Countrymen

by Bo Lidegaard

  Shortly after the liberation, the editor Koppel wrote a description of his experiences, among them a brief exchange of words with one of the Gestapo men who had captured him. When he protested at the arrest, pointing out that he was married to an Aryan, one of the German guards was strongly provoked: “I decided to make another attempt and turned around and explained that there was a misunderstanding. But at that moment a furious Gestapo man came toward me, a little fat guy, and turned me around, and when I still protested, he gave me a kick in the back and at almost the same moment a resounding smack that sang and crashed in my head: I could even feel it the next day. But I had become mighty angry. ‘You hit a 76-year-old man,’ I shouted. ‘I have not ever experienced that.’ ‘You’re going to experience what is much worse,’ roared the beast, grabbed me from behind with a strong grip on my neck, and firmly banged my head against the wall again and again; happily my hat took the brunt of it, otherwise I probably would have had a concussion. The other Jews stood during this scene rigid as pillars of salt, without moving.”

  Koppel’s description of his experiences in the Vestre Prison and later in Horserød is also remarkable in that the German police, who have found him in possession of a large amount of cash, tease him with it but neither confiscate nor steal it. In Horserød, Koppel witnesses the arrival of the exhausted prisoners from Gilleleje: “From the much-talked-about church loft in Gilleleje a whole long troupe came, some 60 heavily damaged people, betrayed in their hiding place, and having endured an entire siege by the Gestapo. The German officers laughed and enjoyed themselves greatly when they came by, exhausted, with their bags and bundles, shielding as best they could and comforting the children. Most of them, as well as the others, had endured terrible hunger and especially the cold in their hiding places, and their nerves were at the breaking point.”

  Koppel was released from Horserød, and after his stopover at the newspaper, he sailed to Sweden a few days later.9

  On October 7 the prison inspector in Horserød announced, at the request of the Foreign Ministry, that “the number of Jews collected at the Horserød camp by midday today had risen to 177. In addition, 12 fishermen.” The following day it had climbed even further to 215, although releases of half Jews and those married to non-Jews pulled the number in the opposite direction. Svenningsen argued that they should be handed over to Danish justice, “as attempting an illegal exit from the country was an act that fell under Danish jurisdiction.” He was obviously aware that this could not save those whom the Germans considered pure Jews. But for everyone else, including the twelve fishermen and other helpers, coming under Danish laws would mean a world of difference.10

  While the flood of refugees went on day after day, the permanent secretaries intensified their efforts to accomplish the return of those deportees who did not fulfill the Germans’ own criteria, or for whom there could be any doubt. On Thursday, Svenningsen called Mohr, the Danish minister in Berlin, and asked him to pursue these cases “with all his energy.” The same day Mohr again presented the Danish arguments at the Foreign Office for the immediate repatriation of those “wrongly” deported. He also built further on the Swedish proposal to repatriate children and the old, who could in no way be suspected of involvement in acts of sabotage. The Danish authorities were also prepared, Mohr declared, to detain those concerned in Denmark. Mohr’s German counterpart promised tepidly to “convey the message,” which indeed happened the same day in a short note to Adolf Eichmann, who on October 12 had his second-in-command, Rolf Günther, reply that the matter was under investigation and that there were no mistakes. Although during an earlier interview at the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen, Mildner had made himself more sympathetic, the permanent secretaries ran up against a German wall of sluggish hostility, often personified by the same Rolf Günther, who already during his short stay in Copenhagen had come to believe that the Danish Jews had gotten off too lightly. The Danes got nowhere with their arguments. The Nazis’ motives did not follow a rational logic, and they did not let themselves be caught in the inconsistency of their own arguments.11

  Moral Support

  While dramatic events played out in Gilleleje, Smidstrup, and Humlebæk, the two young families who had fled south via Falster were already beginning to establish themselves in their exile in Sweden. Smaller problems and hardships replaced the great existential challenges that had confronted them only a few days earlier, as Poul Hannover’s notes reflect: “Thursday morning I got an engineer—Borg from ASEA—to go around with me to get coupons. We also found out that we could stay a lot cheaper—and also actually more practically, at the hotel AROS from Tuesday on. Mrs. Linden rang—and Inger and the kids went out there. Wernekinck, who is tremendously helpful, brought a typewriter to the hotel—it’s been great to have. In the evening Gudrun called, saying that Ada and the kids had come with Jørgen—Allan, who was about to sleep, was overjoyed. The Lindens wanted to take us out, but we needed to stay at home—although there was so much to do that we still did not get to bed early.”

  His sister-in-law, Kis Marcus, relates her experiences that day:

  We had to rush from the table in the middle of luncheon to reach the train station in time. Dorte was a little unwell, had nausea and got an aspirin at the station. It was probably just fatigue. I discovered that I had forgotten my bag at the castle. I called over there, and luckily the driver came with it before the train left.

  In Malmö we parted from our travel mates and went with the children to a few hotels to check, searching for relatives and acquaintances—Gunnar tried to get in touch with a business contact, who turned out no longer to live in the city. We went down the main street and bought a toy for each child, as we had promised them. Dorte got a dress-up doll and Palle some small soldiers. We came to Hässleholm around 5:30 p.m. and got a lovely room at Bern’s Hotel. After tidying ourselves up a bit, we went into the restaurant and had a lovely dinner. Dorte really enjoyed it. Palle had been happy and satisfied for the entire trip, and thankfully did not understand much of the horrors. Before we went to bed, each of us took a hot and luxurious bath.

  The same day the Swedish minister to Copenhagen, Dardel, sent a report back to Stockholm, describing the sentiments of goodwill and gratitude flowing toward Sweden from the troubled Danes. The minister also commented on the impact the action had had on the mood of the occupied country: “Since no trace of anti-Semitism seems to exist in any part of the population, the Danes have hardly ever before been so united and so filled with indignation as is now the case. Although the démarche we carried out in Berlin, as one might expect, did not lead to a result, it does constitute a strong and gratefully received moral support toward the Danish people.”12

  Herbert Levysohn after the war. His father, Willie Levysohn, had become co-owner of a big textile wholesaler in 1918. As a successful businessman, Levysohn was among the Danish Jews who, like a number of other prominent Danes, in the days after August 29, 1943, was taken hostage by the occupation forces and interned in Horserød prison camp. In Sweden in late October, Herbert Levysohn described his father’s attitude this way: “As soon as they knew that I had arrived here safely, Stridsland [a friend] went to Father, and with 3 Swedish flags on the back of his coat made him understand that we were in Sweden. Mogens Fisker [another friend] thought that we could get Dad out of the camp, partly by their own people and by bribery, but on inquiring of Father about escape, he refused to be involved in something [illegal] like this. Of course we do not know whether such a flight would have been successful, but there was great potential for it. What can be the reason that Father would not? It’s currently hard to say. One can assume that Father still did not realize the seriousness.… In addition, we who know Father so well imagine that he still insisted on the fact that he is Danish and therefore would not leave the country, a doctrine that after October 2 unfortunately can only be damaging, and not to anyone’s benefit. But all these assumptions have to be pushed aside to face the sad reality that Father did not come
from Horserød camp to Sweden. So far as is known, Horserød camp’s Jewish department, to which Father had been transferred, was emptied Tuesday, October 12.”

  Willie Levysohn had a heart problem. Despite several attempts, efforts to secure his release from Theresienstadt failed, and he died there on March 16, 1944.

  Scanpix

  CHAPTER 13

  * * *

  FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8

  THE BEACH AT SMIDSTRUP

  The Report

  It was imperative for many of the fugitives to resume as soon as possible, if not normal lives, then the responsibility for their own destiny in Sweden. One of Poul Hannover’s first steps was to enable all former Titan employees who had fled to be employed by ASEA, so that they could support themselves. Meanwhile he started transcribing his notes from the escape into the coherent report that has been quoted here: “I had a lot to write—also started this long report—the children were with the Lindens for dinner, while we ate with the parents here at the hotel—they were very sweet and helpful—it’s great to have such good friends. I have already met a great number of ASEA’s engineers here at the hotel where they have bid me welcome.”

  Kis and Gunnar Marcus also made contact on Friday with residents they already knew: “We woke up early, had breakfast in the room, and traveled by train to Linköping and switched to Gullberg. When we got there Eva and Henry met us by car, and we arrived at their lovely small house in Ljungsbro at around one. Our reunion was great, and we had plenty to talk about.”

  Eva and Henry Frænkel were Danish; he was of Jewish descent. They had resolutely traveled to Sweden on April 9, 1940, with the last free ferry from Helsingør, immediately after they had seen the first German aircraft and understood that the country was under occupation.

  · · ·

  While the two displaced families were finding permanent places in Sweden, the story of their dramatic escape the week before was reaching Bergstrøm’s ears on Rådhuspladsen in Copenhagen. He writes in his diary for October 8: “I heard a story about Jews from Stubbekøbing. A Jewish family of 10 members had to spend a night in the woods because it was not possible to come up with the boat they should have had. They were helped by another boat and escaped through the northern straits, while another fisherman was doing tricks to the south of them and attracted police attention, whereby the right boat got out unnoticed. The man who pulled the antics just said that he was doing sea trials. The Jewish family got to Sweden safe and sound.”1

  The idea that the search for the Jewish refugees continued unabated was trumpeted by the Swedish press, although the Swedish authorities were very well aware that it was otherwise. In a telegram to the Swedish legation in Berlin on October 8, the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm wrote directly that “it seems obvious that the Germans are letting things slip through with the escape.”

  At the same time the situation in Copenhagen was tense. As Helmuth von Moltke stopped over in Copenhagen on his way back from Norway, he noted after a few hours’ stroll in the streets: “The atmosphere in town is considerably hardened. Never before have I in any occupied country seen such hatred in the eyes of people as they see the German uniforms. People are simply out of their minds. The removal of the Jews has left the impression that they are all exposed.”2

  Alarming bulletins were still fueled by the Danish Press Service in Stockholm, which in its morning broadcast of October 8 reported that the Germans were continuing action against the Jews by all available means: “The special SS units that were sent to Denmark to carry out the pogroms are constantly active and drive hundreds of Jewish families to despair and suicide.

  “One of the leaders of the persecution in Helsingør has been the notorious SS officer Juhl, formerly Foreign Minister Ribbentrop’s driver, who has stayed in Denmark since the German onslaught on the country. There are rumors that he has been shot by the Danes because of his zeal in pursuit of the Jews.”

  Svenska Dagbladet supported the image of active German efforts to stop the wave of refugees in its Saturday edition. Here, Danish refugees tell of dramatic events on the Danish coast, where a boat is sunk, and German surveillance is stepped up day by day.3

  Neither the information about the SS units nor the rumor about the liquidation of Gestapo-Juhl was true.

  In Berlin by contrast, the diplomatic wrangling about the deported Danes continued. Minister Mohr insisted that a clear German commitment had been made that half Jews would not be deported, and that accordingly those who had been should be returned. And the German Foreign Office was not completely reluctant to support this view. Best had promised that “only pure Jews” would be deported, so if a mistake could be demonstrated, it was a breach of that commitment. Mohr also continued his efforts to convince the German Foreign Office that the elderly and the young should be returned. But again, the Nazi regime’s logic was quite different, as shown by the official German record of a conversation in which Mohr made yet another attempt but was rebuffed by his German interlocutor: “Simultaneously I pointed out to the minister that because of our experience we think of all Jews as being at war with Germany and treat them accordingly. Age plays no decisive role here.”

  Judging from the German minutes from the conversation, the Danish minister did not pick up this argument. But he did persist with his own, which simply appealed to humanity: “Mohr expressed understanding for this view, however, opined that one generally does act differently in dealing with the very old and the children, even when enemy aliens.”4

  In Copenhagen the leading politicians gathered to assess where the country stood after the action against the Jews and the lifting of martial law. Would the Germans continue to press for the establishment of a new Danish government? And would the hunt for the fleeing Jews really keep going? According to former foreign minister P. Munch’s record of the meeting, Buhl reported “that he had spoken with Svenningsen … to see if there was any message from Berlin. Svenningsen announced that no answer had come from Berlin, but he understood that the capital had accustomed itself to the facts on the ground; it was not desirable to seek more clarity, you had better come to terms with the relationship as it was. Best came again instead of General Hanneken.… Buhl asked if Best had again made remarks about the formation of a government. Svenningsen had said no, that he regarded that as useless after the measures against the Jews.”5

  Svenningsen’s statements can be seen as the beginning of a “new normal.” There was not only a “before” and an “after” August 29. Now there was also a “before” and an “after” the action against the Jews, and although the state of emergency had been lifted, a Danish government was no longer a viable option. The fragile construct of the permanent secretaries and Werner Best remained with the politicians in the wings. It held until the liberation of Denmark on May 5, 1945.

  Via Skudehavn

  Among those who still took the commotion with reasonable serenity was a twenty-six-year-old Copenhagen resident, Henrik Martin Schall Meyer, who was relieved that his parents had gotten away earlier in the week but who had long hesitated to follow himself. He had, like his older sister, Wanda, stayed with various friends and acquaintances, and it was Wednesday before they decided to try to get over the Sound. All Wednesday and Thursday, Henrik Meyer investigated different options, judging from his contemporaneous notes, without being much troubled by the situation. On the contrary, he used the many visits for festive gatherings, apparently without worrying much about being listed, let alone arrested. On the other hand, the various counsels and rumors he took down reflect that he thought it could be dangerous to be apprehended during the flight.

  After a shipping opportunity failed Thursday night, Henrik and Wanda spent the evening with a friend who offered “lovely sherry, and a lot of good advice about how we should go to Nykøbing F, if everything else failed.” But the next morning, Friday, things began to develop, and Henrik Meyer tells in detail about the day’s events: “We were up in time. Wanda was wearing all her woolen layers, but as yet not
looking noticeably fat. Asmussen picked us up at 7:30 a.m and then a small car with a Mr. Heymann arrived. In that we all huddled up. We then drove out quietly to Aarhusgade, where Asmussen got out, and we got another driver. From there we went out into the civilian harbor to a boatbuilder, where we got out. There were already several people gathered.… Now old Janson headed in. He could not walk, and his wife was also very decrepit. After some delay, during which we were treated to apples and cigarettes, one boat passed, and then another one. Old Janson was carried out by two men and groaned terribly. Wanda and I, as the two youngest, had to wait, as there was no room for us in the boat.”

  With two boats departed for freedom, and uncertainty about what would follow, the spirited young man bears further witness to the gravity of the situation:

  Then a terrible waiting came, in which we were still promised that we would soon get going, but there was still no one to fill the boat. At a certain point we had to hide in one of the boats, as there were some suspicious people along the road. Finally at approximately 2 p.m. some people came. “Rentier” Selbiger and wife and their niece.… Selbiger was terribly nervous, he had not said a word in 8 days. He fled first from Germany and then from Poland. On the other hand, his wife talked. She had dyed her hair red, like a madwoman. After some waiting we were moved to a fish shack.… At last we were crammed into the cabin in the bow of a fishing ship, and we sailed at 3:20 p.m. (Luckily we got lunch and a few beers in the boathouse.) The weather was fine, and the trip went smoothly. There was a strong smell of kerosene in the cabin, but only Mrs. Selbiger got sick. The fishermen were very nice. They accepted our cigarettes and promised to call home with messages. We had already handed over our ration cards …, but the fishermen were quick to ensure that we did not take them out of the country.