Thomsen Henry & Ellen

Thomsen, Henry Christian Thomsen, Ellen Margrethe Henry Christian Thomsen, an innkeeper in the village Snekkersten, in north Zealand, Denmark, saved the lives of hundreds of persecuted Jews, by assisting them to reach Sweden. Henry Christian (b.1906) was an active member of the Danish Resistance. His wife, Ellen Margrethe (b.1912) was an active participant, despite having two young sons in her care, Frantz, born in 1931 and a baby born in 1943. Prior to the war, the family possessed a small cargo boat, which used to travel between the small Danish ports. In 1942, this boat was sold and the Thomsens settled in Snekkersten, becoming innkeepers. They became involved in the resistance activity in its early stages, and took part in the illegal cargo shipments into Sweden. When the persecution of Jews began, in October 1943, Thomsen joined in the task of transferring Jews to Sweden. His inn soon developed into the meeting place of the fishermen of the area involved in the rescue operation. Since it was too dangerous for all the Jews to stay in the inn, many were put up in private homes in the surrounding area. When a large enough group was gathered to fill a fishing boat, Thomsen would arrange all the details with the owner of the vessel. Soon the number of refugees increased so that it became difficult to arrange their transfer. He decided to buy a small fishing boat and take the passengers by himself to Sweden. Thus, he frequently made the run at night, smuggling Jews to Sweden with the help and cooperation of numerous Danes. In 1943, Thomsen was arrested by the Gestapo, suspected of smuggling Jews out of the country to Sweden, but he was acquitted, as there was no clear evidence against him. After his release, he went on with his rescue operations, until one day the Gestapo arrested him for the second time. This time he was deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp in Germany, where he died on December 4, 1944. One of the survivors, Rachel Sara Posin (neeJurkiewitz), gave testimony as to the Thomsens’ role in her rescue. She came to Denmark in 1938 as an 18-year-old to visit her uncle and aunt in Copenhagen. On October 1, 1943, she fled from Copenhagen, together with her uncle, aunt, cousin, cousin’s wife and their little son. They heard that it was possible to get to Sweden from north Zealand. They went to Snekkersten and met the Thomsens, who arranged accommodation with a family living close to their inn. The next day, Thomsen took them out on his fishing boat. They sailed past the harbor watch and Thomsen told the guard that they were going fishing. Thomsen also took two young penniless Jews aboard his boat, and brought them to Sweden as well. The outstanding heroism of the Thomsens, and many other brave members of the Danish underground, was also described in the book How We Fooled the Gestapo, written by fellow Resistance activist Dr. Joergen Gersfelt. On August 29, 1968, Yad Vashem recognized Henry Christian and Ellen Margrethe Thomsen, as Righteous Among the Nations.