We invite you to join us for our annual Raoul Wallenberg Day for Civil Courage, on Sunday, January 21, 2024, at 1:30 pm. This year we will honour Wartime Civil Courage in Scandinavia.
In Autumn 1943, in German-occupied Denmark and Norway, many people defied Nazi policies that threatened the human rights and lives of their countrymen.
Holocaust educator Norman Gladstone will speak about the remarkable rescue of Denmark’s Jewish population in 1943. Danish Jews were to be detained by the Nazis for deportation. However, thousands of Danes courageously hid and then ferried them to safety in neutral Sweden.
Local researcher and author Tore Jørgensen will speak about the hundreds of Norwegian policemen who refused to collaborate with the Nazi occupiers. These officers were sent to Stutthof Concentration Camp, where, with great solidarity, they helped other prisoners to survive.
We’ll show a documentary film, Passage to Sweden. Sweden’s location, history, and neutrality during WWII changed the fate of thousands of Jews. Swedish diplomats such as Raoul Wallenberg leveraged their influence in extraordinary ways to save Jews in both Scandinavia and Hungary.
The nineteenth annual Wallenberg Day will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, 989 W 28th Ave at Oak St, Vancouver. Please see the attached poster for full information.
Admission is free and donations will be gratefully accepted at the door or online. We are a registered charity; donations of $36 or more will receive a tax receipt.
We hope to see you there!
Regards,
Alan Le Fevre
For the Civil Courage Society (in honour of Wallenberg and Sugihara)
Media sponsor: Japan Canada Today
