A Brief History of the Holocaust in Europe and Denmark

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Number the Stars is a novel by Lois Lowry set in DENMARK during World War II. The story is about two ten year old girls and life in the NAZI OCCUPIED country. This is also a story about how brave the Danish people were.

In 1943, war is raging in Europe and parts of Asia. ADOLPH HITLER and his German army have invaded countries surrounding Germany and Japan is attacking Pacific nations including the state of Hawaii. Great Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union have joined together as ALLIES to fight the opposing forces.

Adolph Hitler believed that the German people were a superior "master" race and that Germans should rule the world. The Nazis believed that SLAVIC, African and especially Jewish people were of INFERIOR RACE.

Soon after Hitler gained power in Germany, he began a steady CAMPAIGN to rid Germany and Europe of Jews. In 1935, he stripped them of their German citizenship and forbid them to marry non-Jewish people. By 1938 over 1000 SYNAGOGUES were burned, Jewish businesses were ruined, and 30,000 Jews were arrested. As Germany conquered and occupied surrounding countries, Jews throughout Europe were in danger. In Eastern Europe the Germans began their most horrible PERSECUTION of the Jews. They took Jews from their homes and moved them into a poor section of the city called GHETTOS. Living conditions in the ghettos were horrible. There were too many people living in a small area and there was never enough food.

In 1942, the German government devised a "FINAL SOLUTION to the Jewish Question". It was decided that Jews would be taken to CONCENTRATION CAMPS where they would work so hard they died or be murdered in GAS CHAMBERS. The GENOCIDE of the Jews and the HOLOCAUST had begun.

In 1940, there were about 8,000 Jews living in Denmark. Most had been born there. About 1,500 Jews had fled to Denmark in the 1930's when Hitler began his campaign against them. Denmark was a small, NEUTRAL, peaceful country with small military forces. Laws in Denmark protected Jews from ANTI-SEMITISM because in 1814 a law had been passed making racial or religious DISCRIMINATION a crime.

Germany attacked Denmark on April 9, 1940 even though they had signed a PACT saying they would not invade Denmark the year before. Since Denmark didn't have the forces to defend an attack, the fighting didn't last long. Denmark became an occupied nation. The Danish people were against Germany but they knew they had to adjust to the occupation so their lives would continue to run smoothly.

As the Allies continued to fight Germany, opposition to the occupation of Denmark grew. A RESISTANCE movement began. By 1943, there was much UNREST in the country. Jews were ordered to wear a YELLOW STAR on their clothes and the Danish government refused to allow it. Pushed too far in August 1943, Germany took control of Denmark.

Millions of Jews had already died in other parts of Europe, and by September of 1943 the Danish government could no longer protect it's Jewish citizens. The Germans decided that all Jews would be rounded up and DEPORTED from Denmark on October 1, 1943.

But things did not happen as the Germans planned! GEORG DUCKWITZ, a diplomat in the German government in Denmark, did not believe that sending Jews from their homes was right, and he told Danish resistance leaders of the plan. The word spread. Danish citizens told their Jewish friends and neighbors. Some even looked through the phone book for Jewish sounding names to call and warn. Then the people of Denmark hid the Jews in homes, hospitals and churches. Within two weeks, Danish fishermen carried 7,200 Jews to safety across the channel to Sweden. Sweden was a neutral country who accepted the REFUGEES.

Unfortunately not all the Danish Jews were saved. About 500 Jews were captured and sent to the THERESIENSTADT ghetto. the Danish government demanded information on these deported Jews and insisted on visiting them in the ghetto. They were allowed to send some letters and supplies, too. The support of the Danish government is what probably kept the Danish Jews from being sent to the death comps. Only about 100 Danish Jews died in the ghetto or in the escape during the war. It was the highest Jewish survival rate of any country.