Countrymen: The Untold Story of How Denmark's Jews Escaped the Nazis, of the Courage of Their Fellow Danes--and of the Extraordinary Role of the SS

1 The book explains the events extremely well: the night of 1 Oct 1943, Gestapo seized 190 out of 6000+ “eligible” Danish Jews for transport to Theresienstadt. To “pump up the numbers” they also took 150 Communists (who had been interned by the Danes to avoid precisely this) to Stutthof; 22 died. In all, 472 Jews went; 49 died. 7,742 fled to Sweden.2 This is a journalistic work, not a full-scale academic treatise. The loose structure around a refugee’s diary is not nearly as important as the snips from the King’s diary, now available. But readers will find the first-person narratives and the breezy style entertaining.3 The book is incredibly important, especially for Americans, given the sickly-sweet mythology of the subject. In Denmark, the Jewish rescue is merely a small chapter in a very long book of the occupation. In America, it is the only thing that people know of. Neatly, Lidegaard (BL) begins with not only zapping the “King Christian with the Yellow Star” myth; he actually found the origin of it.4 The book is fair and accurate, but it has a slight bias. BL is a leading left-ish intellectual and the smug socialistic tone is often irritating. (One could get the impression that 99% of Danes supported Th. Stauning, the paternalistic Social Democrat leader – he omits the departure of the opposition leader to London, or that many preferred Chaos to Stauning.) BL overstates Danish unity for simplicity; Americans may not catch that. He doesn’t see Socialdemocratism as “Totalitarianism-Lite,” but he is right that the SD cowpox gave a kind of immunity to the fascist smallpox. Look elsewhere for more hard-headed detachment and more comparative analysis with the rest of Europe. Still, this is far from the “rah-rah oh how good we are” book some might expect.5 BL’s fundamental premise (“Countrymen”) is wrong. Yes, it is true that Danish Jews were fully integrated; picking them out would have seemed to all of us as absurd and unfair as shooting anyone whose name started with A. But this does not explain the rescue. The same was true in most of Western Europe, even in most Germany until the wheels came off. Ghettoized, Yiddish-speaking segregation was mostly an Eastern European phenomenon.A comparative approach gets the truth. Countries which, willingly or not, joined the Axis, had internal wiggle-room and were able to protect their minorities almost to the end: Italy; Bulgaria; Finland; Hungary until the 1944 disaster. (France doesn’t fit the pattern. Who can explain France?) But wherever normalcy (rule-of-law) broke down and was replaced with raw occupation or quisling rule, it was bad news for the Jews. BL actually describes this key correlation in great detail (for the Danish case).Take Norway. Half their Jews died, taken in 1942, even tho they could have just walked thru the woods to Sweden. This is not because Norwegians are bad, and Danes good. It was because the country fought tooth and nail. It irritates the H out of Norwegians that the Danes, who collaborated as long as possible, came out smelling like roses, while Norway is mostly known for the word Quisling. It doesn’t help that Sweden helped Hitler subdue Norway. BL knows (but plays down) that SD Sweden was an undeclared Axis member during the first half. He amply shows that the Swedish people strained to aid the rescue, but their leaders would do nothing to irritate Hitler. Not true that Sweden had no choice! (How about “No more iron for you, Adolf!”) And despite the strong popular support for Danish refugees, Stockholm turns right around and deports Baltic refugees to the USSR, many fatally.6 The rescue was a joint German-Danish operation. BL makes this even clearer than it has been. Though the motives of the local boss Werner Best remain fuzzy, it is beyond dispute that he and his anti-Hitler deputies played along with Berlin with the right hand while ensuring the Jewish rescue with the left.They alerted, in detail, both Denmark and Sweden to the action; they held up the patrol boats; they had troops ignore fleeing Jews. Best could tell Berlin that Denmark was now entjudet, while he could fairly take credit that almost all of them lived. In this case, Best’s essential ambiguity mirrors that of his Danish hosts; both wanted to come out on top regardless who won; both needed the other’s cooperation. But by this late, October 43, everyone knew who was winning, and that there would be a reckoning. It was no secret what was at stake. It was a moment of extreme moral clarity, unlike the usual moral muddles and murky self-preserving compromises of the war.Both sides needed to preserve normalcy as long as possible. Denmark was a rest-and-recreation posting for worn-out troops, and an important source of foodstuffs and labor. Technically, the country wasn’t even occupied; it just had “uninvited guests,” and relations with Germany were still handled by Foreign Office diplomacy. Better not to rock the local boat, even if you had to slyly defy Berlin in the process! The preservation of normalcy worked even for the Germans – those who were hardened Nazis in other occupied lands began acting fairly sensibly when posted to Denmark. It wasn’t just Best; even Eichmann gave way in allowing preferential treatment of Danish internees. As BL says, even beasts act according to the incentives and disincentives they encounter at any given place and time.7 Things we learn from this book: 1) Everyone and his dog knew that the action was coming, which makes the urgent warnings from top German officials almost redundant. Still, a few refugees without friends or connections were left behind, while the well-integrated were “raptured.” 2) Danish officials desperately attempted to halt the action by offering to intern the Jews themselves, as they had done with the Communists. 3) The rescue was unorganized but effective; a classic case of the “spontaneous order” with which successful societies deal with sudden disasters. Officials did nothing to further it; however, they did tremendous work to ensure the survival of those sent to Theresienstadt. 4) At the time, the German action was seen as the ultimate, humiliating failure of the collaboration policy – only gradually did the rescue come to be seen as a triumph, and then mostly in foreign eyes. 5) *Not one* of the 700+ boats was intercepted. The few patrol boats took Nelson’s orders – turn the blind eye. 6) There was no real risk to those who assisted the rescue – but they didn’t know that. 7) BL deals fairly with the flies in the soup: refugees were gouged by fishermen; a genteel anti-Semitism lurked in many. 8) Most damage was done by one zealous half-Danish Nazi and his lackeys – he was never held to justice. Why?8 Some may read the book as a ringing endorsement of the collaboration policy (negotiation policy to the Danes), and an implicit rejection of Churchill’s urge to “set Europe aflame.” But BL’s best line is “there are no easy answers.” Each person acts according to the constraints of time and place.9 The supremely important pages are 339-366, not just for the statistics, but for the analysis. Here BL’s excellent narrative ends, and his interpretation suffers badly from “hometown advantage.” Danes (or Bulgarians) are no better or worse than anyone else; their political system no better than other Western democracies. There are no fairy tales in history, and no “Danish exception.” History is a chaotic theatre of pitiless causality; sometimes things just come together right. In this case what seemed wrong (reluctant collaboration) turned out to save thousands of lives. BL quotes Goldhagen about deep anti-Semitism in Germany being causal. But G is largely discredited and his analysis shallow. BL offers that people are good and only occasionally deceived by the wicked, rather than evil and only held in check by civilization. This is a distinction without a difference, and totally unscientific; they are organisms reacting to stimuli according to self-interest. But it is true that shining examples of nobility are very important for promoting the mythologies by which humans can best be kept from unraveling. This story, though no fairy tale when examined, can serve as an example to all.

There are other books about the Danish Resistance, and other books about the Danish rescue of the Jews. This book has more, though - it traces through the vicissitudes of Danish government and politics during the Nazi occupation. More attention to the possible motives and attitudes of the chief German Nazis in charge of the occupation than other books.The writing isn't zippy, but it is professional and more than adequate. If you want hero stories, pick another book (though there are some here), but if you want the political background this one is your pick.

The escape of the majortity of Jews to Sweden in 1943 from Denmark is a unique happening considering how terrible Jews were treated in many "civilized" countries.The history is well documented and well written.

This book interested me as I am part Danish and I have not had the opportunity to reat id as yet but am looking forward to this read

Bo Lidegaard gives a very clear, unbiased account of what actually happened with Denmark's Jews during WWII. He also explains so lucidly how the Nazis invaded and how the Danes survived as a nation under them.

I bought this book for a Danish friend who was absolutely thrilled with it. She had lived through that time and knew or recognized many of the people who are celebrated for their heroism during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.

I enjoyed the book thoroughly. I was aware of the recue of the Jewish population of Denmark during the dark ages of WWII , but I ignored the whole story . Thank you Mr. Lidegaard for filling the gap.

This tell the storey of how the People of Denmark stood up agents the German Invaders helping the Danish Jews escape from the Nazis buy hiding them and helping them escape to Sweden.Well written and documented by Bo Lidegaad.

Bought for a neighbour but apparently it is a great book highlighting the heroism and greatness of the danish people and leadership in the 1940s.It sad however how liberal fanatics in denmark are now trying to ban freedoms such as circumcision and turn denmark into a communist land

Of the wartime generation, I am interested in the experiences of people in Occupied Territories, and how they survived and coped with the Nazis. An occasional visitor to the several Scandinavian countries, I appreciate the pride in wartime achievements, and enjoy books dedicated to the theme.

Hard going at the beginning, took a while to get into. Hence the 3* rating. Once passed the initial 'slog' is quite interesting.

A wonderful tale, not well-known. The Danes should be commended for their moral strength and courage.

This book is first rate. A must read for everyone interested in the Holocaust. Very well researched and written. One of the best books I have read about the Holocaust.