72 Friday, December 16, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Books Proclaim Rich Record o Danish Libertarianism
Denmark occupies one of
the most glorifying chapters
in libertarian experience. In
The Rescue of Danish
Jewry," the voluminous
JPS account, Leni Yahil
provides an excellent por-
trayal of the courageous
tasks that were pursued in
saving the Jews of Denmark
from the threatened Nazi
annihilation.
An accompanying volume
of unusual merit is the his-
torical record of the history
of Danish Jewry, recorded
authoritatively by Rabbi lb
Nathan Bamberger in "The
Viking Jews: A History of
the Jews of Denmark"
(Shengold Publishers).
The detailed record of the
small Jewish community,
commencing in the 17th
Century, is a remarkable
documentary of a relation-
ship with the Viking state of
Denmark and the early
Jewish settlers.
Jews were barred from
this small Scandinavian
country in the 16th Cen-
tury, a condition analog-
ous to all the nations in
Europe. But in the mid-
17th Century King Chris-
tian IV invited a limited
group of Jewish traders
to come to the land and to
engage in business
enterprises.
The road to peace and
harmony was not an easy
one. At the outset there
were proselytizers who in-
terfered with the freedoms
soon to be attained.
Dr. Bamberger's de-
scribes the immigration
process, the development of
a Jewish community which,
small as it was, neverthe-
less began to prosper.
The Bamberger record
gains special significance in
the emphasis it places on
the Royal Decree of March
29, 1814. The incorporation
of the complete text of that
decree and the analysis of it
renders great importance to
the history of Danish Jewry
so well outlined in "The
Viking Jews."
political leaders drafted,
voted, and proclaimed
the new constitution of
June 5, 1849, which gave
complete freedom to all
citizens of Denmark, in-
cluding the Jews."
At the very outset, that
decree declares that the
Jews of Denmark were to
have the same rights as
other citizens. The decree
commences by stating:
The Danish Jewish com-
munity, its leadership, their
activities and dedicated
labors as Danish citizens
and as Jews, are thereafter
defined. Problems are out-
lined and the spread of as-
similation resulting from
mixed marriages are indi-
cated.
In the totality of excellent
history-writing, the Barn-
berger volume points to a
libertarianism that
glorifies a noble record in
Viking history.
As rabbi in the Bronx and
as assistant professor in
Touro College, New York,
the author of "The Viking
Jews" enriches his career.
also as historian.
"Those of the followers of
the Mosaic religion, who are
born in our Kingdom of De-
nmark, or have received
permission to settle therein,
should be permitted to enjoy
equality with the rest of the
citizens to support them-
selves in every lawful way."
Seven pages in Barn-
berger's book are devoted to
this historic document.
There were restrictions,
such as the decree making it
explicitly clear that Jews
could not take refuge in
rabbinic law and especially
in private they must abide
by state laws.
There were clouds for De-
nmark in developing war-
fare and conflicts, and out of
it emerged, as the author
explains:
"In the prevailing spirit
of liberty, the country's
DR. BAMBERGER
* * *
The miraculous rescue
of the Jews of Denmark
in 1943, from that tiny-na-
tion's Nazi oppressors,
astonished an admiring
world. The entire story
was carefully reported in
"The Rescue of Danish
Jewry" by Leni Yahil,
first published by the
Jewish Publication
Society in 1969.
Now, a new paperback
edition of this landmark
book has been issued by
JPS. Once again the com-
plete epic is here, newly
illustrated by a substantial
12-page section of photo-
graphs. The American
Political Science Review
originally commended this
work for "thoroughly
separating fact from fabri-
cation," and the Jerusalem
Post called it "definitive.
Researched with scholarly
This historic photograph shows Danish Nazis at a public rally in a Copenha-
gen square shortly after the German occupation of Denmark.
devotion and presented
with great clarity of
thought."
"The Rescue of Danish
Jewry" is a detailed account
of the legendary event and
the valiant people who
made it possible. The
dramatic clash between
anti-Semitic Nazism and
Danish democracy, a clash
which convulsed Denmark,
springs vividly to life.
"We become witness to
the persecution of the
Danish Jews by the Nazis;
the defiance of this program
by the Danes; the position of
the Jewish community; the
complete story of the rescue
operation and the vital role
played by the people of Swe-
den.
"The book also pro-
vides a background of
the history of Denmark's
Jews; the terms of the oc-
cupation and their
breakdown; considera-
tion of the options avail-
able to the Jewish com-
munity and their conse-
quences; the reaction of
Sweden; aspects of self-
delusion and avenues of
complicity in some quar-
ters that might have led
to disaster had the
Danish populace not
acted so heroically and
spontaneously.
Broad coverage and a
wide range of subjects are
highly evident, yet there is
scrupulous attention to de-
tail.
In the course of her
searching analysis, Yahil
discuses the motivations
for the Danish action —
such as anger over the Ger-
mans' breaking of the occu-
pation agreement and
strong Jewish support of the
resistance. The work has
stood the test of time: the
substance, facts and spirit of
Yahil's work are as accurate
today as when the book was
originally published, and
the rescue still serves as one
of the great moments of
human history.
Yahil was born in Ger-
many, went to Palestine in
1934, and received her PhD
from the Hebrew Univer-
sity. She lives in Jerusalem,
where she teaches modern
Jewish history at Hebrew
U.
Kaifeng Jews Represent Last Vestiges of Ancient Community
By AVIVA CANTOR
(Copyright 1983, JTA Inc.
KAIFENG, China (JTA)
— The site of the former
synagogue of the Chinese
Jews here will be identified
by Chinese and English
markers, according to Kim
Jang, the vice director of
foreign affairs of the
Kaifeng municipality.
"It is not necessary to
worry about this, because
we consider the place a his-
toric site. In China we take
the means to protect relics,"
Jang told the Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency.
Accompanying the
seventh American Jewish
Congress tour to the
People's Republic of China
during' this 25th anniver-
sary year of that organiza-
tion's tour program, this
journalist observed that the
Kaifeng synagogue site,
now a hospital complex,
bears no evidence of its past
history. The first synagogue
in China was built on this
site in 1163 by Jews who
had followed the silk route
and settled here some time
between the First and
Tenth Centuries.
Kaifeng, in Hunan
Province about 470 miles
south of Beijing, was the
capital of China during
the Sung Dynasty (960-
1126 CE). The city is off
the beaten path for most
American tourists. Ac-
cording to our local tour
guide, Liu Wenching,
only AJCongress and
Jewish teachers Associa-
tion groups currently
visit the synagogue site.
Standing in the hospital
courtyard, Liu said that the
Zhao emperer gave this
land to immigrant Jews for
their synagogue, in return
for their gift of cotton fabric.
He explained that the
synagogue was destroyed by
the flooding Yellow River in
1461 and 1642, and rebuilt
after the floods. By the time
another flood leveled the
synagogue in the 1850s, the
Jewish community was too
small and poor to recon-
struct it.
When asked why there
was no marker nor memo-
rial at the site, Liu said no
one had ever made the re-
quest. Asked through what
channels such a request
could be made, Liu said that
it was a decision of the
municipality. In response to
several urgent pleas to pro-
duce the mayor or his repre-
sentative within the 24
hours the AJCongress
group was in Kaifeng, Liu
arranged a private meeting
between JTA and Jang.
Reacting postively to the
request, Jang said: "For
Kaifeng Chinese, the site is
a common place, and they
know it. For Westerners, it
is not a hard job to have
someting placed there. As
more and more Jewish
groups come to Kaifeng,
this will draw the attention
of people."
The municipality an-
ticipates building a new
museum, Jang added. He
said there had already
been discussion on
whether to house there or
at the synagogue site
three steles (stone tab-
lets) which record the
history of the Kaifeng
Jews and their
synagogue. The steles,
written in Chinese in
1489, 1512, and 1679, are
currently housed in the
warehouse of the old
municipal museum. A
fourth stele, written in
1663, is missing.
Ritual circumcisions are
no longer performed in
China, but there are still
remnants of some customs,
Liu said. Liu cited as cur-
rent vestiges of Judaism the
use of a form of matza dur-
ing Passover and the
avoidance of the raising of
pigs.
(The government neither
encourages nor prevents the
practice of religion. In
China, there are 54
nationalities, most with
their own religion. Of the
total population, 2.3 percent
are Buddhist while 1.3 per-
cent is listed as "other."
Members of the Communist
Party — 5.6 percent of the
population — cannot be
members of a religious
group.)
Liu explained that the
1850s Yellow River flood
marked the end of the for-
mal Jewish community in
Kaifeng. With the
synagogue leveled by the
flood, ceremonial objects
lost, the last rabbi dead, im-.
poverishment replacing
former affluence, and no one
with knowledge of Hebrew,
the community disinte-
grated.
Today, Communism
has taken the place of
religion, he said. But
Judaism supposedly
faded here almost 100
years before China's 1949
"liberation" by the
Communists.
In addition to the rem-
nants of the Kaifeng com-
munity, there is a -very
small group of Western
Jewish businessmen and
diplomats in Beijing, the
capital. Of the 18,000-
25,000 German, Austrian
and Polish Jews who sought
refuge in Shanghai during
the Holocaust, only a few
isolated old and sick people
remain. Most left for Israel
or America after the war. In
1954, the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Commit-
tee, responsible for aid to
this community, closed its
Shanghai office.
Humor is a gift not of the
mind, but of the heart.
—Boerne