Essay --

L’Chaim Bravery can be defined in many different ways, but it is not usually defined by an entire country. During World War Two, the entire country of Denmark decided that they would not submit to Hitler and aid him in the extermination of the Jewish people, or â€Å"The Final Solution.† Denmark is the only example of a country that was unwilling to succumb to the Nazi ideology and actively resist the regime. Through various resistance movements and strikes, the Danes were able to communicate to the Germans that they were not welcome and that their principles would not be accepted. The country of Denmark is situated directly over Germany. Though it was not considered a major conquest by Hitler, it was valuable due to its location near Norway. The country of Denmark was considered so unimportant that the Germans considered excluding it from â€Å"The Final Solution† during the Wannsee Conference. The â€Å"Jewish problem† in Denmark seemed very insignificant compared to other countries considering that there were only seven thousand and five hundred Jews to the four million Danes. Regardless, Denmark was occupied by the Germans on April 9, 1940. The German influence on the Danish government and people was very small. The Danes were able to maintain their own government with the Germans only dictating the foreign policies. The people were hardly affected as well, including the Jews. The Jewish people were able to continue with worship services and daily life as usual. The Jewish people were also exempt from wearing the Star of David, registering as Jews, or leaving their houses and relinquishing businesses. One of the main opposers of the German occupation was the king of Denmark himself, King Christian X. From his unarmed, unescorted rides t... ...s. Theresienstadt was liberated by the Soviets on May 9, 1945 after the camp was handed over to the International Red Cross. Around fifty Danish people died during the internment in the concentration camp. Around four hundred and fifty survived. Denmark has been honored for their bravery by several different monuments, such as a monument in Israel of a boat that was done on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the rescue. There is also a boat that was used for the transportation to Sweden in the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Israel. Copenhagen has a monument with a large inscription in both Danish and Hebrew that was a gift from the Israeli people. The autumn of 2013 marked the seventieth anniversary of the rescue of the Danish Jews. May we always remember the courage of a country devoted to seeing past the labels placed on people and seeing them as individuals instead.