Denmark has long been regarded as one of the world’s most attractive nations, for citizens and tourists alike. My own visits there, years ago as a student, were delightful. And the Danes have a wonderful history of civic virtue, not least during the Holocaust. As the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum notes in a web site dedicated to “The Rescue of the Jews of Denmark.”
The Danish resistance movement, assisted by many ordinary citizens, coordinated the flight of some 7,200 Jews to safety in nearby neutral Sweden. Thanks to this remarkable mass rescue effort, at war’s end, Denmark had one of the highest Jewish survival rates for any European country.
Times change. The latest news out of Denmark bore this headline: “Jews Warned Not to Wear Kipot, Stars of David in Copenhagen.” Here is an excerpt:
It’s easy enough to say that the Danish government is of course not responsible for potential attacks on Jews, but what about offering protection? Is it really acceptable that in one of Europe’s great capitals someone wearing a Star of David cannot walk safely in the streets?
It also seems that Denmark’s foreign policy is showing less sympathy with Jews and Israel than was once the case. Consider this report:
It is one thing to criticize or condemn the settlement decision (though I would not agree with that course, as I argued here recently) and quite another to try to block a condemnation of Meshal’s statement. Remember what Meshal said:
Of course such remarks make peace impossible. Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas quickly spoke out:
Alas Denmark. The Palestinian president can speak out against Meshal, but Denmark seeks to block an EU statement? And meanwhile, Jews cannot safely navigate the streets of Copenhagen if they are in any way identified as Jews.
The Holocaust Museum web site tells us of a different Denmark:
• When the German police began searching for and arresting Jews on the night of October 1, 1943, the Danish police refused to cooperate.
• Unlike Jews in other countries under Nazi rule, the Jews of Denmark were never forced to wear the yellow Star of David or any other identifying badge.
• Approximately 500 Jews were deported from Denmark to the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia. Following protests from their government, these Danish inmates were allowed to receive letters and even some care packages. Most of them survived the Holocaust.
It seems, from this information, that a Jew could more safely walk the streets of Denmark’s capital and count on the Danish government’s protection in 1942 than today, 70 years later. Shameful, and tragic.
