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At a glance
- The Danish populace and King Christian X wore large yellow satellites to protect the Jews. Danish Jews have never been required to wear any form of identification.
- The online photograph "Christian X and his wife strolling down the street" was actually taken by Soviet photographer Yevgeny Kardej in the Budapest ghetto in 1945, and the two protagonists are just an ordinary Jewish couple.
- Due to resistance from all walks of life and national rescue efforts, Denmark became the only country under Nazi rule during World War II where the vast majority of Jews survived.
Event background
Recently, a saying circulated on Chinese social platforms: "Denmark is the only country that has successfully resisted the Holocaust." After the Nazis ordered Jews in Denmark to sew a large six-pointed star in front of their clothes, almost all The Danes took to the streets the next day with the exact same star. Only about 120 Danish Jews died after World War II. In the accompanying picture, a couple wearing a hexagonal satellite logo on their chests is standing on an empty street.
After the Nazis came to power, they introduced a series of policies to distinguish Jews from non-Jews to achieve racial segregation, and the compulsory wearing of large yellow satellites by Jewish residents was one of the measures.
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Who is the person in the photo?
A reverse search of the image revealed that the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, contained the photograph. The photograph, taken in 1945 in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was written by Yevgeny Chaldej, Evgenii Khaldei.
The website of Israel's Yad VaShem museum has a detailed description of Caldej. Born into a Jewish family in Iuzovka (now Part Ukraine), Kaldeyi joined the Soviet state news agency TASS in 1935 as a professional photographer. During World War II, Caldey was rich in production and captured many classic moments, including the following photo of the sickle flag rising on the streets of Berlin after the surrender of Nazi Germany.
According to the Holocaust Memorial website, in addition to the photo above, in January 1945, Kaldej entered the newly liberated ghetto of Budapest with the Soviet Red Army and took a series of extremely impactful works. In March of the same year, one of the photographs, titled "Jews Wearing Large Yellow Satellites," was published in the Jewish Antifascist Committee's Yiddish-language newspaper Unity (Unity). The photograph later became known as "a Jewish couple." Therefore, the so-called "King Christian X of Denmark and his wife" in the online pictures are actually just an ordinary Jewish couple in the Budapest ghetto.
The true face of King Christian X of Denmark (reigned 1912-1947) and Queen Alexanderine of Mecklenberg Schwerin of Mecklenberg
Danes wear large yellow satellites to protect the Jews?
There are two widely circulated versions of the legend of the rescue of Jews in Denmark: one says that the Danish king wears a large satellite, and the other says that the Danish people wear a large satellite. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum debunks both claims: Danish Jews have never been required to wear any identification, including the large yellow satellite, let alone the king and the populace.
According to Andrew Buckser, a professor of anthropology at the State University of New York, most Danes have recognized the fictionality of the anecdote, though people in other countries generally don't.
Baxer's 1998 essay "Collective Identity and the Construction of Jewish Rescue in Denmark in 1943"
Although the idea that the Danes wear large yellow satellites is only a long-standing myth, there is also a consensus in the academic community: without the protection and rescue of Denmark, it would not have been possible for the vast majority of Jews to survive.
According to historical records, there were about 7,500 Jews living in Denmark before the war. According to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in the United States, Nazi Germany officially occupied Denmark on April 9, 1940. Given Denmark's relatively small Jewish population and the unwavering support of the majority of Danes for its fellow Jews, Germany did not pressure Denmark on the "Jewish question."
According to the Entry for King Christian X in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Christian X rejected anti-Semitic legislation in Nazi Germany in September 1942. It was also argued that the anti-Semitic legislation lacked public support and votes and was not passed by the Danish Parliament. As a result, Danish Jews were not required to register their assets, and the Danish government did not confiscate Jewish apartments, homes, and businesses. Throughout the Nazi occupation, the Danish Jewish community continued to function normally and religious ceremonies were held regularly.
In August 1943, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and in order to curb the strong Danish resistance movement, the Nazi authorities took direct control of the Danish police and armed forces. The following month, the Gestapo sent a coordinator to demand that Denmark expel Jews from its territory. The demand was met with unanimous resistance from all walks of life: Christian X strongly opposed Germany's plans for expulsion; the university was closed so that students could participate in the rescue effort; and the church did everything in its power to protect the Jews.
British writer Lawrence Rees quoted the Bishop of Copenhagen's October 3 statement in The Holocaust: "Whether Jews are persecuted for racial or religious reasons, it is the duty of the Christian Church to protest against such persecution ... Whatever the differences in religious beliefs, we must fight for the rights of our Jewish brothers and sisters, and let us insist on freedoms that are higher than life. ”
On October 2, 1943, the neutral neighbor Sweden announced by radio that Sweden could provide asylum to any Danish Jew who crossed the sea. Many Danish Jews who received the news in advance also crossed the narrow waters and fled their homes to Sweden for refuge.
The escape route of Danish Jews in 1943
Regarding the results of the rescue, Reese wrote: "The operation on October 1-2 basically failed... Of the approximately seven thousand five hundred Danish Jews, fewer than five hundred were deported. And these people were not sent to death camps in the East, but to Theresienstadt concentration camps in the Czech Republic, and most survived the war. ”
Even so, the Danish people sent food and supplies packages to their fellow Jews, and the Danish Red Cross Society repeatedly demanded visits to Danish Jews in Teresienstadt. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial said this strong public concern most likely prevented Nazi Germany from deporting Danish Jews to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.
In summary, Denmark was the only country under Nazi rule during World War II where the vast majority of Jews survived. Due to strong resistance from all sectors of society, Danish Jews have never been required to wear any form of identification. Therefore, the Danish people and King Christian X wore large yellow satellites to protect the Jews is just a widely spread myth. The so-called "Christian X and his wife walking the streets" was actually taken by Soviet photographer Yevgeny Kaldej in 1945 in the liberated Budapest ghetto.
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