70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz: January 27, 2015

[kbk]

Originally Posted by roseroyal

When does the movie come out on DVD/ what channels are airing it on TV?

Here you go, roseroyal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va0F...-ts=1422503916

[Molly2101]

That was so moving and Meryl Streep was the perfect choice as narrator.

[fearghas]

Originally Posted by Muhler

(*) That's a long story. But in short: Count Folke Bernadotte had diplomatic negotiations with top Nazi-leaders to ensure the release of predominantly Danish and Norwegian Jews towards the very end of the war. They were then transported back to mainly Denmark in white busses.
Few, if any, Danish and Norwegian Jews ended up in industrialised extermination camps like Auschwitz but were merely kept in "ordinary" concentration camps. - Not because of their pretty blue eyes, but more because some Nazis needed a bargaining chip. (An: "Look at me, I ain't such a bad guy. I was really against the whole extermination thing and I even rescued some of them Jews, see")
The relative in question was Queen Silvia's maternal grandfather who was a member of the Nazi party and who took over a factory that had previously been owned by a Jew. - The Jew got away and lived.

How true is a story I heard that Denmark, realising that they had no hope of withstanding a Nazi invasion, sent a lot of there Jewish citizens to Sweden for safety?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by fearghas

How true is a story I heard that Denmark, realising that they had no hope of withstanding a Nazi invasion, sent a lot of there Jewish citizens to Sweden for safety?

It's a true story. Practically all of the then around 7.000 Jews living in DK were evacuated to Sweden.
With the exception of some 500 who were rounded up and sent to a concentration camp, not an extermination camp.
These Jews were checked on by Danish civil servants and organisations throughout the war and they were allowed to receive Red Cross parcels just like POW's.
I believe up to around 100 died, the rest were picked up by the "white buses" organised by Bernadotte towards the end of the war.

Then there were additional Jews who went underground in DK itself, mainly resistance fighters and smaller children who were "adopted" by local Christian Danes. Often in rural areas where a German was hardly seen and those who were didn't want to rock the boat because they had a merry time acquiring agricultural products people back in Germany could only dream about in 1943.

But and this deserves to be mentioned: Danish resistance (they knew perfectly well how to contact the Germans and vice versa), Danish organisations and prominent persons were warned by a number of high ranking Germans, so there was enough time to warn and evacuate the Jews.
And just as importantly, the German military and not least the German navy was astonishingly "incompetent" during the weeks the Jews were evacuated to Sweden.

Also, Danish Jews never wore the yellow star. They were ordinary Danish citizens fully protected by Danish law until the summer of 1943, when the government resigned. That meant that attacks on Jews and Jewish property was rare and investigated as a crime when they did occur.

[HereditaryPrincess]

It was a very moving and emotional ceremony. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a British Royal representation, though it makes more sense that Philip Hammond went rather than Eric Pickles. However, as cepe has pointed out, Charles did attend a memorial service for the Holocaust in London and there were lots of other memorials throughout Britain.

I thought the question about Victoria's grandfather was very inappropriate and inconsiderate given the fact she was standing next to two survivors, but I also thought she handled the situation very well.

Originally Posted by Muhler

Also, Danish Jews never wore the yellow star. They were ordinary Danish citizens fully protected by Danish law until the summer of 1943, when the government resigned. That meant that attacks on Jews and Jewish property was rare and investigated as a crime when they did occur.

I've read that in Denmark, it's a popular myth that the reason why the Danish Jews didn't wear yellow stars during WWII was because Christian X had said that if the Jews had to wear them, then he would wear one too (or something similar).

When the Danish government resigned in 1943, what happened? Did the Nazis take over or did a new Danish government take over? WWII is my stronger point in history, but I'm not very knowledgable about Danish history which is why I asked.

[COUNTESS]

The Nazi's took over, except for Domestic Matters, as they capitulated quickly. And, probably, because of that the Danes were able to spirit most of the Jews out of the country. Out of approximately 8,000, 70 died. The Danish did their best.

[fearghas]

thank you for the reply. It gladdens me to learn that there were people and countries willing to do what they could for the people in danger. It interests me that the Germans were willing to give warning etc.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by HereditaryPrincess

I've read that in Denmark, it's a popular myth that the reason why the Danish Jews didn't wear yellow stars during WWII was because Christian X had said that if the Jews had to wear them, then he would wear one too (or something similar).

When the Danish government resigned in 1943, what happened? Did the Nazis take over or did a new Danish government take over? WWII is my stronger point in history, but I'm not very knowledgable about Danish history which is why I asked.

The story about Christian X saying he would want to wear the yellow star too if the Jews were ordered to do so is true. And Christian X's standing in the eyes of the public was so that it is certain that within a couple of day all Danes except the most die hard Nazis would have worn the yellow star as well. Because anyone who didn't would label themselves Nazi and in favor of deporting the Jews.

By the summer of 1943 the co-operation between the Danish government (and that was a by-partisan coalition government representing most of the political spectrum) and the Germans was getting more and more strained. The resistance reinforced by strikes here and there was getting annoying. the tide of war was changing and the Germans had overstayed their welcome, so to speak. The telegram-crisis didn't exactly help either! (*)
The government who always had an eye for the foreign political issue. i.e. not being seen as too co-operative with the Germans was pressured to impose harder sanctions of the population as a whole and on captured saboteurs in particular. Joining the pact against the Soviet Union was a difficult pill to swallow for Danes as well. But the final straw was that the Germans demanded that the death penalty being reintroduced for some captured saboteurs. The government flatly refused. (It would have been political suicide as well to have been responsible for the execution of Danes on behalf of a foreign power). So the government refused and the civil servants took over the administration of Denmark, directed by the German governor. I.e. a business ministry. (**)
Shortly after the Germans rounded up what was left of the Danish military leading to fightings around military barracks and installations all over the country, including at Amalienborg, where the Royal Lifeguard fought the Germans and in fact several bullets went into Christian X's office, one could have hit him had he been sitting at the table.
Around the same time an attempt was made to round up all the Jews, but as you know the vast majority got away.
Of course the German heavy handedness backfired, the resistance went up big time!

Interestingly there was an unofficial live and let live agreement between the Resistance and the German Wehrmacht. German soldiers could walk the streets safely armed with nothing more than a bayonet literally until the end of the war. In return German soldiers tended to be less than vigilant unless they had to. Because the soldiers were more safe in Denmark than even back in most of Germany and who would want to rock that boat?!?
But there were instead a lot of clashed between the resistance and German security services, i.e SD, Abwehr and Gestapo and first and foremost Danish collaborators who did most of the dirty work. With sabotage, liquidations and counter-liquidations being the order of the day and by the summer of 1944 there were indiscriminate shootings in the streets, where tings really got bad and when the Germans had to back down in the face of a civil uprising.
It was in many ways a completely surreal world! There is an account from a British airman who sat at a cafe in Copenhagen waiting to be shipped over to Sweden and at the table next to him sat basically unarmed German soldiers enjoying the latest American jazz music, (such degenerate music was strictly verboten back in Germany) eating strawberries with genuine cream (an almost forgotten luxury back in Germany)!

(*) The telegram-crisis started with Hitler sending Christian X a long telegram on the King's birthday praising the King to the skies. The King responded with three words: "Min bedste tak = My best thanks". The Germans were furious and the government had to smooth things out but the Danes loved their King for it.

(**) Constitutionally speaking that meant that all laws introduced after the summer of 1943 were invalid, unless okayed by a legally elected government after the war.

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by Muhler

It's a true story. Practically all of the then around 7.000 Jews living in DK were evacuated to Sweden.
With the exception of some 500 who were rounded up and sent to a concentration camp, not an extermination camp.
These Jews were checked on by Danish civil servants and organisations throughout the war and they were allowed to receive Red Cross parcels just like POW's.
I believe up to around 100 died, the rest were picked up by the "white buses" organised by Bernadotte towards the end of the war.

Then there were additional Jews who went underground in DK itself, mainly resistance fighters and smaller children who were "adopted" by local Christian Danes. Often in rural areas where a German was hardly seen and those who were didn't want to rock the boat because they had a merry time acquiring agricultural products people back in Germany could only dream about in 1943.

But and this deserves to be mentioned: Danish resistance (they knew perfectly well how to contact the Germans and vice versa), Danish organisations and prominent persons were warned by a number of high ranking Germans, so there was enough time to warn and evacuate the Jews.
And just as importantly, the German military and not least the German navy was astonishingly "incompetent" during the weeks the Jews were evacuated to Sweden.

Also, Danish Jews never wore the yellow star. They were ordinary Danish citizens fully protected by Danish law until the summer of 1943, when the government resigned. That meant that attacks on Jews and Jewish property was rare and investigated as a crime when they did occur.

just got back to the thread. thank you for including the history bits: I remember some it when Frederik went to Israel and saw the exhibit on the boats that were use.
Danish Crown Prince Frederik Andre Henrik Christian stands next to a... News Photo | Getty Images