A Conspiracy Of Decency The Rescue Of The Danish Jews During World War II

by Werner, Emmy E

• ISBN13: 9780813342788
• ISBN10: 0813342783
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-10-27
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

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.A Conspiracy of Decencychronicles 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.

Author Biography

Emmy E. Werner is a developmental psychologist and research professor at the University of California at Davis. She is the author of many books, including Through the Eyes of Innocents (Westview Press 2000); Reluctant Witnesses (Westview Press, 1998); Pioneer Children on the Journey West (Westview Press 1995).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Prologue	1	(6)
Shadows over Denmark	7	(20)
Men of Conscience	27	(16)
A Matter of Decency	43	(18)
Escape Across the Oresund	61	(22)
Refuge in Sweden	83	(18)
Sojourn in Theresienstadt	101	(22)
Turmoil in Copenhagen	123	(18)
Liberation and Homecoming	141	(14)
Getting on with Life	155	(12)
``Whoever Saves a Single Life''	167	(16)
Selected Chronology	183	(2)
Notes	185	(14)
Bibliography	199	(6)
Index	205