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Danish fishermen (foreground) ferry Jews across a narrow sound to safety in neutral Sweden during the German occupation of Denmark. Sweden, 1943. See more photographs |
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When Germany occupied Denmark on April 9, 1940, the Jewish population was approximately 7,500. About 6,000 of these Jews were Danish citizens and about 1,500 were refugees. Most Jews lived in the country's capital, Copenhagen. Until 1943, the German occupation of Denmark was relatively benign. The Germans were eager to cultivate good relations with a population they perceived as "fellow Aryans." The Danish government was permitted to continue governing the country, but Germany dominated Danish foreign policy. Considering the relatively small Jewish population and the steadfast support Danes gave to their fellow Jewish citizens, Germany initially decided not to make a major issue of the "Jewish question" in Denmark. In fact, the representative of the German Foreign Office at the Wannsee Conference recommended that the Scandinavian countries be excluded from the "Final Solution" on the assumption that the "Jewish question" could be resolved there once overall victory had been achieved. |
This situation changed in early 1943. Allied victories convinced many Danes that Germany could be defeated. While there had been minimal resistance to the Germans during the first years of the occupation, labor strikes and acts of sabotage now strained relations with Germany. The Danish government resigned in late August 1943 rather than yield to new German demands. On the night of August 29 the German military commander proclaimed a state of emergency. It was at this point that the Germans decided to initiate the deportation of Jews from Denmark. Several German sources leaked word of the plan and non-Jewish Danes alerted the Jewish community. German police began arrests on the night of October 1, 1943, but found few Jews. The Danish police refused to cooperate. Popular protests quickly came from various quarters such as churches, the Danish royal family, and various social and economic organizations. The Danish resistance, assisted by many ordinary Danish citizens, organized a partly coordinated, partly spontaneous rescue operation. It initially helped Jews move into hiding places throughout the country and from there to the coast; fishermen then ferried them to neutral Sweden. The rescue operation expanded to include participation by the Danish police and the government. Over a period of about a month, some 7,200 Jews and 700 of their non-Jewish relatives traveled to safety in Sweden, which accepted the Danish refugees. |
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See artifact Danish rescue boat |
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The Germans seized about 500 Jews in Denmark and deported them to the Theresienstadt ghetto. The Danes demanded information on the whereabouts of their citizens and Danish government officials visited them in the summer of 1944. Danish prisoners were also allowed to receive letters and some care packages. The Danish Jews remained in Theresienstadt until 1945. As the war ended, the Germans handed them over to the Swedish Red Cross. The vigor of Danish protests is likely to have prevented their deportation to the extermination camps in German-occupied Poland. In total, some 100 Danish Jews died during the Holocaust, either in Nazi camps or during flight from Denmark. This relatively small number represents one of the highest Jewish survival rates for any European country. |
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