Funding in place for new exhibition about October 1943

Museum Nordsjælland and the Danish Jewish Museum have just received a commitment of just over 1.6 million kroner in support from the Danish Agency for Palaces and Culture for a new special exhibition in Gilleleje. The exhibition will convey the dramatic days and nights at sea off the north coast of Zealand in October '43, based on the memories and experiences of Danish Jews, where efforts are made to activate the senses as part of the communication and learning.

Now their story will be told in a new sensual special exhibition at Gilleleje Museum and uncovered in a series of conversation rooms between their relatives and descendants. Museum Nordsjælland and the Danish Jewish Museum have just received a commitment from the Danish Agency for Palaces and Culture to allocate 1,6 million kroner for the project, which has been named “Acting in the Dark – October '43 and Conversations about Responsibility Today”.

Work will begin in February 2026 to investigate how the upcoming exhibition can best convey the dramatic days as sensuously as possible. This will be done through focus groups and conversation rooms with Jewish relatives and the local community in Gilleleje, where the story of the escape is still alive locally and where the escape stories of Danish Jews are told from generation to generation.

"The story of the flight of the Danish Jews is a central part of Danish history, and Gilleleje plays an important role in the story. It is important that the story is told to new generations. We are incredibly happy about the collaboration with Museum Nordsjælland, and the grant gives us the opportunity to develop and test new ways of communicating the story, which is of great importance for our future work at both museums."”, says Janus Møller Jensen, director of the Danish Jewish Museum.
 

The conversation rooms will provide an image of which sensory impressions and special stories from October 1943 – e.g. sounds, smells and moods – will be included in a sensory-based exhibition, and which existential and current questions the museum will raise. The hope is that the exhibition itself will be able to open in Gilleleje during the 2027 museum season. Read more in the press release here.