Audacity of Compassion and Courage

  It is only a small fishing boat, but Elisabeth K571 had a large mission in October 1943. Almost all Danish Jews escaped the Holocaust primarily because of fishermen like Einar Larsen, owner of Elisabeth K571. His boat remains in Dragør Harbor as a living monument to the rescue, which one survivor called an "audacity of compassion and courage."  

The Elisabeth K571 on display in beautiful Dragør Harbor, about 1/2 hour south of Copenhagen. 

   

   Under the cover of darkness, Larsen carried 70 Jews to safety in Sweden, over 12 km in choppy and dangerous waters. Larsen wasn’t the only one. Hundreds of boats were used in the effort over a three-week period, some making multiple trips; including small fishing boats, sailboats, rowboats and some larger boats. Some of those rescued paid their saviors, the Danish Resistance paid others and no one was left behind for want of finances. Over 7,000 Jews plus non-Jewish family members, close to 99% of Denmark’s Jewish population, were transported to safety in Sweden. It was a massive example of popular resistance against Nazism, with civil servants, the church and citizens all also helping.


   German forces occupied Denmark in April 1940, but the Danish government remained in office and worked to protect its Jewish citizens. In August 1943, however, it resigned rather than comply with harsh Nazi demands. The Nazis imposed a state of military emergency and planned an action to take place under the cover of darkness in the beginning of October. At 9pm October 1 they cut the phone lines and began the operation. But a few days before, Danes had learned what was afoot, warned the Jews, and many hid them in their homes along the coast in places like Dragør.


View across the Øresund; in the distance at the end of the 7.5 mile bredige and tunnel (opened in 2000) is Sweden. 



   Meanwhile, Sweden agreed to accept and support any refugees so the fleeing Danish-Jewish population knew that just on the other side of the narrow Øresund, freedom awaited.


Rowing to safety, in the collection of the Denmark National Museum. 


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