Here you can find information about the memorial marking the 75th anniversary of the rescue of the Danish Jews across The Sound to Sweden. This notable event took place in October 1943. Without help from former government officials and the local population including neighbors, fishermen, doctors, drivers as well as the resistance movement, it would have been a catastrophe for the majority of the Danish Jews. These events are known worldwide.
The former editor in chief of the news paper Politiken , Herbert Pundik, who himself was one of the fleeing Jews, describes it as a miracle that the Danish population acted as it did. About 6000 were rescued from Denmark and taken to Sweden during the hectic days of October 1943. However, not everyone was lucky enough to escape. About 500 were arrested by Gestapo and transported to the KZ – camp Theresienstadt, from which most returned home with The White Buses in 1945.
This remarkable effort made its mark in history and was an exception to what happened elsewhere in most of Europe during World War II.
Most of the escape operations were organized from the coast of Zealand across the stretch of water (The Sound) separating Denmark from Sweden. We have chosen to focus on part of the coast south of Elsinore between the towns of Snekkersten and Skotterup. This coast line was one of the most used for smuggling Jews to freedom due to the short distance over to Sweden. We wish to highlight this story which is fading into history, but lives on in the houses and in barns where the Jews were hidden during the night, on the paths in the forests where they waited in the dark, on the beaches and in the fishing vessels. The events still live on in the memories of the people who took part in the escape and the rescue, who saw it or were told about it.
These events must not be forgotten, it is a simple and yet strong narrative about the good in human life and about hope and human courage. It happened 75 years ago!