Henry Thomsen
Henry Thomsen (born September 18, 1906 , † December 4, 1944 in Neuengamme concentration camp ) was a Danish innkeeper. During the time of the German occupation he was involved in the rescue of numerous Jews and was later honored as Righteous Among the Nations .
Life
Henry Christen Thomsen and his wife Ellen Margarethe ran the old tavern “Snekkersten Kro” in Snekkersten near Helsingør . This inn served as a stopover for those fleeing and as a meeting point for the fishermen who secretly brought Jews from Denmark to Sweden with their boats. About 1,000 of the 7,000 rescued people were smuggled out of the country via Thomsen's inn; Thomsen himself procured a boat, the Margrethe or Grethe , when the number of people fleeing increased, and drove himself to Sweden a few times with the persecuted.
When a group of refugees was reported by a German collaborator, the police arrested the refugees, but soon let them get out of their car again and asked them to go to the inn in Snekkersten, where Thomsen would help them. This also succeeded. Numerous other residents of the village and the surrounding area supported the persecuted and the resistance fighters. For example, the doctor Jorgen Gersfelt took part in the rescue operations as a driver and also offered refugees a place to hide while they had to wait for the boats.
After an initial interrogation by the Gestapo , during which no evidence could be produced against Thomsen, he continued to work underground. He was arrested a second time on August 9 or 10, 1944, first in Westre and then in Frøslev internment camp before being transferred to Neuengamme concentration camp. There he died of ill-treatment four months after his arrest.
Henry Thomsen and his wife were declared "Righteous Among the Nations" in 1968. Ellen Margarethe Thomsen traveled to Israel that year and planted a tree on the avenue of the righteous .
In the youth book Hitler's Canary , the rescue operation for the Jewish residents of Denmark is described and Thomsen's commitment is mentioned. A memorial stone in Denmark commemorates Henry Christen Thomsen.
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the inn on helsingorleksikon.dk
- ↑ a b Kjeld Thorsen, Mindehøjtid i Snekkersten , in: Helsingør Dagblad, December 28, 2012 ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Illustration of the boat with the name "Grethe"
- ↑ Thomsen's life data
- ^ Henry Thomsen at yadvashem.org
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thomsen, Henry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Thomsen, Henry Christians |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Danish resistance fighter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 18, 1906 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th December 1944 |
| Place of death | Neuengamme concentration camp |