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During World War II one occupied nation refused to turn over its Jewish population to the Nazis: Denmark. It smuggled most Jews in Denmark to neutral Sweden.
A Light in the Northern Sea: Denmark’s Incredible Rescue of Their Jewish Citizens During WWII, by Tim Brady, tells the story of Denmark’s evacuation of its Jewish population and of the Danish resistance to German occupation afterwards.
The book follows Denmark throughout the war, from the German occupation in April 1940 through VE Day in May 1945. These were long, dark years for the country.
Denmark’s occupation differed from the rest of Europe. Germany overwhelmed their Baltic neighbor. There was little fighting, and Germany insisted it had not conquered them. Germany claimed it established a protectorate to prevent British occupation of Denmark. The Danish civil government continued operating. Germany asserted King Christian X remained Denmark’s sovereign.
In reality, Denmark was occupied, albeit ruled by a light hand. Some Danes, especially ethnic German Danes in Jutland, welcomed the Nazis. Most resented them. Minor resistance occurred, yet most Danes grudgingly cooperated. They knew their independence was due to German sufferance.
By 1943 Germany realized it was losing the war. It accelerated the effort to exterminate Jews. Previously it largely confined efforts to Eastern Europe. Now it systematically began removing Jews throughout Europe to death camps. Hitler finally turned attention to Denmark in the fall of 1943.
Brady shows that Germany previously left most Jews in Denmark alone. The Danish Jews were assimilated into Danish society, and Danes thought of Danish Jews as Danes. Danes lacked serious resentment towards foreign Jews in Denmark, worried more that they were not Danish than that they were Jews. Led by their king, they shielded Jews in Denmark.
When Germany instituted an action to arrest Jews in Denmark, an underground composed of both Christian and Jewish Danes organized an evacuation to Sweden. Brady shows how, over a three-week period, five-sixths of nearly 8,000 Jews in Denmark were smuggled to Sweden.
The few caught were monitored by the Danish government. They were sent to a model concentration camp rather than death camps due to official Danish interest. Many survived the war there.
The German action also sparked Danish resistance, which increased in violence as the war continued. The book covers those actions extensively. A Light in the Northern Sea is a book highlighting one of the times when things worked out against tyranny. It is an inspiring tale.
“A Light in the Northern Sea: Denmark’s Incredible Rescue of Their Jewish Citizens During WWII,” by Tim Brady, Citadel, July 2025, 272 pages, $29.00 (Hardcover), $24.65 (E-book), $13.99 (Audiobook), $45.95 (Audio CD)
This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Discussion (5)
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I'd have to find it, but there's a quote that says if the Hebrew Scriptures were being written today, the rescue of the Danish Jews would be told in its pages. I've always liked that.
My siblings and I were reared on this story, as we had Danish relatives who participated.
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I know some of the story. I need to get the book!
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20 years ago I read about that in Rescue in Denmark by Flender, perhaps mentioned in this book. Fascinating story.
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In 2005, Denmark apologised to Jews for its wartime Government’s co-operation with the Nazis in the extradition of Jews to Germany, knowing what that would mean. However, this shouldn’t detract from the heroic efforts of Danish people as set out above, any more than the foul actions of Vichy France should taint all French people of the time.
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Until Fascist Italy was occupied by Germany in 1943 — after it had deposed Mussolini and tried to leave the war — it also shielded Jews from the Holocaust.
Mussolini would be called on the carpet in Berlin and, terrified that the exasperated Hitler would send the Wehrmacht south, would agree to start shipping Jews to their deaths. But the Fascist bureaucracy would give the Nazis the runaround. “Oh, your papers say you can take all the Jews from this camp? Too bad, they were moved to another camp. No, you can’t use those papers at the other camp. But if you can find any Jews here, you’re welcome to them!”