THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

One of the best novels of WW II, Elliott Arnold wrote a “Night of Watching”, as a tribute to the people of Denmark for their valor and moral contribution to the world during the German-Nazi onslaught of Europe.  This fast paced novel, based on actual, historical events, details the Danish Resistance in their effort to save Danish Jews, as well as immigrant Jews to Denmark, who managed a previous escape.

When the Germans moved against the Jews in Denmark, the Danes realized the ruthlessness of the Nazis, and what would lie ahead if the Germans were to succeed.  King Christian X, of Denmark, became known as, the protector of the Jews.  The Danish Foreign Minister, in 1941, courageously told Hermann Goring, that Denmark had “no Jewish Question.”

 

Plot:

Peter Hansen, head of the Resistance Movement, moves carefully among the German military, now in control of his country.  Newly appointed to the command, Hansen must learn to gage his actions and control his fighters as he earns the respect of his position.  Hansen learns, courtesy of a German official, that action against the Jews is imminent, a round up planned for the eve of Rosh Hashana, a Jewish, Holy Holiday.  Peter Hansen plots, begs, borrows and steals to protect his fighters, the Jews, and his countrymen from the insanity of war, and the rapacious German appetite for killing.

The saving grace for Denmark, was the German’s love for the Dane’s, and their unquenchable desire to be loved in return, as the Germans considered the Danes, their Aryan brothers.  The German’s however, were unprepared for the utter dislike and distaste in which they were received, and for the Danish stand against them, to save their Jewish countrymen.

The Danes worked day and night to remove their Jewish citizens from Demark to Sweden, under Nazi scrutiny, and in some certain instances, with their allowance.

 

Note:

The Danish Resistance saved the 8,007 Jews of Denmark; in some instances, out of respect for the Danes, Germans looked the other way during the rescue missions.   The Swedes, also putting political pressure on the Germans, granted asylum to the Danish Jews.  Norway, likewise made statements to the German authorities, in an effort to protect its Jewish population.

In 1943, the 400 plus Jews the Nazis rounded-up and deported from Denmark to a concentration camp, were imprisoned at Theresienstadt.  At the Danish Government’s insistence, the Jews were not sent to an extermination camp.  The Danish Red Cross also monitored the Danish Jews in Theresienstadt.  At the war’s end, the Jews in Theresienstadt were returned to Denmark.  During their absence, the Danish Department of Social Justice took care of their homes, businesses, gardens and even pets.  The Torah Scrolls were kept safely.   In 1941, when there was an instance of vandalism on a synagogue, King Christian wrote a letter of apology to the Rabbi Melchoir.

Note:

One of the most important targets for the Danish Resistance was the rail line in Jutland.  The Resistance managed to derail this line, blocking a German division from arriving to the Battle of the Bulge.  At the close of WW II, the Danish Resistance was praised “as second to none,” by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, one of WW II’s most decorated military commanders.

 

Excellently written, the factual, historical novel is also a page turning thriller filled with intrigue and espionage.