who is the source for a number of later histories. While some 11 buckser notes 3/24/03 3:59 PM Page 241 Notes ² 241 sources may give slightly different figures, there is general agreement on the rough shape of the population’s growth. 4. See Lausten 1987 for a general account of Danish policies toward non- conformist religions. 5. Population figures here are from Balslev 1932: 20–21. 6. Factionalism in the congregation can also be seen in the proliferation of small burial societies in the early 1700s. See Margolinsky 1958b: 41. 7. The account of the reform period given here is drawn primarily from Lin- vald 1964, Meyer 1964, Balslev 1932: 29–44, Christensen and Syskind 1984, Bludnikow and Jørgensen 1984, Borchsenius 1968: 61–71, and Gold 1975. 8. This discussion of the Decree of 1814 draws heavily on Gold’s analysis in her excellent doctoral dissertation (1975). Other sources used include Margolinsky 1964, Bamberger 1983, Borchsenius 1968, and Balslev 1932. For interested readers, Bamberger 1983: 50–57 provides a full English translation of the decree’s text. 9. While our focus here is on the Copenhagen community, it is worth not- ing that these effects were even more pronounced for Jews living in the provincial towns.Whereas the Copenhagen community was allowed to re- tain some of its civil administrative functions, as long as they accorded with Danish law, provincial Jews were subjected directly to local civil authori- ties in all administrative matters. 10. Priest (præst) is the standard term for a Danish Lutheran clergyman; the term does not, as in the United States, have a specific association with Catholic clergy.The terminology does matter, however, since the status of a cleric in a state church is considerably different from the traditional sta- tus of a rabbi, both in terms of the conditions of employment and of the sacramental responsibilities. 11. This account of the nineteenth century is based primarily on Borchsenius 1968, Bamberger 1983, Balslev 1932, Christensen and Syskind 1984, and Blum 1972. 12. Among the spectators to these events was the fourteen-year-old Hans Christian Andersen, who had just arrived in Copenhagen from outlying Odense. Never having visited the metropolis before, he assumed that such sights were standard in big cities. He relates the story in his autobiography, Mit Livs Eventyr (1951). 13. For an excellent discussion of the Mannheimer episode, including an analysis of the liturgical points at issue, see Meyer 1964. 14. The synagogue was installed in the home of Moses Levy in Læderstræde, after Levy had unsuccessfully petitioned the crown to block any reduction of prayers in Wolff’s services.The synagogue never received royal approval and was therefore technically illegal, but no effort was ever made to close 11 buckser notes 3/24/03 3:59 PM Page 242 242 ² After the Rescue it down.The family maintained the synagogue for over a century, holding services twice daily until it closed. Levy himself engaged in a lifelong feud with Wolff;some of his descendants today continue to have antagonistic re- lations with the Mosaiske Troessamfund. See Bamberger 1983: 63–64. 15. The article appeared without a byline in the community journal Jødisk Samfund. Schornstein is generally presumed to be the author, a reasonable presumption which I follow here, but no definite proof of authorship ex- ists. 16. The depiction here of immigrant lives is drawn largely from Bent Blud- nikow’s excellent study (1986), as well as Welner’s evocative memoir of the period (1965).The account of the Machsike Hadas schism draws primar- ily on Blum 1972 and Melchior 1965. 17. This name is associated with the carrying of myrtle branches during the holiday of Shavuot, and it denotes people who, while not sophisticated in learning, are strong in their faith. 18. The Portuguese minority,of course, formed an important exception; their numbers were always quite limited, however, and their class and occupa- tional position had a great deal in common with the wealthier German Jews. 19. Welner 1965 provides an unusually vivid personal account of this sort of labor and the life circumstances that accompanied it. 20. Welner 1965:112–113 reports the following conversation between a Jew- ish immigrant and his elderly father-in-law, who had come to visit him from Poland.The father-in-law had been shocked to see his grandchildren playing with Christian children and their mother drinking coffee in her kitchen with Christian neighbors, and he could not understand the mat- ter-of-fact manner in which these encounters were regarded. Finally, he had to get the mystery answered. “Gabriel,” he said to his stepson,“are the Danes also Christians?” “Yes, father-in-law,” answered Gabriel, “the Danes are not only Chris- tians, they’re real Christians.” “And so what are the others?” asked the stepfather. “The others that you’re thinking of, they’re goyim!” 21. As noted above, there is an extensive historical literature on this period in Danish Jewish history.The most influential among scholars has been Yahil 1969, and accounts like Flender 1963 and Goldberger 1987 have been in- fluential in shaping public perceptions of the event.Among the many other studies, some of the more current and generally oriented include Kreth 1995, Sode-Madsen 1993, Paulsson 1995, Kirchhoff 1995, and Buckser 1998; 1999b; 2001.