Rescue in Denmark by Harold Flender - Book Report/Review Example

This is because Danes do not believe that anyone, race or religion notwithstanding, do not deserve to be subject to a “ghetto,” which is considered inhuman (Flender, 1991, p.30). The Danes have always been unbiased in treating any human being, refusing to isolate anyone or any group from the whole society. Come to think of it, only Denmark exerted this effort of rescuing all its Jews, treating and viewing them not as a separate entity, but as Danes in general. When the news spread that their Jewish population is in danger, the entire nation’s response is immediate, almost automatic.

People from all walks of life joined together to move the Jews out of the country, with a success rate of nearing 100% that is worth boasting about. The book may be more like a transcription of several historical documentaries of the Danish resistance against the cruel philosophies and deeds of Hitler. But it cannot hide the underlying message it sends to any reader: Denmark is a country made up of Schindlers. It is a good move to use interviews for the book to establish the credibility of the information presented.

The book is an easy-read and will only take a normal reader a few hours to finish it RESCUE IN DENMARK 3 from cover to cover. Generally, the book is a drama of sorts depicting humanity in the midst of probably one of the greatest inhumanities in the history of mankind. This is the good part. Conversely, this traditional view of the rescue that occurred portrays Danes as the typical heroes in a typical good versus bad story. It can be argued that attributing the rescue to the Danes’ character may be far too simplistic, outdated, and romanticized.

Aside from having several factors that created a good scene for a rescue, the act may also be attributed to the shared ideology and values of the people regarding democracy. There were statement made by ministers of the dominant Lutheran Church that point out to the Nazi acts as opposing the fundamental ideas of justice and equality of the constitution of Denmark. It can therefore be said that the Danes’ rescue efforts were rooted in the resistance to Nazism that poses as a threat to their democratic system.

If one would follow this school of thought, the “Rescue in Denmark” will not be viewed as an absolute altruism (Rapaport and Buckser, 2005, p.308-309). Can it therefore be said that the character of the Danish society is not the sole defining factor that provoked the Jewish rescue in the first place? This theory is also worthy of consideration. Still, reading Flender’s book is both enthralling and inspiring. The references made to the Danish resistance may be tragic and dramatic, yet equally exciting and romantic.

How can one disregard stories of young people who smuggle anti-Nazi publications after curfew hours? How can one not smile at the image of the fishermen hiding handkerchiefs with cocaine powder and dried blood mixture to fool the senses of the Nazi search canines? It even sometimes appears too cinematic and formulaic to believe the stories of staged funerals to RESCUE IN DENMARK 4 mask the transfer of refugees to safe houses. The effort that Harold Flender did to compile such stories is a tribute to highlight a collective effort that no other nation did, nor tried to.

The result may be anecdotal that stresses the efforts of the regular people who thought “it is the common thing to do” or “it is only natural to help because they are being persecuted,”