Welfare, Refugees and Rescue: Denmark and the Jewish Question from 1933 to 1945

The Danish rescue in October 1943 stands as an exemplary model for how a democracy, despite everything, takes action under Nazi occupation. Around seven thousand Danish Jews were saved from deportation to the concentration camps. But how did liberal, democratic Denmark react before the war toward the very un-liberal phenomenon in neighbouring Germany, the persecution of the Jews? And how should we today understand the relation between the restrictive refugee policy of the 1930s and the Danish rescue in 1943? This Working Paper, based on a presentation at the Remarque Institute, New York University, examines the relations between the restrictive Danish policy during the 1930s toward German Jewish refugees, the establishment of a national welfare state, and the rescue of Danish Jews in October 1943.