It’s Complicated

…but generally this town is really proud!

That’s the consensus after a day exploring Gilleleje. And what a day.

Primary Source

I’m going to go backwards because our last stop was so impactful and I want to write it down before I forget!

We met local historian Niels Gyrsting at his home. Niels studies, archives, and collects materials related to WWII and the resistance movement. He’s always been fascinated by history, and bought his first artifact – an armband – as a kid. A personal museum was born.

Seriously, Niels has amassed a collection that should require a ticket.

I’ll add more video when it’s fully uploaded from his seriously impressive storage rooms, but here are a few highlights:

Concentration camp bowl

Concentration camp prisoner uniform

So many helmets, with names of different resistance groups

Boxes of clandestine resistance communications

Paratrooper zip suit designed for quick removal

Wartime bike! Made of lightweight aluminum and dropped with paratrooper

Parachutes…the silk later used for wedding and christening dresses

As incredible as the scope of his collection is his personal knowledge about every item. He’s read each document and chased every thread, and it shows in his thoughtful, multifaceted perspectives.

Niels answered a lot of questions for us, and exposed some of the complexities of the story. For example, we asked about the issue of fishermen getting paid for transporting Jews. Is this a stain on the altruistic story we’d like to believe? Did fishermen “get rich” as some believe? According to Niels, largely no. His research has shown that the Jews wanted to compensate the fishermen for the personal risks they took – if captured, they’d be sent to the same camps as the Jews – so a fee was very reasonable. And while some took advantage of the economic opportunity, others charged nothing at all and took the risk as a matter of conscience.

He also shared some little-known stories – about an elderly Jewish couple who simply boarded a ferry to Sweden and escaped in plain sight, unnoticed. And of a banker in Sakskøbing who helped Poul, a friend of a friend, get to Sweden. Poul had only 2.000 kr and the banker got 18.000 kr. more from a bank so he coud pay a fisherman in Stubbekøbing 20.000 kr. to sail Poul to Sweden.

The banker corresponded with Poul, who sent a letter with the fisherman 2 days later to report that he was safely in Sweden. Later in 1943 Poul sent the banker a Christmas card from Sweden.

Niels not only has the stories – he has the letters and the receipts.

The story, and the receipts.

Perhaps most interesting is his deep knowledge of the personalities and political game of chess that led to the “tip-off” to Rabbi Melchior and the escape overall. Sometimes the least likely character is the one whose actions make all the difference, intended or not. It’s complicated.

I promise, I’ll upload videos asap.

Code word: Hope

Before meeting Niels, we toured an exhibit about 1943 Gilleleje at the local museum, and visited the Gilleleje Church. First, a little background:

Gilleleje in 1943 was a tight-knit fishing village, and the community very quickly organized to hide and transport Jews who had fled there in the first days of October, 1943 to Sweden. Fishermen sailed the boats, but the effort required the cooperation of countless others who helped to hide, feed, shelter, and escort terrified people fleeing with very little warning. A committee was formed by October 7 to regulate the price fishermen could charge for transport, and to raise money for any who could not afford the trip.

About 1300 refugees went to Sweden via Gilleleje, and about 100 were captured by the Gestapo. Sixty were found in one night, hiding in the church attic.

And of course there is a connection to Henny and the Gerda III. The night of the raid at the church, only one person was not captured – a young man hiding high inside the church steeple. He was later carried to Sweden aboard the Gerda III.

And codeword Hope? The name of the exhibition, and the word Resistance members used to safely gain access to hidden Jews.