Handberg Ester

Handberg, Ester In the autumn of 1943, Ester Handberg saved the life of 11-year-old Alit Strassman (later Bochholz) along with her parents, sister, and a little brother. The acquaintance with their rescuer began prior to the war, when the Strassmans of Copenhagen used to send their five children to vacation on the island of Fyn, at the pension of the childless Handberg couple. When the Germans occupied Denmark, Mrs. Handberg offered to help the Strassmans should the need arise. On the night of Oct. 1-2, 1943, the Germans began arresting Jews. On the morning of Oct. 2, a neighbor knocked at Mrs. Strassman’s door, warning her to leave the house at once as the Germans had already entered their neighborhood. The two eldest boys were at school and the headmaster who had been warned in time, arranged for their transfer to his home and later, to their being smuggled out of the country to Sweden. Mrs. Strassman left the house with the three other children, sending a message to her husband at work, not to return home. The first night was spent with friends in Copenhagen and the next day they headed to the Handbergs, on Fyn Island. On their journey they encountered many expressions of friendship and offers of assistance from ordinary Danes who realized that they were Jews. When they arrived on Fyn, the Handbergs did everything to make them feel welcome. They arranged for the parents to be put up in a pension, while the three children stayed with the Handbergs. Five days later, it became too dangerous to stay on because several Nazis were seen in the neighborhood, so the family was sent to a farm, 50 km away from the Handbergs’. This place was the first of several other hideouts since Ester Handberg had already started to make arrangements for the transfer of the family to Sweden. Despite the personal risks, Ester Handberg organized everything on the escape route. She arranged for several safe houses for the family in Copenhagen, and even a night in the hospital underassumed names before they embarked on a fishing-boat to Sweden. After the war, the Strassmans returned to Fyn, to thank their rescuer and the families maintained strong ties until Ester Handberg’s death. On December 26, 1994, Yad Vashem recognized Ester Handberg as Righteous Among the Nations.