Survivor recounts how Danes saved 7,000 Jews

The official state church in Denmark urged members to help Jews flee to Sweden.
LIBERTY -- Gustav Goldberger will spend his 70th birthday telling people why he is alive.
The lawyer, cantor, husband, father and grandfather says it's been a very good life.
And it all happened because Goldberger and his family escaped the Holocaust because Denmark's citizens helped almost all of their Jewish countrymen escape to Sweden.
Goldberger, of Silver Spring, Md., will present "The Scandinavian Rescue: A Personal History" at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Temple El Emeth, 3970 Logan Way. Reservations are required.
The presentation is one of a number of local educational and commemorative programs about the Holocaust that claimed the lives of 6 million Jews.
Goldberger said his talks about his experience evolved about 10 years ago from other activities. He had been an official interviewer for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation, where he talked to 32 Holocaust survivors. He, in turn, was interviewed by the makers of a documentary, "The Danish Solution."
"I truly believe the Danish people were exceptional in their approach to the so-called 'Final Solution,'" Goldberger said. "It was indeed a different solution from the Nazis'."
An edict by Denmark's king and a new constitution, both in the 1800s, had given Jews equality in education and employment.
Goldberger's father, Eugene, was a cantor who left Czechoslovakia because of anti-Semitism to work in Copenhagen.
"They treated the Jewish people like Danes," Goldberger said.
What happened
Germany occupied Denmark in 1940 and in 1943 decided to round up Jews.
"The Danish people were just incredible. They felt a natural compassion for all Danes, be they Jews or non-Jews, and they acted out and actually assisted in every possible way to help us flee to Sweden," Goldberger said.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church -- the official state church in Denmark -- sermonized about the need to assist the Jews.
Sweden was close, neutral in the war, and Danish and Swedish fisherman were willing to risk their lives.
It cost money for the trip to freedom, but that was never an issue, Goldberger said. A Lutheran minister loaned Goldberger's father the money for the trip, and after the war refused repayment.
A neighbor helped Goldberger, his father, and two of his brothers escape the Germans in August. A few weeks later, a rabbi learned of a plan to round up all the Jews and told them to flee. About 7,000 Jews escaped to Sweden. In the dark on Oct. 2, 1943, Goldberger and his parents and brothers waded into the sea to board a Danish boat, which transferred them to a Swedish fishing vessel, which took them to Sweden.
Goldberger's family were technically refugees, but his father, who also sang opera, immediately got a job with a good income.
The Swedes, too, were fair, Goldberger added.
"I have heard no complaints about the way the Swedes treated us," Goldberger said.
Possible reasons
Goldberger believes Danes helped Jews because of the spirituality of the state church, an educational system that taught youths to be compassionate, and their pride.
"It was like saying to Hitler and the Nazis, 'Go to hell,'" he said.
Despite the example of Denmark, "The inhumanity to man is still very much with us despite what we have learned about the Holocaust," Goldberger said. "We're living in a terrible time. It makes you wonder, 'What did we learn, if anything?'"
Goldberger eventually moved to Canada and the United States. He and his wife, Betty, have four children and 28 grandchildren. He will soon retire as litigation counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Goldberger said his emotions come during his talks when he brings up his family. Had it not been for the Danes, Goldberger said, his life would have turned out differently.
XFor reservations, call (330) 759-1249.