One of the most remarkable events in the annals of the Holocaust was the collective effort on the part of the Danes to rescue its Jewish citizens. Danish boats ferried some 7,300 Jews across a three-mile waterway to neutral Sweden to avert a Nazi deportation, an unprecedented feat carried out by Danes to protect Danish citizens.
After the German occupation of Denmark in April 1940, the Danish government was granted some autonomy in running domestic affairs. The Nazis were reluctant to make a major issue of the “Jewish Question” at that time, in great part because they saw the Danes as fellow “aryans.” Thus, the standard measures reproduced in occupied countries to humiliate and subjugate Jews did not occur in Denmark, such as having to wear the yellow star, register property and other assets, give up homes and businesses, etc. The Jewish community was even able to go to synagogue and hold services. More remarkably, King Christian was outspoken in his support of a Jewish community integrated into Danish society and consequently opposed their persecution. In 1943, however, the Nazi military government of Denmark declared martial law, a state of emergency was declared, and citizen arrests occurred. Danish military and police were taken over by the Nazi authorities. Hitler approved a proposal to commence deportation of the Danish Jews. George Duckwitz, a German naval attaché - and Nazi - warned non-Jewish Danes of the planned deportations. The response was swift, if uncoordinated, and involved the combined efforts of Jewish community leaders, Danish authorities, and citizens. On October 1, 1943, operations occurred to move the Jewish population of Denmark in fishing boats, rowboats and kayaks to Sweden. Jews were hidden in cars on ferries to Sweden. In consequence, 99 per cent of Danish Jews were saved from persecution and certain death. Only 470 Jews, most of whom were not Danish citizens, were seized by the Nazis and deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Only 120 Danish Jews died during the Holocaust.
See 2012.1.122, 2014.1.216, 2014.1.217 &.218, 2014.1.223, 2014.1.224, 2014.1.226, 2015.2.77, 2020.1.7a-d.
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Postcards from Copenhagen, Denmark to Tel Aviv on the Eve of German Occupation
2020.1.7a-d
a: Postcard with purple printed text and Danish stamps at top. Another stamp reads "Palestine. Passed by Censor." Address and message written in black ink. Message continues on opposite side.
b: Postcard with purple printed text and stamps. Stamp at bottom right designates letter has passed through censor. Message is handwritten in black ink and continues on opposite side.
c: Postcard with printed purple text as well as purple and blue stamps at top and two black ink stamps. Address handwritten in black ink. Typewritten message on opposite side.
d: Postcard with printed purple text as well as blue, black, and purple stamps and two black ink stamps. Purple stamp at bottom right indicates postcard has passed through censor. Address and message handwritten in black ink. Handwritten message continues on opposite side.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Postcards from Copenhagen, Denmark from W. Reichert to family member Dr. E. Reichert living in Tel Aviv. All messages are in Hebrew. Mr. Reichert discusses the family in Poland; contact with the Red Cross in Sweden; attempts to get ALIYAH certificates; reports on relatives who escaped to Lwow; use of a Christian Polish maid who was free to travel in occupied Poland; aid parcels sent; and more. All cards with Palestine censor handstamp. Interestingly, Mr. Reichert in Copenhagen writes that: “There is no fear of Nazi invasion, since Denmark is just like Sweden…” In just a few months, on April 9, 1940, the Germans invaded Denmark.
Ironically, Mr. Reichert was not entirely incorrect. After the German occupation of Denmark in April 1940, the Danish government was granted some autonomy in running domestic affairs. The Nazis were reluctant to make a major issue of the “Jewish Question” at that time, in great part because they saw the Danes as fellow “aryans”, as Mr. Reichert naively supposed. Thus, the standard measures reproduced in occupied countries to humiliate and subjugate Jews did not occur in Denmark, e.g., Jews having to wear the Star of David as a means of identification and humiliation. Nor did they have to register property and other assets, give up their homes and businesses, etc. Denmark’s Jewish community was even able to go to synagogue and hold services. More remarkably, King Christian was outspoken in his support of a Jewish community integrated into Danish society and consequently opposed their persecution.
In 1943, however, the Nazi military government of Denmark declared martial law, a state of emergency was declared, and citizen arrests occurred. Danish military and police were taken over by the Nazi authorities. Hitler approved a proposal to commence deportation of the Danish Jews. George Duckwitz, a German naval attaché and member of the Nazi party, warned non-Jewish Danes of the planned deportations. The response was as swift as it was remarkable, and involved the combined efforts of Jewish community leaders, the Danish underground, Danish authorities and citizens: doctors, blue collar workers, priests, policemen and others worked to protect their fellow Danish citizens. On October 1, 1943 operations occurred to move the Jewish population of Denmark in fishing boats, ferries, rowboats and kayaks to Sweden. Danish boats ultimately ferried some 7,300 Jews across the waterway to neutral Sweden. As a consequence of this remarkable rescue operation to save Denmark’s Jews, 99 percent of Danish Jews were saved from persecution and certain death. Only 470 Jews were seized by the Nazis – most of whom were not Danish citizens- and deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Only 120 Danish Jews died during the Holocaust.
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Censored Envelope from Denmark
2014.1.217 &.218
Envelope Front: White envelope with a typewritten address, four purple postage stamps, a red and a black hand stamp, and several pencil markings.Envelope Back: Typewritten return address, red hand stamp and tan censor tape.Letter: Typewritten letter in English on white paper. Includes a signature in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A letter mailed just weeks before the mobilization to ferry the Jews of Denmark to Sweden, eight days before Hitler approves of planned deportation.
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Censored Letter from Denmark to Germany
2014.1.223
Front: A white postcard with a printed return address and address typewritten in blue ink. Includes one red, one maroon, and one green postage stamp, a blue sticker, as well as one red and two black hand stamps.Back: A message typewritten in blue ink with a signature in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A letter sent one year after occupation by Germany.
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Wehrmacht Censored Envelope from Denmark to Switzerland
2014.1.224
Front: A white envelope with a typewritten address. Includes one purple and three red postage stamps, two black hand stamps, one blue sticker and censor tape, as well as purple and red pencil markings.Back: Includes censor tape as well as one purple and two red hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: In approximately two weeks from the date of this letter, Denmark was to ferry most of its Jews to safety in Sweden.
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Danish King Reported Prisoner in Own Castle
2014.1.216
Front: A black and white photograph of a man in uniform with other soldiers behind him.Back: A pasted sheet of information from International News Photos.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Wire photo verso, International News, of “King Christian of Denmark...arrested and interned in his own castle...This followed a wave of strikes and general sabotage throughout the country. Reports also stated that a part of the Danish Navy had been scuttled...other Danish warships escaped...by fleeing to…Sweden." In just one month from this date, the Danish people would work to move its Jewish citizens out of the country to Sweden, and away from the inevitable deportations to German death camps.
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Postcard from Denmark Written on Rosh Hashana
2014.1.226
Front: Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines and writing in pencil. Includes two black hand stamps.Back: Message written in pencil.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Letter written a day after Jews had been warned about the German intention to begin deportations from Denmark. With Sweden agreeing to grant asylum to the Jews of Denmark, the Danes began the rescue effort to smuggle them out.
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First Day Cover: Israeli Commemoration of 30th Anniversary of Rescue of Jews in Denmark
2012.1.122
White envelope with red and blue illustration of the Star of David and Swedish flag. Titled, "30th Anniversary of the rescue of the Jews in Denmark.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of the most remarkable events in the annals of the Holocaust is the rescue of Jews by Danes. Danish boats ferried some 7,300 Jews across a waterway to neutral Sweden to avert a Nazi deportation, an unprecedented feat carried out by Danes to protect Danish citizens. After the German occupation of Denmark in April, 1940, the Danish government was granted some autonomy in running domestic affairs. The Nazis were reluctant to make a major issue of the “Jewish Question” at that time, in great part because they saw the Danes as fellow “Aryans”. Thus the standard measures reproduced in occupied countries to humiliate and subjugate Jews did not occur in Denmark, such as having to wear the yellow star, register property and other assets, give up homes and businesses, etc. The Jewish community was even able to go to synagogue and hold services. More remarkably, King Christian was outspoken in his support of a Jewish community integrated into Danish society and consequently opposed their persecution. In 1943, however, the Nazi military government of Denmark declared martial law, a state of emergency was declared, and citizen arrests occurred. Danish military and police were taken over by the Nazi authorities. Hitler approved a proposal to commence deportation of the Danish Jews. Ferdinand Duckwith, a German naval attache-and Nazi-warned non-Jewish Danes of the planned deportations. The response was swift, if uncoordinated, and involved the combined efforts of Jewish community leaders, Danish authorities and citizens. On October 1, 1943 operations occurred to move the Jewish population of Denmark in fishing boats, rowboats and kayaks to Sweden. Jews were hidden in cars on ferries to Sweden. In consequence, 99 per cent of Danish Jews were saved from persecution and certain death. Only 470 Jews were seized by the Nazis-most of whom were not Danish citizens- and deported to the Thesienstadt ghetto. Only 120 Danish Jew died during the Holocaust.
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George F. Duckwitz
2015.2.77
Black and white photograph of a dower-looking man in glasses, with his dark hair slicked back, wearing a three-piece suit and tie. The tie has a pearl pin in it, and is askew. Back: Pasted sticker naming Duckwitz a West German personality. Beneath a black handstamp giving copyright to Camera Press.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Press photograph of George F. Duckwitz (1904-1973). Duckwitz had been a German businessman who joined the Nazi Party in 1932. He was eventually assigned to the German embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, as an attaché. After 1942 Duckwitz worked with Werner Best, the Gestapo leader in Copenhagen. The latter informed Duckwitz about an intended roundup of Danish Jews to occur on October 1, 1943. After a failed attempt to stop the deportations through official channels in Berlin, Duckwitz flew to Sweden and prevailed upon the Prime Minister in Stockholm to receive Danish Jewish refugees. Back in Denmark Duckwitz was able to inform - through an intermediary - the chief Rabbi of the Danish Jewish community about the intended deportations. Word spread and resulted in sympathetic Danes organizing the escape of over 7000 Jews in boats to Sweden under the nose of the Nazis. At great personal risk to himself, in giving advance warning to the Jewish community of Denmark about the planned deportations of Jews, Duckwitz enabled the people of Denmark to help most of its Jews escape in boats to Sweden. He was named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1971 for his efforts on behalf of Jews.