<< Previous | Displaying results 1-50 of 86 for "denmark" | Next >>
The Danish resistance movement, assisted by many ordinary citizens, coordinated the flight of some 7,200 Jews to safety in nearby neutral Sweden. Learn more about rescue in Denmark.
Did King Christian X of Denmark wear a yellow star in support of the Danish Jews? Read more about the historical truth behind the legend.
Learn about the Jewish population of Denmark, the German occupation, and resistance and rescue in Denmark during WWII and the Holocaust.
King Christian X. According to popular legend, King Christian X chose to wear a yellow star in support of the Danish Jews during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. In another version, the Danish people decided to wear a yellow star for the same reason. Both of these stories are fictional. However, the legend conveys an important historical truth: both the King and the Danish people stood by their Jewish citizens and were instrumental in saving the overwhelming majority of them from Nazi persecution and death.
Jewish refugees from Denmark upon arrival in neutral Sweden. 1943.
Denmark signed a nonaggression pact with Germany in 1939, hoping to maintain neutrality as it had in World War I. Germany, however, broke the agreement on April 9, 1940, when it occupied Denmark. King Christian X remained on the throne, and the Danish police and government reluctantly accepted the German occupation. This footage shows the German presence in the occupied Danish capital, Copenhagen. In 1943, as German policies towards Denmark toughened, the Danes would form one of the most active and…
Portrait of a preschool class in Copenhagen. Gus Goldenburger (top row, second from left) was one of the few Jewish students in the class. His family moved to Denmark from Czechoslovakia, fearing the rising tide of Nazism. When the Nazis planned to deport Danish Jewry, the Goldenburgers managed to escape to Sweden, where they remained until the end of the war. After the war, the Goldenburgers returned to Copenhagen. Photograph taken in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1938–1939.
Niels was raised in a religious Jewish household. In 1932, the family fled to Copenhagen, Denmark, where Niels's father opened an antique store in the mid-1930s. The Germans invaded Denmark in April 1940, but to Niels, little seemed to change during three years of occupation. Upon hearing of German plans to round up Jews in October 1943, Niels and his family decided to flee. A member of the resistance took them to the fishing village of Snekkersten, from where they were able to cross by boat to Sweden.…
Dedication to a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all aspects of the…
Page from volume 1 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
Page from volume 2 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
Page from volume 3 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
Page from volume 4 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
Page from volume 5 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
The Germans occupied Denmark in April 1940, but the Danish government remained in existence and was able to protect Danish Jews. In August 1943, the government resigned after refusing to accede to German demands. German police began to arrest Jews in early October. Leif and his family decided to flee, and were smuggled by fishing boat to safety in Sweden. In Sweden, Leif attended school and his parents worked in a garment factory. The family returned to Denmark after the end of the war.
Page from volume 1 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
Page from volume 5 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
Page from volume 5 of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. Bjorn's wife Tove was also active in the Danish resistance. After World War II, Bjorn and Tove moved to Canada and later settled in California, where Bjorn compiled five scrapbooks dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa. The books are fully annotated in English and contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all…
Rabbi Marcus Melchior, Danish chief rabbi, who warned his congregants that the Germans intended to round up Denmark's Jews. Melchior himself went into hiding and escaped to Sweden. Copenhagen, Denmark, before 1943.
The Danish Freedom Council, Denmark's unofficial government-in-exile from July 1944 to May 1945, was made up of leaders of the four main resistance groups. London, Great Britain, between July 1944 and May 1945.
Rescue efforts during the Holocaust ranged from the isolated actions of individuals to organized networks both small and large.
Learn more about the fate of Jewish prisoners that were deported to Theresienstadt from places other than the Greater German Reich or the Protectorate.
Portrait of Georg Duckwitz, German naval attache in Denmark who leaked the Nazi plan to deport Danish Jews. Place and date uncertain.
Germany occupied Denmark in 1940. When the Germans decided to deport Jews from Denmark in August 1943, Danes spontaneously organized a rescue operation and helped Jews reach the coast; fishermen then ferried them to neutral Sweden. The rescue operation expanded to include participation by the Danish resistance, the police, and the government. In little more than three weeks, the Danes ferried more than 7,000 Jews and close to 700 of their non-Jewish relatives to Sweden, which accepted the Danish refugees.…
A boat used by Danish fishermen to transport Jews to safety in Sweden during the German occupation. Denmark, date uncertain.
Danish refugees register in Sweden after escaping from Denmark. Sweden, after October 1943.
Danish fishermen (foreground) ferry Jews across a narrow sound to safety in neutral Sweden during the German occupation of Denmark. Sweden, 1943.
Preben was born to a Protestant family in Snekkersten, a small fishing village. The Germans invaded Denmark in 1940. Preben became a courier in the resistance. When the Gestapo (German Secret State Police) began hunting down Jews in Denmark in October 1943, Preben helped hide refugees in houses near the shore and led them to boats which took them to Sweden. Preben himself had to take refuge in Sweden in November 1943. He returned to Denmark in May 1945.
Germany occupied Denmark in April 1940. The Danish government remained in existence and was able to protect Jews in Denmark from anti-Jewish measures. In late August 1943, however, the Danish government resigned after refusing to accede to new German demands. In early October 1943, German police began arresting Jews. Tove and her family decided to flee. They made their way to the fishing village of Snekkersten, from where they were able to sail to safety in Sweden. Tove returned to Denmark in May 1945.
Leif was born to a Jewish family in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Both of his parents were active in the Jewish community there, and his father owned a small garment factory. The majority of Denmark's 6,000 Jews lived in Copenhagen before the war. Despite its size, the city's Jewish population supported many Jewish organizations, often aiding Jewish refugees from all over Europe. 1933-39: Leif went to a Jewish nursery school, which was next to a girls' school in Copenhagen. He didn't like his school…
Preben was born to a Protestant family in Snekkersten, a small fishing village. The Germans invaded Denmark in 1940. Preben became a courier in the resistance. When the Gestapo (German Secret State Police) began hunting down Jews in Denmark in October 1943, Preben helped hide refugees in houses near the shore and led them to boats which took them to Sweden. Preben himself had to take refuge in Sweden in November 1943. He returned to Denmark in May 1945.
Preben was born to a Protestant family in Snekkersten, a small fishing village. The Germans invaded Denmark in 1940. Preben became a courier in the resistance. When the Gestapo (German Secret State Police) began hunting down Jews in Denmark in October 1943, Preben helped hide refugees in houses near the shore and led them to boats which took them to Sweden. Preben himself had to take refuge in Sweden in November 1943. He returned to Denmark in May 1945.
Jewish refugees being rescued aboard a Danish fishing boat bound for Sweden. October 1943.
Preben was born to a Protestant family in the small Danish fishing village of Snekkersten. He was raised by his grandmother, who was also responsible for raising five other grandchildren. Every day Preben commuted to school in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, about 25 miles south of Snekkersten. 1933-39: There were very few Jews in Preben's elementary school, but he didn't think of them as Jews; they were just his classmates and pals. In Denmark they didn't distinguish between Jews and non-Jews, they…
September 20-October, 1943. On this date, Danish citizens and resistance organizations helped approx. 7,200 Danish Jews escape to Sweden.
In the 1930s, famous Tennessee jazz musician Valaida Snow was known as “Little Louis” because her talent with a trumpet rivaled the legendary Louis Armstrong. She performed around the world, but it was a tour of Europe that would haunt her for the rest of her life. While in German-occupied Denmark, Snow is said to have been arrested and imprisoned in Copenhagen. It is still unclear why she was arrested or what was done to her while she was held, but after her release in a May 1942 prisoner exchange,…
Danish fishermen used this boat to carry Jews to safety in Sweden during the German occupation. Denmark, 1943 or 1944.
World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, when the Allies defeated the Axis powers. Learn about key invasions and events during WWII, also known as the Second World War.
Learn more about the Danish Red Cross visit to Theresienstadt and the Nazi attempt to clean and hide the true conditions of the camp.
We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of all donors.