When a Nation Said No: The Danish Rescue of the Jews

Greetings, history enthusiasts. I'm Steve Matthews, and welcome back to WW2 Stories. Today, we're exploring one of the most remarkable humanitarian efforts of World War II—the Danish rescue of Jews. This is the story of how an entire nation conspired to save its Jewish citizens, demonstrating that even in humanity's darkest hour, collective courage and moral clarity could triumph over hatred and violence.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Greetings, history enthusiasts. I'm Steve Matthews, and welcome
back to WW2 Stories. Today we're exploring one of the
most remarkable humanitarian efforts of World War 2, the
Danish rescue of Jews. This is the story of how an
entire nation conspired to save its Jewish citizens,

(00:21):
demonstrating that even in humanity's darkest hour,
collective courage and moral clarity could triumph over
hatred and violence. Imagine this October 1943.
The war has raged for four years, Nazi Germany occupies
most of Europe, and the Holocaust is claiming Jewish
lives by the millions across thecontinent.

(00:44):
In German occupied Denmark, orders have just arrived from
Berlin to round up and deport the country's entire Jewish
population, about 7800 people. Everything is prepared for this
community's destruction. Gestapo agents have compiled
address lists. Police units are organized for
the roundup. Deportation ships wait in

(01:07):
Copenhagen harbor. Yet when German forces begin
their raids on the night of October 1st, 1943, they find
something astonishing. Empty homes.
The vast majority of Danish Jewshave vanished.
Where Nazi deportation plans in other countries resulted in the
capture and murder of 75% to 90%of the Jewish population, in

(01:31):
Denmark the results would be dramatically different.
In a spontaneous collective action, the Danish people had
chosen to save their Jewish neighbors.
How is this possible? To understand this remarkable
story, we must first understand Denmark in its unique position
within Nazi occupied Europe. Denmark's occupation by Nazi

(01:54):
Germany began on April 9th, 1940and was unlike any other in
Europe. The small Scandinavian nation,
with limited military forces surrendered after just six hours
of token resistance. The Nazi invasion, codenamed
Operation Wezerabong, was swift and overwhelming.

(02:15):
German warships entered Danish waters, while paratroopers
seized airfields in key infrastructure.
The Danish government, recognizing the futility of
resistance against such overwhelming force, capitulated
quickly to avoid civilian casualties.
The Nazis, viewing the Danes as fellow Aryans, established what

(02:36):
they call the Model Protectorate.
Denmark retained its king, government, parliament, and even
its army and Navy. Danish sovereignty, though
severely compromised, was not completely abolished.
This unusual arrangement was designed to showcase Nazi
benevolence and to secure Denmark's agricultural

(02:56):
production for the German war effort.
King Christian Acts remained on his throne, becoming a symbol of
quiet resistance. Unlike monarchs and other
occupied countries who fled intoexile, Christian stayed with his
people. Every morning he rode his horse
on escorted through Copenhagen streets, the daily reminder of

(03:17):
continued Danish sovereignty. When the King's 70th birthday
fell during the occupation, Danes turn the celebration into
a massive display of patriotism,with over 100,000 people
gathering outside the royal palace.
The Danish government, led by Prime Minister Eric Scavenius,
pursued a policy of reluctant cooperation to maintain Danish

(03:40):
sovereignty and protect its citizens.
This negotiation under protest policy, aimed to preserve as
much independence as possible while avoiding the harsh direct
rule imposed on other occupied territories.
The strategy was deeply controversial both during and
after the war, but it did succeed in shielding Denmark

(04:00):
from the worst Nazi excesses experienced elsewhere.
While resistance activities gradually increased sabotage
operations, underground newspapers, intelligence
gathering for the Allies, the government tried to shield the
population from the worst effects of Nazi occupation.
The Danish underground grew steadily, conducting sabotage

(04:22):
against railways, factories, producing for the German war
effort, and other strategic targets.
The underground newspaper to free Dansk, the Free Danes,
circulated clandestinely, providing and censored news and
building national morale. Crucially, throughout this
period, Denmark's 7800 Jews remained protected.

(04:46):
Despite immense pressure from Berlin, the Danish government
steadfastly refused to enact anti Jewish legislation or to
require Jews to wear identifyingyellow stars.
King Christian X reportedly declared that if such measures
were imposed, he would be the first to wear the star.
Though historians now believe this popular story is

(05:06):
apocryphal, it nonetheless reflects the genuine protective
attitude of the Danish leadership.
Unlike in other occupied countries where Jewish
communities were quickly isolated, ghettoized, and then
deported, Danish Jews continued to live normal lives through the
first three years of occupation.They remained integrated in

(05:27):
society, continued in their professions, and experienced
little of the systematic persecution occurring elsewhere
in Europe. When the Germans demanded anti
Jewish measures, Danish officials employed a strategy of
delay, obstruction, and outrightrefusal.
This protection began to crumblein August 1943.

(05:49):
Rising resistance activities in a wave of strikes led the
Germans to lose patience with the Model Protectorate
arrangement. The turning point came with a
massive shipyard strike in Odensay, which quickly spread to
other cities. On August 28th, German military
commander General Hermann von Haneken presented an ultimatum

(06:09):
demanding the Danish government declare a state of emergency,
impose curfews, ban public gatherings, establish military
courts and institute the death penalty for sabotage.
The Danish government, led by Prime Minister Eric Scavenius,
refused these demands as incompatible with Danish
sovereignty and resigned in protest.

(06:32):
On August 29th, the Germans declared martial law, disbanded
the Danish government and took direct control of the country.
Danish military installations were attacked and seized, the
fleet was scuttled by its own sailors to prevent German use,
and the parliament was suspended.
The thin shield protecting Denmark's Jews was about to

(06:53):
shatter. On September 28th, 1943, Nazi
official Werner Best, Reich Plenipitentiary in Denmark
received orders from Berlin to proceed with the deportation of
all Danish Jews. The roundups were scheduled to
begin on October 1st, during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New

(07:13):
Year, when families would likelybe gathered at home.
Werner Best presents an intriguing case study in the
contradictions of Nazi officialdom.
A high-ranking s s officer, an expert on occupation policy,
Best nonetheless seemed ambivalent about implementing
the Final Solution in Denmark. Some historians suggest he was

(07:34):
concerned about the impact mass deportations would have on
Danish German cooperation, particularly regarding food
production crucial to the Reich.Others believe Best had begun to
recognize Germany might lose thewar and was positioning himself
more moderately for the post warperiod.
Whatever his motivations, Best'sactions or strategic in actions

(07:57):
would play a significant role inwhat followed.
What happened next hinged on theconscience of a single man,
George Ferdinand Duckwitz, a German maritime attache station
in Copenhagen. Duckwitz was officially part of
the Nazi administration, but privately opposed its genocidal
policies. Born to a wealthy merchant

(08:18):
family in Bremen, Duckwitz had initially supported the Nazi
Party, but became increasingly disillusioned with its radical
anti-Semitism and violence. By 1943, he was secretly working
to undermine Nazi policies whilemaintaining his official
position. Upon learning of the planned
deportations from his superior Warner Best, in what some

(08:40):
historians suggest may have beenbest, some deliberate leak,
Duckwitz made a momentous decision.
On September 28th, Duckwood secretly traveled to neutral
Sweden to meet with Prime Minister Per Alvin Hansen,
securing assurances that Sweden would accept Danish Jewish
refugees. The following day, he leaked the

(09:01):
deportation plans to Hans Head Toft, A prominent Danish Social
Democrat and future Prime Minister, who immediately
alerted CB Henriquez, the head of the Jewish community, and
other Danish leaders. The warning spread like wildfire
through Copenhagen and beyond. Within hours, a spontaneous

(09:21):
rescue operation began to take shape.
Rabbi Marcus Melchior interrupted Rosh Hashanah
services that Copenhagen's main synagogue on September 29th with
an urgent announcement. There's no time to cry, save
yourselves. He urged his congregation to go
into hiding immediately and to spread the warning to others.

(09:43):
The response from ordinary Daneswas both immediate and
extraordinary. Danish citizens from all walks
of life, without central coordination and often without
prior resistance involvement, simply decided that their Jewish
neighbors would not be taken. It was less a formal resistance
operation than a spontaneous national refusal to accept the

(10:05):
deportation of fellow Danes. What followed was one of the
most remarkable examples of collective humanitarian action
in modern history. Danes from all walks of life,
doctors, fishermen, teachers, police officers, pastors,
workers, aristocrats, spontaneously mobilized to hide

(10:25):
their Jewish neighbors in Copenhagen.
The reaction was swift, Jorgen Keeler, a medical student and
resistance member, later recalled.
People just started phoning Jewish families they knew,
warning them to leave immediately.
Others went door to door in neighborhoods with Jewish
residents. Within hours, thousands of

(10:47):
people were mobilizing to help, most of whom had never been
involved in resistance activities before.
Hiding places were found in private homes, summer cottages,
hospitals, churches, factories and farms.
Danish families welcome Jewish strangers into their homes,
often at significant personal risk.

(11:09):
Bado Lomberg, a school teacher in Copenhagen, described taking
in a Jewish family she had nevermet.
They arrived at night with nothing but the clothes they
wore. We made beds for them in our
living room. When my children asked who they
were, I simply said they were friends who needed help.
The children understood not to mention them to anyone.

(11:31):
Transportation networks formed almost organically.
Taxi drivers, truck drivers, ambulance operators and private
car owners formed improvised convoys, moving Jews from cities
to coastal villages. Train conductors allow Jewish
refugees to ride without ticketsor identification and warn them

(11:51):
when German patrols were conducting checks.
When Germans were present, Danish passengers would
deliberately crowd around Jewishtravelers to shield them from
view. Copenhagen's Bisbeb Jerk
hospital became a central transit point.
Dr. Karl Henry Koster, the chiefsurgeon, turned the maternity
ward into a staging area for Jews awaiting transport to the

(12:15):
coast. Hospital staff registered Jews
under false names as patients orhid them in storage rooms in
nurses quarters. The hospital Chapel, normally
used for viewing deceased patients, served as temporary
housing. Ambulances transported Jews to
coastal departure points, their sirens providing perfect cover

(12:36):
for the illegal activity. The Danish medical community
played a particularly significant role in the rescue
operation. Doctor Koster and his colleague
Dr. Jorgen Jersfeld created a system whereby Jews could come
to Bispebjerg Hospital at any time and be taken to hiding
places or coastal departure points.

(12:56):
Medical students served as couriers and guides.
Using ambulances and medical credentials, they could move
through the city even during curfew hours.
Doctors issued false medical certificates claiming Jews were
too. I'll to be moved temporarily,
protecting them from deportationif discovered.
The Danish police, rather than assisting the Germans as in most

(13:19):
occupied countries, actively hindered the roundup.
Police officers warned Jewish families when raids were
imminent, deliberately misdirected German units and in
some cases directly participatedin the rescue operations.
Chief of Police Van Metzger provided police vans to
transport Jews and ordered his officers to ignore suspicious

(13:41):
activities around the coast. Coastal police were particularly
important to the rescue effort. In Gillilege, Police officer
Thorvald Mickelson maintained regular communication with
resistance groups, alerting themwhen German patrols were
expected. In Snackerston, the local police
chief arranged for his officers to be conveniently absent from

(14:03):
areas where Jews were being loaded onto fishing boats.
The Danish resistance, previously focused on sabotage
and intelligence gathering, shifted its resources to the
rescue operation. Resistance networks established
hiding places, organized transportation routes, and
raised enormous sums of money topay fisherman for the dangerous

(14:25):
crossings to Sweden. Universities emptied as students
joined the effort. At Copenhagen University,
classes were suspended as students formed rescue teams.
The medical school became a planning center where students
coordinated routes to the coast.Young people on bicycles served
as couriers, carrying messages between hiding places and rescue

(14:49):
organizers. Churches open their doors with
pastors hiding Jews and Crips, bell towers and parish houses.
Bishop Pons Fugelsang Damgard issued a letter to be read from
all Danish pulpits declaring whenever persecution is
undertaken for racial or religious reasons, it is the
duty of the Christian Church to protest against it.

(15:12):
This official ecclesiastical position provided moral
authorization for clergy in congregations to participate in
the rescue efforts. In one remarkable case, Pastor
Kielgard Jensen of Lingby Churchorganized his confirmation class
to act as guides, helping Jewishfamilies navigate safely to
coastal pickup points. The teenagers, already familiar

(15:36):
with local back roads and forestpaths from their youth
activities, became expert guides, moving Jewish families
by night while avoiding German patrols.
The fishing communities along Denmark's eastern coast became
the final crucial link in the escape chain.
Fishing vessels normally used for daily catches were

(15:56):
transformed into rescue ships carrying precious human cargo
across the narrow or sun straight to Sweden, just 2.5 to
15 miles away, depending on the crossing point.
The coastal town of Gillilege, about 30 miles north of
Copenhagen, became a primary departure point.
With a population of just 2500, this small fishing community

(16:20):
sheltered nearly 1500 Jews in the early days of October.
When private homes could no longer accommodate the influx,
Gila Liege's residents open their church, hiding refugees in
the attic while awaiting transport.
The town's fishermen worked around the clock, making
repeated crossings to Sweden despite intensifying German

(16:42):
patrols. Erlin Kier, a Gila Liege
fisherman who made multiple rescue voyages, describe the
atmosphere. The whole town was involved.
Baker's provided bread, hotels open their rooms, shopkeepers
donated supplies. Everyone knew what was
happening, but no one spoke of it openly.

(17:03):
If you saw neighbors moving people at night, you look the
other way. The crossing itself was
perilous. German patrol boats monitor the
straight and fishing vessels were subject to search.
Jewish refugees hid below deck, sometimes under piles of fish or
in specially constructed compartments.

(17:24):
The weather in October added to the danger, with autumn storms
making the short journey treacherous for the small
fishing boats. Fisherman Borgaron recalled one
particularly heroin crossing. We had 22 refugees hidden below.
The seas were rough and halfway across we encountered a German
patrol boat. They signaled for us to stop for

(17:46):
inspection. I pretended the engine was
malfunctioning and couldn't slowdown immediately.
This bought precious minutes forthe refugees to squeeze into a
specially built false bulkhead. The Germans boarded us but found
nothing. Had they used dogs, as they
sometimes did, we would all havebeen lost.

(18:08):
The cost of passage varied widely.
Some fishermen, motivated by profit, charged exorbitant rates
up to 10,000 kroner per person, equivalent to several years
wages for an average worker. Others, driven by moral
conviction, charged nothing or just enough to cover fuel and
risk. The resistance provided funds

(18:30):
for those who couldn't afford the journey, ensuring that
financial limitations wouldn't determine who escaped and who
remained. This financial aspect of the
rescue has generated ethical debates among historians.
Some argue that charging high fees for rescue was
exploitative. Others contend that the
extraordinary risks justified substantial compensation.

(18:53):
In reality, the situation was complex.
Many fishermen who initially charged high rates gradually
reduced their fees as they became emotionally involved in
the rescue operation. Others maintain high prices but
use the profits to improve theirboats or build hidden
compartments for safer transport.

(19:13):
Not every attempted rescue succeeded.
In the most tragic incident of the operation, 80 Jews hiding in
the attic of Gillilege Church were betrayed to the Germans on
October 6th. They were arrested and
ultimately deported to their science, that concentration
camp. The betrayal reportedly came
from a Danish girl in love with a German soldier, a painful

(19:36):
reminder that even in this extraordinary nationwide effort,
human failings could still lead to tragedy.
Despite such setbacks, the overall success of the rescue
operation was unprecedented. By the end of October, when the
Germans finally abandoned their efforts, approximately 7200
Danish Jews and nearly 700 of their non Jewish relatives had

(19:59):
reached safety in Sweden. Only 464 Danish Jews were
captured and deported to their science stat.
Sweden's role in this humanitarian achievement
deserves special mention. Though officially neutral,
Sweden actively supported the rescue operation once it became
clear what was happening. Swedish authorities instructed

(20:23):
their Coastal Guard not to interfere with boats arriving
from Denmark, regardless of whether passengers had proper
documentation. The Swedish government announced
publicly that it would accept all Jewish refugees from
Denmark, providing important reassurance to those
contemplating escape. Once in Sweden, Danish Jewish
refugees received extraordinary support.

(20:46):
The Swedish government established refugee centers,
provided financial assistance, and ensured access to housing,
education, and employment opportunities.
Private Swedish citizens open their homes, donated clothing
and supplies, and helped newcomers adjust the temporary
exile. Swedish companies created job

(21:08):
opportunities specifically for the refugees, allowing them to
maintain their dignity and independence while waiting to
return home. Even for those who were
deported, the story doesn't end there.
Unlike Jews from other countriessent to camps, the Danish
deportees experienced something unique.
Their nation didn't abandoned them.

(21:29):
The Danish government persistently pressured German
authorities about the welfare ofthese deportees, sending
packages and maintaining diplomatic inquiries.
The Germans, still concerned about Danish cooperation and
food production, agreed to allowRed Cross inspections of the
Danes in their science stat, theonly such concession in any

(21:49):
concentration camp. During the war, the Danish
leadership took the extraordinary step of continuing
to recognize these deportees as Danish citizens.
Under its protection. Regular packages containing
food, medicine and clothing weresent with official Danish
government authorization. Danish diplomats in Berlin made

(22:10):
repeated inquiries about the deportees welfare, insisting on
their right to monitor their citizens treatment.
This persistence had a profound effect.
German authorities realize theseparticular prisoners were being
watched in a way that others were not.
The Danish Red Cross, with governmental backing, eventually
secured permission to visit their science that in June 1944,

(22:35):
an unprecedented event in the Nazi camp system.
Though the Nazis orchestrated anelaborate deception, temporarily
improving conditions and hiding the worst aspects of the camp,
the Danish representatives nonetheless gained valuable
information and established A crucial precedent for external
monitoring. As a result of this continuing

(22:55):
Danish protection, these deportees weren't transferred to
extermination camps like Auschwitz, as happened to most
their science that prisoners. Of the 464 Danes sent to their
science, Stat 422 survived the war, a survival rate of over 90%
compared to less than 5% for most other national groups in

(23:17):
the camps. This concern for deported Danish
Jews extended beyond official channels.
Throughout the occupation, Danish citizens maintained A
remarkable commitment to protecting Jewish property in
possessions. When Jewish families fled,
neighbors collected their keys, paid their bills from rent,
collected watered plants, and insured homes remained occupied.

(23:41):
To prevent German confiscation, bank employees protected Jewish
accounts from seizure by creating administrative
obstacles and losing records of Jewish owned assets.
When the war ended in May 1945, Denmark had achieved something
remarkable. Over 99% of its pre war Jewish
population had survived, compared to the 25% to 33%

(24:06):
average survival rate in other occupied Western European
countries. In the far lower rates in
Eastern Europe, beyond the raw statistics lie deeply moving
human stories of risk, sacrificeand courage.
Consider the experience of Bent Melchior, who would later become
Denmark's Chief Rabbi. Then a teenage boy, he recalls

(24:28):
being in school when his father,Rabbi Marcus Melchior, sent word
to come home immediately. Within hours, his family was
split up and hidden in Christianhomes.
A few days later, young Bent found himself on a fishing boat
crossing to Sweden in the dead of night, the vessel so crowded
that passengers stood packed together below deck.

(24:51):
What I remember most vividly, Melchior later wrote, was not
the fear, though that was certainly present, but the
extraordinary kindness of ordinary Danes.
Our family was separated for safety, but each of us was taken
in by people who treated us as honored guests rather than
burdens. The fisherman who transported us
refused payment, saying I am notdoing this for money, but

(25:14):
because it is right. Or take the story of the
Phillips and family, Henry and Inger with their nine children,
including a three-week old infant.
Hiding such a large family with a newborn seemed impossible, yet
Danish neighbors sheltered them until transport could be
arranged. The baby was drugged with
sleeping medication during the crossing to prevent crying that

(25:37):
might alert German patrols. Inger Phillipson later described
their experience. When the Germans came for us, we
had nowhere to go. Then our neighbor, a man we knew
only slightly, arrived at our door, saying, You are coming
with me. He divided our family among five
different homes in his village. The baby was the greatest risk.

(25:59):
How do you hide an infant that might cry at any moment?
Yet these villagers, farmers with little education but
enormous hearts, developed a system to keep her safe, passing
her from house to house wheneverGermans approach the area.
Among the rescuers, ordinary Danes performed extraordinary
acts. Fisherman Thormod Larson made 42

(26:22):
separate crossings, carrying over 300 refugees to safety.
Ellen Nielsen, a lighthouse keeper's wife, and Gila Leach
coordinated local rescue operations from her kitchen
table, maintaining lists of refugees, safe houses and
available boats while feeding dozens of people from her own
limited rations. Police officer Thorvald

(26:45):
Mickelson used his position to gather intelligence on German
raids, warning Jewish families and guiding them to safety.
Women played crucial roles throughout the rescue operation,
often in ways that utilize theirsocial positions.
Female hospital staff could moveJewish children through
checkpoints by claiming they were taking them for medical

(27:05):
treatment. Housewives transformed their
homes into weigh stations for refugees, feeding and clothing
them while maintaining a facade of normal domestic life.
When Germans came calling, school teachers created
elaborate excuses for Jewish students absences while helping
them reach safety. The rescue wasn't without its

(27:26):
moral complexities. Some fishermen did exploit the
desperate situation, charging enormous sums.
Some Jews faced resentment from Danes, who believed the
heightened German crackdown thatfollowed the rescue made life
harder for everyone. A small number of Danes
collaborated with the Germans, either from ideological sympathy

(27:47):
or for payment. Yet what makes the Danish rescue
so remarkable is not that it wasperfect, but that it was so
widespread. Unlike other countries where
rescuing Jews was the exceptional act of a brave few,
and Denmark it became the expected behavior of the many.
When asked why they participated, many rescuers gave

(28:07):
variations of the same simple answer.
It was the only decent thing to do.
This collective decency didn't emerge from nowhere.
Several factors made Denmark different from other occupied
countries. First, Danish Jews were highly
integrated into society, viewed primarily as Danes who happened

(28:27):
to be Jewish, rather than as a separate community.
Second, Denmark had a strong democratic tradition that valued
human rights and equality beforethe law.
Third, the relatively mild occupation until August 1943
meant that Danish institutions remained intact and could be
mobilized for the rescue effort when needed.

(28:49):
Denmark's long tradition of religious tolerance played a
significant role. Since 1814, when Jews received
full citizenship rights, Danish Jews had become thoroughly
integrated into national life. Leading Jewish figures like
physicist Niels Bohr, who himself escaped to Sweden during
the rescue and later lobbied forrefugee acceptance, and banker

(29:13):
CB Henriques were respected national figures.
This integration meant that whenGermans demanded anti Jewish
measures, most Danes perceive this as an attack on fellow
citizens rather than on a separate community.
Denmark's strong civil society provided crucial infrastructure
for the rescue operation. Trade unions, professional

(29:35):
associations, church groups, andsocial clubs became instant
networks for spreading warnings and organizing assistance.
The Danish Medical Association, for instance, mobilized its
members to provide hiding placesand medical care for refugees.
The student association at Copenhagen University suspended

(29:56):
regular activities to focus entirely on the rescue effort.
Perhaps most importantly, Denmark had cultivated what
scholars call civil courage, thewillingness of ordinary citizens
to defend basic human values, even at personal risk.
This civil courage manifested not just in dramatic rescue
operations, but in countless small acts of resistance

(30:19):
throughout the occupation. The aftermath of the rescue saw
its own challenges. While safely in Sweden, Danish
Jews worried about the homes andpossessions they'd left behind.
Here again, Danish society showed its character.
Neighbors collected keys from fleeing Jewish families and took
care of their apartments and businesses.

(30:41):
They watered plants, paid bills from rents collected, and
ensured that Jewish property wasn't looted or seized.
When the Jews returned after liberation in May 1945, most
found their homes just as they had left them, a stark contrast
to the wholesale appropriation of Jewish property in most
European countries. The Danish Jewish refugees in

(31:03):
Sweden didn't spend the war as idle exiles.
Many join the Free Danish Forcesbeing trained in Sweden.
Others worked in Swedish factories, contributing to the
war effort. The Swedish government provided
education for children and financial support for those who
couldn't work. The Danish refugee community

(31:24):
established its own newspaper and maintain strong cultural
ties, preparing for their eventual return home.
Herbert Pundik, who later becameeditor of the Danish newspaper
Politician, was a teenager when his family fled to Sweden.
He described the refugee experience.
We were not treated as helpless victims, but as Danes

(31:45):
temporarily in exile. The Swedes expected us to work,
to study, to contribute. This maintained our dignity
during a difficult time. We didn't feel like refugees,
but like Danes living in Sweden until we could go home.
That return began immediately after Denmark's liberation, on
May 5th, 1945. Swedish boats that had once

(32:10):
secreted refugees away now brought them home openly, with
Danish flags flying. One returning Jew, Herbert
Pundit, described the homecoming.
As we approach the harbor, we could see what seemed like the
entire population of Copenhagen waiting to welcome us.
People were waving, crying, throwing flowers.

(32:31):
It felt like coming home to family.
Many returning Jews found notes from neighbors welcoming them
home. Shops had been maintained,
apartments cleaned and prepared for their owner's return, even
gardens tended. Bank accounts remained intact,
protected by banking officials who had systematically
obstructed German attempts to seize Jewish assets.

(32:54):
The story of Denmark's rescue ofits Jewish population stands in
stark contrast to events elsewhere in Europe.
Even in countries with active resistance movements, the
percentage of Jews who survived the Holocaust rarely exceeded
25%. In Eastern European countries,
survival rates were often below 10%.

(33:16):
The Danish achievement, a 99% survival rate, remains
unparalleled. What made Denmark different?
Historians have identified several key factors.
The timing of the deportation attempt relatively late in the
war, when Nazi resources were stretched thin, played a role.

(33:37):
The proximity to neutral Sweden provided A viable escape route
that didn't exist for many otherJewish communities.
The relatively small size of Denmark's Jewish population made
a comprehensive rescue more feasible than in countries with
much larger Jewish communities. Yet these practical factors
alone cannot explain the Danish exception.

(33:59):
Other countries had borders withneutral nations.
Other occupied territories had relatively small Jewish
populations. What distinguished Denmark was
the widespread moral refusal to accept the persecution of fellow
citizens, regardless of religion.
Historian Lenia Heel, in her definitive study The Rescue of

(34:20):
Danish Jewry, concluded the decisive factor was the response
of the Danish people, who instantly regarded the
persecution of Jews as an attackon Denmark itself.
The rescue wasn't organized by resistance, leadership or
political parties, but emerged spontaneously from a national
consensus that such persecution was unacceptable.

(34:42):
Why does this story matter today?
Beyond its inherent human drama,The Danish Rescue offers
profound lessons about collective resistance to evil.
It demonstrates that widespread moral courage can effectively
counter even the most powerful systems of oppression.
It shows that ordinary people, when united by common values,

(35:03):
can accomplish extraordinary things.
Perhaps most importantly, it stands as a powerful counter
argument to fatalism and moral surrender.
After the war, many Europeans claimed they could do nothing to
oppose Nazi persecution. The machinery of state was too
powerful, the risks too great, the situation too hopeless.

(35:25):
The Danish experience refutes this.
Faced with the same dilemma, an entire nation chose a different
path. They didn't debate whether they
could make a difference. They simply did what conscience
demanded. 1 Fishing boat, one hiding place, one act of
resistance at a time. The Rescue Danish Jews never

(35:45):
forgot what their fellow citizens had done.
Many dedicated their lives to preserving the memory of the
rescue and promoting its ethicallessons.
Survivors like Herbert Pondick, Bent Melchior, and Leo
Goldberger became prominent voices in Danish society,
contributing to literature, journalism, religious

(36:05):
leadership, and academia, while always acknowledging the debt
they owed to their rescuers. The rescue strengthened
Denmark's national identity in self perception.
The successful protection of a vulnerable minority became a
defining national narrative, proof that even under
occupation, Denmark had maintained its core values.

(36:27):
This narrative helped Danes process the moral compromises of
the occupation period, focusing on a clear example of collective
moral action amid the ambiguities of life under Nazi
rule. In Israel's Holocaust Memorial
Yad Vashem, where the Righteous Among Nations are honored for
saving Jewish lives, Denmark occupies a special place.

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While individuals like George Duckwitz received personal
recognition, the Danish resistance requested that no
individual Danes be singled out.Instead, a tree was planted in
honor of the entire Danish people, the only nation to
receive collective recognition. This request reflects something
essential about the Danish rescue.

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It wasn't primarily the work of extraordinary heroes, but of
ordinary citizens acting on shared values.
As Danish resistance member Augie Bertelsen later wrote, it
wasn't the heroic few but the common decency of the many that
made the difference. The rescue also challenges
simplistic narratives about World War 2 and the Holocaust.

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It demonstrates that even withinNazi occupied Europe, different
outcomes were possible dependingon local conditions, cultural
factors and collective choices. The Danish experience suggests
that the Holocaust wasn't inevitable.
Wherever Nazi power extended, resistance was possible and in
some circumstances, remarkably effective for Holocaust

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education. The Danish rescue provides A
crucial counterbalance to the overwhelming tragedy of the
Shoah. Without minimizing the horror of
the six million Jewish deaths, the Danish story offers a
necessary example of human goodness amidst overwhelming
evil. It demonstrates that moral
choice remained possible even under occupation and that

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ordinary people could successfully oppose genocidal
policies. The Danish rescue has inspired
countless artistic works, including books, films, and
plays. Lois Lowery's young adult novel
Number the Stars introduces generations of children to the
rescue through the story of a Danish girl helping her Jewish

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friend escape to Sweden. The 1993 television film A Day
in October dramatizes the rescuethrough the story of a
resistance fighter and a Jewish family.
These cultural representations keep the memory of the rescue
alive for new generations. Today, when we face our own
moral challenges, refugee crises, climate change,

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political oppression, the Danishrescue reminds us that
collective action based on humandignity can prevail against
seemingly insurmountable odds. It stands as proof that even in
history's darkest moments, humanity retains the capacity
for extraordinary good. In recent decades, scholars have
debated the uniqueness of the Danish rescue.

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Some have pointed to similar those smaller scale rescue
operations in Bulgaria, Finland,and parts of France and Italy.
Others have emphasized the particular circumstances that
made Denmark's success possible.Yet what remains undisputed is
the moral significance of what occurred an entire society

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refusing to abandon its Jewish citizens and acting collectively
to save them. The rescue Danish Jews and their
descendants have maintained a special relationship with
Denmark, while many Holocaust survivors from other European
countries chose never to return to places associated with such
trauma. Danish Jews actively re

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established their communities after the war.
The Great Synagogue of Copenhagen, which survived the
occupation intact with its Torahscrolls and ritual objects
hidden by Danish Christians, resumed services immediately
after liberation. Rabbi Bent Melchior, son of
Marcus Melchior, who gave the warning at Rosh Hashanah

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services, became chief rabbi of Denmark in 1969.
Under his leadership, the Jewishcommunity commemorated the
rescue while building new relationships with contemporary
Danish society. Annual ceremonies at
Copenhagen's harbor mark the anniversary of the rescue, with
participation from Jewish community members, descendants

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of rescuers and government officials.
As Holocaust survivor and authorElie Wiesel observed about the
Danish rescue. In those times, there were human
beings who remained human beings, and that is the real
message of those times, that we can remain human beings, caring
for each other even under the most terrible circumstances.

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When Danish Jews returned after the war, many found notes from
their neighbors welcoming them home.
One such note, preserved in Copenhagen's Jewish Museum, read
simply, We did what anyone woulddo.
The question is not why we did it, but why others did not.
That question echoes, still challenging each new generation

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to consider what they would do when faced with the moral crises
of their own time. That's all for today.
On WW2 Stories, I'm Steve Matthews, reminding you that
history isn't just about what happened, but about the choices
people made that caused it to happen.
Until next time, stay curious and keep exploring the past.