Boats In the Night: Knud Dyby's Involvement in the Rescue of the Danish Jews and the Danish Resistance - Softcover

Loeffler; Martha; Dyby; Knud

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0930697073 ISBN 13: 9780930697075

Publisher: Lur Publications, 2004

Synopsis

Through the experiences of Knud Dyby, former printer, Royal Guardsman and member of the Danish resistance to the German occupation of Denmark, Martha Loeffler tells the dramatic story of the rescue of more than 90% of Denmark's Jews. Using his connections with fishing boat skippers, Dyby arranged for the secretive transport of Jews across the sound to safety in Sweden. More than a story of individual daring and bravery, it is also a testimony to a people's resistance to tyranny and their courage to care for each other.

About this title

From the Author

My guilt-laden knowledge of the Holocaust dates back to a conversation in Berkeley, California, in 1941. My mother said, "Look at this. The Forward (a daily, Jewish-American newspaper, printed in the Yiddish language) has these stories about something called concentration camps for Jews in Europe. It sounds terrible." In my vast superiority as an American born, university student, I replied to my immigrant mother, "Oh, Mama, if it isn't in the American newspapers, it can't be true." How wrong I was!

In 1974 one of my sons married the daughter of Rita and Isaac Haskell, survivors who endured many years of harsh treatment and deprivation in the concentration camps. The grandchildren of these survivors are my grandchildren, too, and they have grown up with an intimate knowledge of the torture and death, the cruelty and pain that we now know as the Holocaust. Preserving this knowledge has become my concern.

In 1997 I received a letter from the Holocaust Oral History Project in San Francisco seeking writers who would put into written form some of the oral case histories they had videotaped. I responded with an offer of assistance and within days received a telephone call asking if I would like to write a book about Knud Dyby, a Danish-American who has been recognized for his role in helping rescue the Jews of Denmark in World War II.

I met with Mr. Dyby at his home in Novato, California, and was immediately charmed by his modest demeanor and convinced by his firm belief that the heroic efforts of his countrymen in World War II should be recorded in book form. He particularly wanted a memoir which would appeal not only to the general reading public but also to young adults as well.

Like many others, I was aware that Denmark had made a concerted effort to save its Jewish citizens from Hitler's concentration camps, but I knew few of the details. This book is the result of my unique learning experience about that period in history.

I would like to thank the Holocaust Oral History Project for suggesting this project and Knud Dyby for his invaluable assistance and consistent good humor in the time it has taken to complete the manuscript. Although Knud expressed concern his English was not as good as he thought it should be for such a project, he certainly conveyed to me, with distinct clarity, the emotions he still feels about the events related in this book.

From the Back Cover

Dedicatory plaques along the Avenue of Righteous Gentiles at Jerusalem's Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem, read, "To the People of Denmark," and "In memory of King Christian X of Denmark." Why are the Danish people and their kind included among those non-Jews who risked their lives to aid Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust that engulfed Europe from 1939-1945?

In Boats in the Night, Martha Loeffler helps us to understand why. Through the experiences of Knud Dyby, former printer, Royal Guardsman, policeman and member of the Danish resistance to the German occupation of Denmark, Ms. Loeffler tells the dramatic story of the rescue of more than 90% of Denmark's Jews. Using his connections with fishing boat skippers, Dyby arranged for the secretive transport of Jews across the sound to safety in Sweden. Boats in the Night is more than a story of individual daring and bravery; it is a testimony to a people's resistance to tyranny and their courage to care for each other. Delvin D. Hutton, Professor Emeritus of Greek and Religion, Dana College

Edition details

• Publisher: Lur Publications
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0930697073
• ISBN 13: 9780930697075
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 140
• Editor: Nielsen, John Mark