Leif Donde was born to a Jewish family in 1937 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Three years later in April 1940, Nazi Germany occupied Denmark. For more than three years, the Danish government (which maintained significant autonomy) was able to protect Danish Jews. However, that changed after the Danish government resigned on August 29, 1943 and the Germans imposed martial law. Roundups of Jews started on October 1, and Leif’s parents decided to flee. The family was smuggled by fishing boat to safety in Sweden, where Leif attended school and his parents worked in a garment factory. They survived the war and later returned to Denmark.
In this clip, Leif describes the atmosphere of Copenhagen in September 1943, after the Germans imposed martial law on August 29. He recounts the night his father came home, told him to grab clothes, and announced that the family would be leaving.
After the 29th [of August], very much an atmosphere of apprehension, that, uh, something bad could happen. And that we should be prepared for it. And that perhaps we would have to leave our home. This did happen–the talk about that–during the month of, uh, September. And now the whole atmosphere in Copenhagen changed very much, uh, because there was a curfew on after the 29th of October [sic August]. And you could feel that things were not going the right way. I think that even a kid at that time could feel it, and perhaps what the kid could feel most was the apprehension of his parents. And all the elders. Uh, but still, I would say that when it happened–that day that my dad came home in early afternoon, and he usually worked very very hard. Uh, leave very early in the morning and come home rather late. But when he came home and said ‘pack up your–’ or rather ‘don’t pack up your things, because we’re not going to take any luggage. But put on as many clothes as you could possibly have on you without being very conspicuous.’ Uh, it did come as a surprise that we had to leave the place.
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