Hansen Esben ; Sister: Helga

Hansen, Esben Hansen, Helga Gunnerso, Pastor Arnold Gunnerso, Karen In Denmark, the farmers, Esben Hansen and his sister Helga, helped rescue Yehiel Ben Yitshak and his future wife Roza (Varda) Fuchs, two Jewish refugees. Two members of Hehalutz movement, Romanian-born Yehiel, and Varda born in Germany, came to Denmark in 1939, in order to get training in agriculture, for their future plans to immigrate to Eretz Israel. They were there when the country was invaded on April 9, 1940. The Jews were left unscathed until the fall of 1943, when the deportation of Denmark’s Jews began. As soon as the two decided to go into hiding, they received information from two colleagues that they might find refuge at the farm of the Hansens at Løve near Høng in Zealand. They went there in September and were welcomed because their hosts believed that one should help people in need. They received a room on the farm and helped with the agricultural and household chores. From time to time, they had to go and hide elsewhere, whenever it was rumored that the Germans were about to conduct a search. The Hansens contacted the Vicar Arnold Gunnerso and his wife Karen, who cooperated with the underground in the nearby parish of Gjerslev, for the benefit of the Jews in hiding. A few weeks later, at the end of October 1943, the decision was made to try and escape to Sweden in one of the fishing boats that were involved in smuggling the Jews out of Denmark. The Gunnersos were the driving force in organizing the operation. The Danish fishermen were willing to ferry the Jews across but a sum of money had to be deposited in trust for them and their families because there was always a danger that the operation would fail and the boats would be confiscated. Yehiel and Varda only realized years later that in their case, because of their benefactors, the money for passage was quickly arranged. The two managed to escape and survive, never forgetting the good Danes who helped them. The Hansensand the Gunnersos acted courageously risking their life and they never expected any payment or reward for their humanitarian actions. Yehiel married Varda after the war, and they settled in Israel. On May 8, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Esben Hansen and his sister Helga, and Vicar Arnold and Karen Gunnerso as Righteous Among the Nations.