Front cover image for A conspiracy of decency : the rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II

A conspiracy of decency : the rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II

The people of Denmark managed to save almost their country's entire Jewish population from extinction in a spontaneous act of humanity -- one of the most compelling stories of moral courage in the history of World War II. Drawing on many personal accounts, Emmy Werner tells the story of the rescue of the Danish Jews from the vantage-point of living eyewitnesses- the last survivors of an extraordinary conspiracy of decency that triumphed in the midst of the horrors of the Holocaust. This book chronicles the acts of people of good will from several nationalities. Among them were the German Georg F. Duckwitz, who warned the Jews of their impending deportation, the Danes who hid them and ferried them across the Oresund, and the Swedes who gave them asylum. Regardless of their social class, education, and religious and political persuasion, the rescuers all shared one important characteristic: they defined their humanity by their ability to act with great compassion. These people never considered themselves heroes -- they simply felt that they were doing the right thing
Print Book, English, 2002
Westview Press, Boulder, Colo., 2002
Personal Narrative
212 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
9780813339061, 9780813342788, 0813339065, 0813342783
50746481
Shadows over Denmark
Men of conscience
A matter of decency
Escape across the Øresund
Refuge in Sweden
Sojourn in Theresienstadt
Turmoil in Copenhagen
Liberation and homecoming
Getting on with life
"Whoever saves a single life."