Risktory: The Story Of Risk

Monday January 27 commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. And, as I was watching the news media’s coverage of the event, I noticed a story about how 99% of Danish Jews survived WW2. I wanted to know more given that, in other parts of Europe, such as the Netherlands, only 25% of Dutch Jews survived. Why was that. As I dug more into why they survived, and how they survived, I realized this was a story of how the Danes protected their Jewish population by responding to the unknown via what NewRepublic.com called, ‘solidarity and decency… a dense tissue of connection among people, on long-formed habits of the heart, on resilient cultures of common citizenship, and on leaders who marshaled these virtues by their example. In Denmark, this dense tissue bound human beings together and indirect rule made it impossible for the Germans to rip it apart’.Today, I explore just how the Danes stood shoulder to shoulder with their Jews during WW2, thwarting every attempt by the Germans to force th