12/21/16

Heroes Part II

Yellow stars and the Danish King

Adversity can make heroes of any of us.  Here's a great example:

The King of Denmark, Christian X, had had some serious struggles with democracy early in his reign, but during WWII, he became a hero to his countrymen through his daily demonstrations of personal courage.  One of his most famous acts of bravery occurred during the German occupation, when the Nazis insisted that all the Danish Jews start wearing the yellow armbands required in the rest of the conquered lands. Here’s a popular version of what happened next.

"From the German occupation headquarters at the Hotel D'Angleterre came the decree: 

ALL JEWS MUST WEAR A YELLOW ARMBAND WITH A STAR OF DAVID.

King Christian X

That night the underground transmitted a message to all Danes. 'From Amalienborg Palace, King Christian has given the following answer to the German command that Jews must wear a Star of David. The King has said that one Dane is exactly the same as the next Dane. He himself will wear the first Star of David and he expects that every loyal Dane will do the same.' The next day in Copenhagen, almost the entire population wore armbands showing a Star of David. The following day the Germans rescinded the order."           Snopes.com

It’s a great story! I bet you’ve heard it, too. 

But it’s not true.

Not a word of it.

What the Danes actually did was much, much cooler. 

There were almost 8,000 Jews in Denmark at the start of WWII, all well integrated into the culture and society of the country.  When Hitler ordered the Danes to turn over their Jewish countrymen, they hid them instead, at considerable personal risk.  At the same time, the Danes secretly negotiated with the Swedish government to accept these refugees.  Then, one by one, in small boats and secret crossings, the Danes transported their Jews across the Øresund Strait to safety in neutral Sweden  Less than 500 were eventually captured by the Nazis. And even then, the relentless insistence of the Danish government on their safety led to almost all being returned alive at the end of the war.

A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust

This is a great story too, but it has the advantage of actually being true.

So we have to wonder why the fake story got traction while the real story didn’t.

During the war, Norwegian political cartoonist Stig Höök (Ragnvald Blix) published a cartoon in the Swedish papers in which the Danish prime minister, Thorvald Stauning, and the King discussed what to do after the Nazis invaded. In the caption, the prime minister says: "What are we going to do, Your Majesty, if Scavenius (the foreign minister) makes all the Jews wear yellow stars?" The King responded, "We'll all have to wear yellow stars."

And so a story was born. Playing off this, Danish patriots in New York circulated a propagandist piece that juxtaposed the notion of the King wearing a star with a photo of the monarch on his brave daily rides through the streets of Copenhagen. That gave rise to a version in which the king actually wore a yellow star while out riding. Then the very popular Danish comedian and pianist Victor Borge (I adored Victor Borge!) picked up the story as part of his routines.  And finally, Leon Uris told the story in his 1958 novel Exodus. The subsequent hit movie put the last nail in the coffin of the true story.

OK, that’s an exaggeration. I'll bet some of you already knew the real story, but the fake story has everything going for it – a heroic king, a stirring example of opposition to oppression, and a happy ending.  But I’m also happy to put the real story out there. It may be harder to make heroes of a flotilla of unknown boatmen, but so they are. I salute you!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and the best of seasons greetings to all. 

And, as an extra holiday present, here's a funny, funny bit from the talented and hysterical Victor Borge. Borge is the guy in front.