Larsen Sigurd

Larsen, Sigurd Sigurd Larsen, son of a Danish father and a German mother, had lived in Berlin until the mid-thirties. He had an import/export business bringing furniture from Germany to Scandinavia. Disgusted with the Nazi regime, he moved his family, wife and two children, to Copenhagen, but continued his business dealings with Germany. One of his contacts in Berlin was Joachim Marcuse, in his mid-twenties, who, being Jewish, was first fired from his position as a foreman in one of the furniture companies Sigurd worked with, and subsequently arrested in 1940 and sent to a forced labor site. Recognizing his skills as a carpenter, Joachim Marcuse was then sent to factory specializing in furniture, where he was soon put in charge. Upon hearing all this, Sigurd managed to visit him and made sure to keep in touch. In 1941, while interned, Joachim married 19-year-old Gerda Berlowitz (later, Dina Weil), who was also working there as a forced laborer. Rumors about deportations intensified, and fearing the worst, Joachim turned to Sigurd for help in escaping from the camp. Sigurd agreed and together they came up with the following plan: Sigurd would order a large shipment of furniture for the period immediately preceeding Christmas, when German supervision in the camp was less rigorous. Joachim, as the administrator, was to be responsible for the loading of the train, and he used his position to prepare a hiding area in the train for his wife, a good friend, Kurt Levin and himself, taking water and food for a number of days. On the eve of Christmas, when all was ready, Sigurd came, accompanied by German police and customs officers, who signed off on the consignment without discovering the three Jews hiding in the train. Also during the transfer of the furniture onto a ship to Sweden, the three were not seen or heard. All this time, Sigurd accompanied the shipment, constantly in fear for the well-being of the three Jews during this eight-day voyage. Once safely inSweden, the three were given asylum. On March 18, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Sigurd Larsen as Righteous Among the Nations.