Gilleleje: The Danish fishing village that saved thousands of the country’s Jews

Gilleleje is today an idyllic seaside town of 6,500 inhabitants on the so-called Danish Riviera, a series of picturesque villages along the coast an hour north of Copenhagen.

Almost 80 years ago it was a small fishing village that nevertheless performed one of the greatest acts of collective resistance during World War II.

The fishermen and residents of Gilleleje helped thousands of the country’s Jews escape the Nazi concentration camps by feeding them and sneaking them across in boats “across” – to the shores of neutral Sweden, which are only 10 nautical miles away.

In particular, thanks to the bravery of the fishermen and the inhabitants of Gilleleje (but also the surrounding villages) it is estimated that 7,056 Danish Jews – out of a total population of 7,800 – were transported to Sweden and to freedom.

According to BBC Travel, in honor of the bravery of the people of Gilleleje and to commemorate 80 years since the rescue of Danish Jews, this October the country’s authorities installed a stone monument in the town.

At the same time a new exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York entitled “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark” makes the story of the fishermen of Gilleleje known to a wider audience.