Two books were published recently that demonstrate the good, the bad, and the ugly of humanity. Both books are about the Nazis' behavior during World War II.
The book that demonstrates the good is "Countrymen," which was reviewed by Salon magazine and explains why roughly 99 percent of Denmark's Jews survived World War II, while six million Jews were massacred, including roughly 90 percent of the Jewish communities in Austria, the Baltic republics, Germany, and Poland.
The book that demonstrates the bad and the ugly is "Hitler's Furies," which was reviewed by The New York Times and details the ghastly behavior of many German women during the Third Reich.
I've read innumerable books about the Holocaust, including Elie Wiesel's "Night" and a few scholarly analysis of what occurred and why, but I'm more interested in inspiring stories about righteous Christians such as Raoul Wallenberg, who saved up to 100,000 members of Hungary's Jewish community, and Oskar Schindler, a Nazi who saved about 1,200 of his Jewish employees.
Thus, I will only reprint part of Salon's article on "Countrymen," which was written by Bo Lidegaard, rather than parts of both articles. The Salon article was written by Laura Miller. The highlights of the article "Countrymen: How Denmark Saved its Jews," includes:
* "Defenseless and occupied, Danes thwarted Nazi attacks on fellow citizens."
* "Lidegaard argues that Germany delayed its action against Denmark’s Jews until Oct. 1, 1943, precisely because (Denmark's foreign minister) and others had persuaded them that any such attack would so outrage the Danish populace as to jeopardize the “policy of cooperation” that had made the occupation relatively peaceful."
* "Ordinary Danes in great numbers responded to the German action against their fellow citizens with indignation and reflexive efforts to help."
* "Lidegaard offers countless examples of farmers, white-collar workers, laborers — people from every walk of life, including the Danish police — opening their homes, offering rides, misdirecting German soldiers, carrying messages, protecting personal property, concealing fugitives in hospitals and so on, to help the Danish Jews escape to Sweden, where they were welcomed without reserve."
"As Hannah Arendt wrote in “Eichmann in Jerusalem,” Denmark “is the only case we know of in which the Nazis met with open, native resistance, and the result seemed to be that those exposed to it changed their minds.”
* "Even the Germans charged with executing the order to arrest Denmark’s Jews pursued it halfheartedly, because, both Arendt and Lidegaard believe, they were confronted by a unified people who, though “defenseless and occupied” refused to accept or participate in their twisted version of reality."
Thank you Denmark.
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