“Second to None”

Today we explored the story of 1943 in Dragor, a small fishing town just 10 miles south of Copenhagen in many ways untouched by time. The core of the town is a village nestled around the harbor, where houses and cobblestone streets date back centuries.

This is still a small community where everyone knows one another. It’s hard to believe we are only a few miles from the bustling Copenhagen airport – which we learned was built in part by Germans during the occupation.

Fair warning:

This post will include a lot of video…some of it still uploading so we may need to add more later. But it’s content we are lucky to have, about a chapter of this story few people know, and I hope you’ll take the time to watch.

Our guide today was Dines Bogo, a local historian who has meticulously studied 1943 specifically in Dragor for years, conducting and documenting interviews with residents. Like so many people we’ve met along this journey he went above and beyond in sharing his research, photos and contacts. Here’s a bit about him:

Bogo, as he prefers to be called, shared some insights as to why this story has long been untold:

And a lot about what happened in Dragor:

He pointed out that helpers come from all backgrounds – including Germans. This made me recall the conversation in Aarhus about motivation.

And then, something amazing happened. Bogo recounted a story about the Nordens, a local couple who were rescued separately as children – the husband from Dragor and the wife from a town north of Copenhagen. They met in Sweden and married years later, eventually settling in Dragor.

The husband was rescued on the Elizabeth, the boat still in Dragor harbor.

And the amazing part – over lunch, Bogo said you know, Dorrit Nordens lives nearby. Maybe she’d like to meet with you and share the story. So we called her from the restaurant…and an hour later we were in her living room! Dorrit and her son John shared an incredible first-person account of what it was like to be a child smuggled in a boat to Sweden in 1943:

As we were leaving, Dorrit pointed out a tapestry her aunt made:

During the interview, we realized that Dorrit’s husband’s story is recounted in the history museum, so we went back there with Bogo:

Since our meeting (and it’s only been a few hours!) Bogo has followed up with answers to some outstanding questions and a treasure trove of photos, articles and other resources Lauren will use with her students. If possible, I will add those links here over time as well.

Time hasn’t touched the architecture in Dragor, but we couldn’t be more grateful that the passage of years has left its residents ready to face and to share this remarkable story.

As Dorrit said, the Danish story is “second to none.”