A LIGHT IN THE NORTHERN SEA

When ordinary people united against Nazis.

Brady, author of Three Ordinary Girls: The Remarkable Story of Three Dutch Teenagers Who Became Spies, Saboteurs, Nazi Assassins—and WWII Heroes, writes that Denmark, conquered in April 1940, enjoyed advantages. Hitler viewed the Nordic Danes as cousins to the master race. The occupation was extraordinarily benign. Denmark’s government remained in place, Germany paid for its imports, mostly agricultural products, and occupation authorities dealt with disturbances and even strikes without violence. Jews were left largely undisturbed. Matters changed in early 1943, when it was no secret that Germany was preparing to round up Denmark’s Jews. Brady reminds readers that the Nazis found it difficult to locate Jews from conquered nations without cooperation from local governments, police, and citizens; most cooperated, often enthusiastically. Denmark was a rare exception. No organized movement was in place, but as soon as the Nazis made their moves and Jews began to flee, attempting to reach Sweden across the few miles of the Oresund strait, they received a great deal of help. Activists, Jews, and non-Jews knocked on doors to alert those who had not gotten the news. Others organized transportation to the coast and recruited ships for the passage. Heroism wasn’t universal; many boat owners charged passengers, some a great deal, but in the end, about 95% of Denmark’s 8,000 Jews survived the war. Even those caught were relatively fortunate, being shipped to concentration camps where survivors were returned to Denmark a few months before war’s end. Brady devotes most of the final 100 pages to the Danish resistance over the following years—an anticlimax but a good read.

A satisfying account of wartime heroism.