“SHE HAD A restful night,” the nurse says to Emma and Catherine. “If she continues to improve, we think we can move her to a regular room. But please, can I ask you not to overdo today? Break up your sessions; let her rest.”
“You should tell that to my grandmother,” Emma says, and the nurse nods her head. “I know,” she says. “She’s a tough one.”
Emma smiles. “Can we go in now? Is she ready for us?”
The nurse chuckles. “Is she ready? She’s been asking about you from the moment she woke up.”
“Bubbe, you’re looking good this morning,” Emma says. “I brought you a donut. Maple frosted. The doctor says you’re supposed to eat.”
Britta scrunches her nose.
“And a cup of real coffee,” Emma adds, holding out a cup, which brings a smile to Britta’s lips. A few minutes of small talk and Britta is ready to work.
“OPERATION SAFARI WAS a failure, Admiral Wurmbach’s plan to take over our ships essentially destroyed our navy. General von Hanneken disarmed our army, and as we headed into September, we had no armed forces at all. Our national government had dissolved, and martial law had been imposed, but local and municipal governments were left functioning. The Germans left our police force intact, but it was subject to the instructions issued out of Dr. Best’s office. Everywhere you looked there were squads of soldiers. Curfew was strictly enforced at eight-thirty, but exceptions were made for factories, and for shops and restaurants. Especially those that served German customers. Lukas, because he managed the bookstore and had to close up, and because he had to wheel himself home, frequently came home after nine o’clock.
“Day-to-day activities continued as before. Children went to school, buses ran, people were free to attend religious services. In Denmark, ninety percent of the country was Lutheran. Almost eight thousand of us were Jewish and there were no laws or prohibitions against practicing our faith or attending synagogue. There was no discernible discrimination, but that was false security. A mirage. Everything was about to change.
“Werner Best was a Heydrich disciple, pure Gestapo through and through. He was even called Doktor Best, remember?”
Emma nods. “I remember. He told his Gestapo trainees that they were like doctors trained to rid the world of disease, like the Jews.”
“That’s right. From the moment he was assigned to Copenhagen, he was anxious to impose racial laws similar to Germany, Poland, Austria and every other country Germany had conquered. Best abhorred the freedom Jews enjoyed in Denmark and was angry that Germany permitted it. Jews weren’t required to register, their property wasn’t confiscated, their licenses weren’t taken away, they weren’t forced into ghettos, nor were they ever rounded up or sent to slave labor factories or concentration camps. Best was always in favor of subjugating Denmark’s Jews, but his hands were tied by the Cooperation Agreement and Hitler’s desire that the two countries coexist amicably.
“Once martial law had been declared, Best saw an opportunity to put his racist plans into effect. On September 8, he secretly sent a telegram to Hitler. He said that the country was entirely under his control, there would be no effective dissent, and therefore, he was seeking permission to round up the Jewish population and clear them out of Denmark. Confident of Hitler’s response, Best called Georg Duckwitz into his office two days later. He told Duckwitz that Jews were going to be taken into custody, loaded onto German freighters and merchant ships and transported to ports where they would be transferred to trains for their final destination. As naval attaché, Duckwitz was put in charge of logistics. He was ordered to begin planning the transports as smoothly and as quickly as possible.
“Duckwitz was shocked. He questioned the wisdom. Remember, Duckwitz was an educated man, well-regarded by Berlin. He pointed out that there was no Jewish uprising nor any threat to the German administration in Denmark. Why take action that is sure to alienate the rest of Danish society?
“But Best was a hard-liner, a Heydrich clone. ‘All Europe is to be cleansed of Jews,’ he said. ‘That was the decision at Wannsee. Aktion Reinhard.’”
Emma asks, “Bubbe, did Georg Duckwitz tell the family about this conversation with Best?”
Britta shakes her head. “Eventually, but not at that time.”
“Hmph,” Emma scoffs. “Some friend.”
Britta glares at Emma. “Don’t be so quick to condemn. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for Georg Duckwitz. And neither would you. Duckwitz was a hero. The opposite of Hendricksen, who was a traitor.”
“I sure wouldn’t mind hearing about how Hendricksen was a traitor,” Catherine says with a smile.
“I’m getting there. Be patient. When Duckwitz left Best’s office, he decided to do something. Because of his years in the Reichsleitung, the executive branch of the Nazi Party, he had credibility in Berlin and with Hitler himself. He was one of the few who could request and receive an audience with Der Führer. So, Duckwitz flew to Berlin and met with Hitler in an effort to prevent the Jewish deportations.
“Duckwitz believed that he could appeal to Hitler’s logic. Hitler prided himself in accomplishing such a wonderful Cooperation Agreement with Denmark. He boasted about it. It was a political masterpiece, a model protectorate, he said. He regarded Danes as brother Aryans. In his mind, he was protecting Denmark from invasion while preserving its culture. Duckwitz played to Hitler’s ego. He pinned his hopes on the idea that Hitler would not be inclined to create national resentment over a few thousand Jews. He was wrong. Hitler rejected the plea, refused to overrule Best, and Georg flew home.
“About this time, Stefan was once again a dinner guest. He was no longer assigned to Berlin, and he had no inside information, but he expressed his worries about us. ‘They’re basically running our country now, Joseph. What is to stop them from issuing their racial laws and registering all the Danish Jews?’
“‘What would you have us do, Stefan?’ my father said. ‘Where would you have us go? Denmark is basically an island. The seas surrounding Denmark are full of Nazi warships and U-boats. We saw what happened to the Danish navy when they tried to sail across the sound to Sweden.’
“‘What about my cousin Natalie in Stirling, Scotland?’ my mother said. ‘We could go there.’
“My father shook his head. ‘How? My fishing boat is too small. It couldn’t safely hold five adults and a baby for the many hours or days it would take to sail around Denmark, out into the open Atlantic and then to Scotland. It’s just not an option.’
“‘But you’ve spent many years down at the harbor,’ she countered. ‘You know so many of the captains. In a pinch, wouldn’t one of them take us?’
“‘If there was an order for all Jews to report, to be collected and transported, would you really ask someone to risk their life violating that order and sail out through a naval blockade to smuggle us somewhere else?’
“She grimaced. ‘I guess not.’
“What my father, my mother and Stefan didn’t know at that dinner, was that Georg Duckwitz had one more card up his sleeve. He secretly scheduled a meeting in Stockholm with Per Albin Hansson, the Swedish prime minister. He flew there for the professed purpose of discussing passage of German merchant ships, but that was pretextual. No one suspected that he was doing anything else. Meeting with Hansson in the Riksdagshuset, the Parliament house, under the veil of confidentiality, he disclosed Best’s plan to arrest all of the Danish Jews and send them to concentration camps. It was Duckwitz’s belief that Best intended to make the arrests on September 30 and October 1, 1943.
“‘Those are the dates of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah,’ Duckwitz said. ‘Best knows that Jewish families will be attending services and having holiday dinners in their homes. He has asked for and received an extra commando force of eighteen hundred Gestapo for the purpose of arresting Jews in Copenhagen’s Great Synagogue and in each of their homes. I don’t know if it is possible, but if Jews are able to escape Denmark and make their way to Sweden, will they find sanctuary here?’ Hansson assured Duckwitz that Sweden would welcome Jewish refugees. ‘We welcomed nine hundred Norwegian Jews fleeing the Nazis last year,’ he said, ‘and we will do the same for Denmark’s Jews.’
“Duckwitz returned to Copenhagen on September 28. He immediately sought a meeting with my father and Hans Hedtoft, former leader of the Social Democratic Party. Duckwitz disclosed Best’s plan to arrest the Jews on September 30 and October 1. He also told them of his meeting with Prime Minister Hansson and Sweden’s offer to grant sanctuary to Jewish refugees. ‘In fact,’ Duckwitz said, ‘Hansson told me that there are several resorts and hotels along the western shore that are vacant and accessible now that the summer season is over. Hansson said that Jews would be welcome to stay there until they are permanently settled. Of course, getting to Sweden would be quite the task. Joseph, your people must be warned. They must take any measure they can to survive.’ Duckwitz stood. ‘In any event, I leave it to you to get the message out. I have to get back to the office. You didn’t hear any of this from me. I wasn’t here tonight.’ And he left.
“There wasn’t much time for my father to act. Decisions had to be made on the spot; who to contact and how to spread the message. Hans said he would contact Marcus Melchior, chief rabbi and spiritual leader at the Great Synagogue. My father was a close friend of C. B. Henriques, leading member of the Board of Deputies of Danish Jews. ‘We can’t stop with just the Jewish community,’ Hedtoft said. ‘All of Denmark must be alerted if we’re going to save our people.’
“Lukas, who had been sitting with Grethe and me in the kitchen and eavesdropping on the conversation, wheeled into the room. ‘I can help,’ he said. ‘I will get the word out to our network of partisans.’
“‘What about Bishop Damgaard?’ Grethe said. ‘Doesn’t your mother know him pretty well?’
“‘Your mother knows the Bishop of Copenhagen?’ Hedtoft said. ‘He’s the most powerful religious leader in Denmark. If he decides to help, he can reach millions of Danes.’
“‘My mother knows him and so do I,’ Lukas said. ‘I’ll go see him first thing in the morning.’
“Hans stood to leave. ‘The clock is ticking,’ my father said. ‘Rosh Hashanah starts tomorrow night.’
“‘Right,’ Hans said. ‘I’ll go see Marcus tonight.’