Five Pictures from the
German-occupied Denmark that speak volumes...
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A
Jew, recently apprehended by a Danish Nazi
(center, in black raincoat and hat), is rescued
by his fellow Danes. As the Nazi escorted the
Jew through the streets, an angry crowd forced
him to surrender his prisoner to the Danish
police. Once safely inside the police station,
the gendarmes helped the Jew escape. The Danish
police consistently refused to cooperate with
the German occupation authorities.
[Photo
Credit: Frihedsmuseet / United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum Photo Archive.]
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Danish
fishermen ferry a boatload of Jewish fugitives
across a narrow sound to neutral Sweden during
the nationwide rescue operation. News of
impending deportations of Jews spawned a rapid
response by the Danes, who worked feverishly to
save Jewish citizens. Boats of every size and
shape were used to transport the Jews from
Denmark to Sweden, away from the grasp of the
Nazis.
[Photo
Credit: Frihedsmuseet / United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum Photo Archive.]
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This
group portrait of Danish-Jewish children was
taken in a children's home in Sweden after their
escape from Denmark. The rescue of Danish Jewry
was one of the few positive stories in the
tragic annals of the Holocaust. These Jewish
children unknowingly defied all odds by
surviving the genocidal intentions of the Nazis.
[Photo
Credit: Frihedsmuseet / United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum Photo Archive.]
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The
heroic actions of the Danish people during the
autumn of 1943 saved nearly all of Denmark's
Jews from certain death in Nazi concentration
camps.
After
the Germans occupied the country in 1940, the
Danish government resisted Nazi pressure to hand
over its Jews. In 1943, however, the Danes
intensified resistance, prompting a harsh Nazi
reaction. Imposing martial law, the Germans in
October began to arrest and deport Danish Jews.
Reacting spontaneously, Danes alerted and hid
the Jews, helping them to the coast and
organizing secret passage across the sea to
Sweden (pictured). The unassuming Danish
rescuers included police, fishermen, and members
of church and social
organizations.
Over
the course of three weeks, the Danish people
transported more than 7200 Jews and almost 700
of their non-Jewish relatives to safety aboard
Danish fishing vessels. The Nazis did capture
464 Jews, whom they sent to the Theresienstadt,
Czechoslovakia, camp/ghetto. Aid continued,
nonetheless, as the Danish public sent food
parcels to their Jewish countrymen imprisoned in
Theresienstadt. Just before the conclusion of
the war, in spring 1945, negotiations rescued
most of these Jews through an agreement that
transferred many Scandinavian nationals from
concentration camps to Sweden.
Photo:
Frihedsmuseet / United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum Photo Archive
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A
Swedish policeman accompanies a newly arrived
Danish-Jewish refugee to the welfare office in
Rebslagergade, Sweden. Swedish participation was
critical to the success of the rescue operation.
Not only did the government proclaim its
willingness to accept all Jewish refugees from
Denmark, but the Swedish Red Cross helped save
the approximately 500 Danish Jews who were
deported to the Theresienstadt camp/ghetto in
Czechoslovakia.
Photo:
Frihedsmuseet / United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum Photo Archive
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Text
Source:
http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/StaticPages/489.html

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