Lustrup Dagmar

Lustrup, Dagmar Dagmar Lustrup, who was active in the Women’s Peace Organization in the area around Thisted, in Jutland, Denmark, managed to help save 20 Jewish teenagers, most of them from Czechoslovakia, from the hands of the Germans. According to Aryeh Weiner, Zvi Oscar Strauss, and Nomi Sagie (then Eva Bermann), some of “Lustrup’s children,” they belonged to Zionist pioneer organizations at that time, and wished to prepare themselves for their immigration to Palestine by learning how to be farmers. After their country had been occupied by the Germans in 1939, they arrived in the Thisted area. Lustrup, whose husband was the owner of the local newspaper Thisted Amtstidende, received the teenagers and arranged for their accommodations in private homes in three areas near Thisted. The Protestants farmers agreed to give them agricultural training. Lustrup organized the groups on the farms, concerned not only with the physical needs, but also with cultural activities. Twice a week she arranged for them to meet socially. The problem arose after April 1940, when Denmark was occupied by Germany. In November 1940, word came that all Jews were to be expelled from the north Jutland area, where the group was located, because it was a strategic area for the Germans. The message came saying that they had to leave at once. Within 24 hours, Lustrup succeeded in getting all the youngsters to a youth hostel near Odense, on Fyn Island, in central Denmark. A week later, on December 5, 1940, equipped with immigration certificates, they boarded a ship that brought them to Sweden, and by way of the Soviet Union, they continued on to Palestine. After the war, Lustrup followed the fate of the group members with great interest and compassion. They never forgot her valiant efforts on their behalf. On October 2, 1984, Yad Vashem recognized Dagmar Lustrup as Righteous Among the Nations.