Danish Rescuers Recognized by Yad Vashem

Note:  +arrested; †tortured; *killed; ●Righteous Among the Nations (honored by the State of Israel)

Anna Christensen●, Member of the International League for Peace and Freedom in Nyborg, Denmark.  Anna Christensen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1966.  She helped in the rescue of 40 Jewish children.  (Gutman, 2007, p. 61)


Karen Christiansen●.  Karen Christiansen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2005.


Knud Christiansen●.  Knud Christiansen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2005.


Knud Dyby●, Danish Policeman.  Knud Dyby was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2004.

Knud Dyby was a Danish policeman stationed in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a soldier and a member of the Royal Guard at the palace of the King of Denmark. Escorted Jews to the harbor in Copenhagen and hid them in a local facility. Dyby saw to it that they were put on fishing boats for Sweden.

Dyby recalled, “Naturally we had to be on guard not to run into any Gestapo or German soldiers, but fortunately Denmark had a coast guard that was manned by the Danish police force. So being a policeman myself, I could approach colleagues of mine, and every time a German patrol boat would go north, we would send out boats south, and vice versa.”  (Loeffler, Martha, 1999, Boats in the Night. Blair, Nebr: Lure Publications; Knud Dyby, interview (San Francisco: Holocaust Center of Northern California, Holocaust Oral History Project, June 6, 1991)


Ellen Fogh●.  Ellen Fogh was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2003.


Fredrik Fogh●.  Fredrik Fogh was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2003.


Pastor (Vicar) Arnold Gunnerso●.  Pastor Arnold Gunnerso was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1986.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 62-63)


Karen Gunnerso●.  Karen Gunnerso was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1986.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 62-63)


Ester Handberg●.  Ester Handberg was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1994.  Saved five members of the Strassman family during the German action against Jews in the beginning of October 1943.  (Gutman, 2007, p. 62)


Esben Hansen●.  Esben Hansen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1986.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 62-63)


Helga Hansen●.  Helga Hansen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1986.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 62-63)


Helga Holbek●, Supervising Member, International Commission for the Assistance of Child Refugees in Southern France.  Helga Holbek was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1982.  She managed 16 institutions that hid, cared for and ultimately saved Jewish children from the Nazis.  (Gutman, 2007, p. 63)


Sigurd Larsen●.  Sigurd Larsen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2001.


Dagmar Lustrup●, Women’s Peace Organization.  Dagmar Lustrup was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1984.  (Gutman, 2007, p. 63)


Inga Norrild●, Underground Rescue Activist, Member Lyngby Rescue Group.  Inga Norrild was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1995.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 63-64)


Svend Norrild●, Underground Rescue Activist, Member Lyngby Rescue Group.  Svend Norrild was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1995.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 63-64)




Harald Petersen●.  Danish farmer.  Saved the lives of Richard and Erna Hausmann and their son, Herman, a Jewish family, by preventing them from being deported.  Awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1990.  (Gutman, 2007, p. 64)


Robert Pedersen●.  Seventeen year old medical student warned Jews of Deportation.
Robert Pedersen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1990.

His statement: “I went from house to house in the streets of the neighborhood: Skt. Pedersstræde. Whenever I saw a name plate that indicated a Jewish family, I rang the doorbell and asked to talk to them. Sometimes they did not believe me. But I succeeded in persuading them to pack and come with me to Bispebjerg Hospital which had been turned into a gathering place for Jewish refugees. I merely turned them over to the receptionist. After that the doctors and nurses took care of them. And then I went back to my neighborhood and collected more Jews.  (Pundik 1998; Werner, 2002, pp.49)


Gertrud Petersen●.  Gertrud Petersen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2001.


Robert Petersen●.  Robert Petersen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2001.


Ellen Margrethe (Grethe) Thomsen●.  Innkeeper in the village of Snekkersten, in North Zealand, Denmark.  Grethe Thomsen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1968.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 64-65)


Henry Christian Thomsen●, (b. 1906).  Innkeeper in the village of Snekkersten, in North Zealand, Denmark.  Henry Thomsen was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1968.  (Gutman, 2007, pp. 64-65)


Gerda Valentiner●.  Member, Danish resistance.  Helped transport, hide, and smuggle Danish Jews to Danish ports for transfer to Sweden.  Gerda Valentiner was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1968.    (Gutman, 2007, p. 65)

 

Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations List

(as of January 1, 2017)

NAME                                                              YEAR

Christensen, Anna                        1966

Marstrant Christiansen, Karen   2005

Marstrand Christiansen, Knud   2005

Dyby, Knud                                   2004

Fogh, Ellen                                    2003

Fogh, Fredrik                                2003

Gunners, Pastor Arnold               1986

Gunners, Karen                            1986

Handberg, Ester                            1994

Hansen, Esben                              1986

Hansen, Helga                               1986

Holbek, Helga                               1982

Larsen, Sigurd                               2001

Lustrup, Dagmar                           1984

Norrild, Inga                                  1995

Norrild, Svend                              1995

Petersen, Harald                           1990

Petersen, Gertrud                         2001

Petersen, Robert                           2001

Thomsen, Ellen Margrethe         1968

Thomsen, Henry                           1968

Valentiner, Gerda                         1968