--
Well-known
Alienation, lack of personal courage and disbelief
Alienation, lack of personal courage and disbelief
A subject I have thought a lot about. I think the simple answers are alienation, lack of personal courage and disbelief. For many reasons that would be far too much to go into detail here the Danes of Jewish ancestry were almost all saved. Even the ones that were caught were almost all saved from Theresienstadt and transported to Sweden in the last part of the war. Two, possible three, major reasons saved them (*).
The Danes of Jewish ancestry were totally assimilated into the Danish society and the response to the deportation was almost universal moral indignation spurring personal courage and subsequent action. There was no alienation.
The German diplomat Duckwitz had the personal courage to first negotiate safe passage to Sweden with the Swedish PM and then tip the Danish authorities that the deportation was arranged allowing ordinary Danes to whisk away the Danes of Jewish ancestry and then slowly transport them to Sweden. Singlehanded he thus saved 4, 5 times as many Jews as Schindler. He later became ambassador to Denmark and was admitted into the Vad Yashem.
Almost no Danes if any had read the reports of Jan Karski that far too many people in the West found it convenient to disbelieve including prominent Americans of Jewish ancestry. I do not think the Danes anticipated a holocaust but no Danes should be subjected to humiliating camp life (the communists were not so lucky - nor the police later on). They believed something horrible was about to happen and they were right.
I have yet to see Auschwitz but have seen Theresienstadt and the very moving wall of remembrance in Radogoszcz in Łódź. You did well in your photographic interpretation of a difficult subject.
Xpanded
Question: I am surprised to read Oświęcim written by someone who is apparently Polish - I know many Poles and they are all understandably 100% behind using Auschwitz and German Death Camps - has this changed?
(*) On a lighter note on this horrible subject: For those interested the rescue is fairly loyally portrayed in the film “The Only Way” who has the double audio-visual pleasure of lots of Danes speaking our Denglish and a 19 year old Jane Seymour dancing ballet. I know which I prefer… But then I am a photographer not a linguist…
Alienation, lack of personal courage and disbelief
A subject I have thought a lot about. I think the simple answers are alienation, lack of personal courage and disbelief. For many reasons that would be far too much to go into detail here the Danes of Jewish ancestry were almost all saved. Even the ones that were caught were almost all saved from Theresienstadt and transported to Sweden in the last part of the war. Two, possible three, major reasons saved them (*).
The Danes of Jewish ancestry were totally assimilated into the Danish society and the response to the deportation was almost universal moral indignation spurring personal courage and subsequent action. There was no alienation.
The German diplomat Duckwitz had the personal courage to first negotiate safe passage to Sweden with the Swedish PM and then tip the Danish authorities that the deportation was arranged allowing ordinary Danes to whisk away the Danes of Jewish ancestry and then slowly transport them to Sweden. Singlehanded he thus saved 4, 5 times as many Jews as Schindler. He later became ambassador to Denmark and was admitted into the Vad Yashem.
Almost no Danes if any had read the reports of Jan Karski that far too many people in the West found it convenient to disbelieve including prominent Americans of Jewish ancestry. I do not think the Danes anticipated a holocaust but no Danes should be subjected to humiliating camp life (the communists were not so lucky - nor the police later on). They believed something horrible was about to happen and they were right.
I have yet to see Auschwitz but have seen Theresienstadt and the very moving wall of remembrance in Radogoszcz in Łódź. You did well in your photographic interpretation of a difficult subject.
Xpanded
Question: I am surprised to read Oświęcim written by someone who is apparently Polish - I know many Poles and they are all understandably 100% behind using Auschwitz and German Death Camps - has this changed?
(*) On a lighter note on this horrible subject: For those interested the rescue is fairly loyally portrayed in the film “The Only Way” who has the double audio-visual pleasure of lots of Danes speaking our Denglish and a 19 year old Jane Seymour dancing ballet. I know which I prefer… But then I am a photographer not a linguist…
Last edited:
