The “gallantry and humanity” of the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian peoples who rescued thousands of Jewish men and women in defiance of the Nazis during World War II were extolled today by leaders of the Synagogue Council of America, central national Jewish body representing the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbinical and lay movements in the United States.
Tribute by the organized American religious Jewish community was paid to the Scandinavian peoples and governments for “their rare demonstration of human courage and decency” that “translated itself into love of their fellow human beings” at a reception tendered by the Synagogue Council of America in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Aage Bertelsen of Denmark, Dr. Aage Bertelsen pacifist and scholar, and his wife, initiated and directed a Danish underground movement which led to the saving of Denmark’s 6,000 Jews by ferrying them to Sweden in defiance of the Nazis.
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