Northwest Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Ethnocide Education

…The Stockholm communiqué on the subject, released this evening, reads: “In the last few days reports have reached Sweden that measures are being prepared against the Jews in Denmark similar to those already applied in Norway and other occupied countries.  Acting on the Government instructions the Swedish Minister to Berlin on Oct. 1 pointed out to the German authorities concerned the serious repercussions these measures might provoke in Sweden.  At the same time the minister conveyed the offer of the Swedish Government to receive in Sweden all Danish Jews”

German Reply Awaited

Stockholm political circles entertained tonight no illusion that the Swedish remarks in Berlin would receive a favorable answer if they received any at all.  Stockholm was reported prepared for the first outburst of abuse of Sweden from the Wilhelmstrasse-inspired German press similar to that leveled against this country following the Swedish protest at the end or August against the sinking with all hands of two Swedish fisherman by German destroyers.  The Swedes rather expect soon to read in the German press a repetition of hackneyed accusation of being Jewridden and infested with Anglo-Bolshevik plutocrats and Freemasons.  The arrest of Jews in Denmark was heralded by the arrival in that country at the beginning of last week of some 1,800 German police and Gestapo agents.  Definite news of the action reached Sweden in the early hours today.  It was understood the measures applied were similar to those used against the Norwegian Jews a year ago when during the Rosh-ha-Shanah observation the Gestapo forced its way into homes and synagogues, sending Jews into a concentration camp and subsequent deportation.  The timing and procedure was the same with the 7,000 Jews in Denmark, 6,000 of whom are orthodox, including many Germans who had sought asylum in Denmark prior to Nazi occupation.

1) A communiqué is an official announcement.  What country issued the communiqué about Denmark’s Jews? 

2) In the space below, paraphrase the Stockholm communiqué.

3) Yes or No:  According to the communiqué, the actions of the Germans against the Jews would cause no problems in Sweden. 

4) What do you think it means to “hold no illusions?”

5) Do you think that the German press had good or bad things to say about Sweden? 

6) How did the Jews of Denmark know that the Germans were planning to arrest them?

7) If the Germans were planning to treat Jews in Denmark the same way that they treated the Jews in Norway, what do you think would have happened to Denmark’s Jews?

Name: __________________________

Directions:  This worksheet will help while you read the New York Times article “Sweden Offers Aid to Denmark’s Jews”.  Read through these questions before your read the article, then answer the questions while you are reading and when you are finished.

1)       Read the title.  In the space below, list three types  of aid that you think Sweden could have offered to Denmark’s Jews. 

2)       From reading the article, how do you think the Germans responded to the offer of aid made by Sweden to the Danish Jews? 

3)       How was the German press expected to respond to Sweden’s offer of aid? 

4)       How many German police and Gestapo agents were brought to Denmarl to arrest Jews? 

5)       Name six countries that were named or referred to in the article.  According to the article, in which of these countries did Germans arrest Jews? 

6)       What explanation did German officials give for “rounding up” Danish Jews? 

7)       The article mentions “countries under the German heel.”  What do you think it means to be under Germany’s “heel”? 

8)       Danish Jews were expected to be brought to Poland or German occupied Russia.  What happened to Jews that were brought to these places? 

9)       To what is the article referring when it mentions the “eliminated number”? 

10)      From what you read in the article, how could the actions taken against the Danish Jews be a “largely financial operation”?