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Podcasts from the Danish Jewish Museum

Behind the glass

With the "Behind the Glass" series, you get exclusive access to the museum's most fascinating objects when the museum's curators and experts take you behind the exhibits. Here you get a unique opportunity to discover the secrets behind some of the museum's most iconic and hidden treasures.

The series will focus on the exhibited objects in the exhibition 'Flight and persecution in the 20th century', where museum inspectors Signe Bergman Larsen and Sara Fredfeldt Stadager go in depth with the objects and the stories they contain and represent.

There will be a new episode every other Thursday

What does a train ticket have to do with the action against the Danish Jews in October 1943?

Who did it belong to? Why is it a return ticket? 

Listen in as museum inspectors Sara and Signe take you up close to the ticket behind the glass at the Danish Jewish Museum.

Listen to the episode here

 

A life jacket in more ways than one.

Who made it? Who wore it and when?

Listen in as Sara and Signe take you very close to the life jacket at the Danish Jewish Museum.

Listen to the episode here

When you enter the Danish Jewish Museum, you immediately know that it is a special room.

The architect Daniel Libeskind has designed the modern architecture and he has thought about the expression to that extent.

Listen as Sara and Signe take you up close to the museum's architecture and the background to the choice of Daniel Libeskind. 

Listen to the episode here

A trial from Kyiv in 1913 of a man accused of the murder of a child.

What does it have to do with Danish Jewish history? Why is this event exhibited at the Danish Jewish Museum?

Listen in as Sara and Signe take you up close to a photo album from the so-called Beilis process.

Listen to the episode here

The Nazis' propaganda apparatus went to work thoroughly and children were also targeted.

Why should the children "learn" anti-Semitism, what consequences did the hateful rhetoric have and what was the Danish view on the matter? 

Listen in as Sara and Signe take you very close to a Nazi children's book.

Listen to the episode here

What does a small doll tell us about the connection between a Danish family and a young Czech girl fleeing persecution?

Who did it belong to and how did it end up at the Danish Jewish Museum?

Listen in as museum inspectors Sara and Signe take you close to the doll and its story of escape and gratitude.

Listen to the episode here

Out of reach of the Nazis

In 1943, the Jews in Bulgaria were on the verge of deportation and extermination, but the disaster was prevented - and Bulgaria thus became the only country in Europe where no Jews died in the Holocaust. The story of the Bulgarian miracle is relatively unknown - but the miracle is also muddy, because in the areas occupied by the Bulgarians, virtually all Jews were killed. 

In three sections, historian and author Simon Kratholm Ankjærgaard tells the full story of what happened before, during and after the war for the Jews in Bulgaria - and in the occupied territories.

The podcast has been created in collaboration between the Danish Jewish Museum, the Bulgarian Embassy in Copenhagen and Simon Kratholm Ankjærgaard. The graphic is an extract from Kristian Bay Kirk's illustrations for the Danish Jewish Museum's exhibition 'Flight and persecution in the 20th century'.

Bulgaria had very few friends in Europe when the war broke out. In fact, there was only the option of turning against the Third Reich. When Bulgaria joined the Axis Pact, the country's anti-Semites seized the opportunity and introduced violent anti-Jewish legislation.

Listen to the episode here

In the wake of the anti-Jewish legislation in Bulgaria, the infamous Belev-Dannecker agreement was concluded. The charted deportation and extermination of the Jews both in Bulgaria and in the territories occupied by Bulgaria. In this section, the story of the miracle in Bulgaria - and the tragedy in Serbia, Thrace and Macedonia - is told.

Listen to the episode here

Why did the miracle story of the Bulgarian Jews disappear from collective Bulgarian memory and storytelling? And what happened when the Wall fell and history resurfaced? This section tells about that.

Listen to the episode here

Something to talk about

In "Something to Talk About" we focus on Danish Jewish history and culture in an international perspective. Through personal narratives, historical analyzes and conversations with experts, we explore the many facets of Jewish life that have significance for Jewish history in Denmark or help to put it in relief.

This series is perfect for those who want to understand the contributions and challenges that Danish Jews have experienced throughout the ages or gain new international perspectives on Danish Jewish history

These formats also provide the opportunity to invite other researchers, authors, experts and, for example, witnesses to history in the studio to talk about new exciting topics. Because there really is a lot to tell and talk about.

The story of Lithuania's Jewish population and rich cultural life, which was completely destroyed by Nazism during the Second World War, is an unknown story for many, but of great importance to Denmark as well.

This is what Jan Schwarz and Laimis Briedis focus on in this first episode of a total of two about the city of Vilnius, also called the Jerusalem of the North.

The conversation was recorded at the Danish Jewish Museum in collaboration with the Lithuanian cultural attaché in Sweden, Finland and Denmark and with support from the Lithuanian Cultural Institute and the Lithuanian Embassy in Denmark.

The music is Song of Shulamith, composed by Anatolijus Senderovas, performed by Gleb Pysniak on cello and Rokas Zubovas on piano.

Listen to the episode here

The story of Lithuania's Jewish population and rich cultural life, which was completely destroyed by Nazism during the Second World War, is an unknown story for many, but of great importance to Denmark as well.

This is what Jan Schwarz and Laimis Briedis focus on in this first episode of a total of two about the city of Vilnius, also called the Jerusalem of the North.

The conversation was recorded at the Danish Jewish Museum in collaboration with the Lithuanian cultural attaché in Sweden, Finland and Denmark and with support from the Lithuanian Cultural Institute and the Lithuanian Embassy in Denmark.

The music is Song of Shulamith, composed by Anatolijus Senderovas, performed by Gleb Pysniak on cello and Rokas Zubovas on piano.

Listen to the episode here

Jewish mysteries from Danish history

Journalist Bent Blüdnikow and former chief rabbi Bent Lexner have been hunting in the archives and are sharing their findings.

The podcast is produced by the Danish Jewish Museum in collaboration with the Jewish Information Center. 

A young Jew is shot by the Nazis in February 1945. But what was he even doing in Copenhagen at that time? Did he work for the resistance movement? Or was he simply caught up in circumstances?

Listen to the episode here

Bent Lexner finds a burial list from 1945, where he can ascertain that 26 Danish Jews have been buried in Denmark after the Jewish action took place in October 1943. How can this be? Weren't all Danish Jews in Sweden? Who did the funerals?

Listen to the episode here

Send the Jews to the moon! A harsh tone and acts of violence which meant that the military had to be deployed. Listen as Bent and Bent delve into the Jewish feuds from the early 1800s, which contain debates that are extremely relevant in today's Denmark.

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In this episode, Bent and Bent are visited by Thomas Harder, who years ago moved into the property Bredgade 51 in Copenhagen. Here he and Lene Ewald Hesel found out that one of the property's residents had been taken by the Germans during the Jewish campaign in October 1943.

Listen to the episode here

Mad and a grumbler by the grace of God? Fascinated by fascism, resistance fighter and professor. Listen as Bent and Bent investigate who Poul Meyer was.

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The Sultan in Morocco, the preaching of a new religion in Copenhagen, an angry mob of people in Altona and a debt prison in London. Bent and Bent have once again been in the archives. Listen as they tell the incredible story of Josef Sumpel.

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Listen as Bent and Bent take us back to 1912, when a dispute with Chief Rabbi Lewenstein ends up in the Supreme Court.

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Fantastic and characterful Hanna Adler founded a publishing house for one of Henrik Pontoppidan's heroines and was allowed by the German occupying power to stay in Denmark after the Jewish Action in October 1943. Listen as Bent and Bent tell the incredible story of Hanna Adler and her influence.

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Denmark's great chief rabbi AA Wolff was asked to put a note in his pocket that made it clear that he belonged to the Jewish congregation if he died. The man was apparently walking around with a cross that could cause confusion about his religious affiliation. Listen along as Bent and Bent investigate whether there is any truth in that story.

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Josef Davidson and Henri Nathansen, two Danish Jewish personalities with very different backgrounds. Listen as Bent and Bent not only share the history of their own families, but also tell about two very different people on the surface, who were nevertheless able to find common ground in the battles they fought.

Listen to the episode here

Jews have lived everywhere in Denmark. A few have made a name for themselves, while a larger part have been poor and thus not part of the storytelling. Until now. Listen as Bent and Bent talk about the remarkable woman Sprintze Magnus, who went from being a traveling trader to a money changer.

Listen to the episode here

At the burial ground on Møllegade in Copenhagen, among many other gravestones, there is a small, elusive stone on which only a name is written. Listen as Bent and Bent clarify who the stone belongs to and the background for the stone's size and sparse text.

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Saddler, money changer and baron. Speech genius and good singing voice. Listen as Bent and Bent talk about one of the more colorful characters in Danish Jewish history. The man who, together with Isak Glückstadt, was instrumental in the establishment of Landmandsbanken: Gottlieb Gedalia.

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What does the car brand Citroën and the TV series Star Trek have to do with Danish Jewish history? Listen as Bent and Bent tell more and open up some of the many stories that can be found at the Jewish burial grounds around Denmark.

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Under great watch, a group of Copenhagen Jews exhumes Jens Peder Gedeløche from the Garrison's Cemetery. It is the anti-Semitic police chief who ordered them to do it. Listen as Bent and Bent tell the incredible story from 1700th-century Copenhagen about Jens Peder Gedeløche, who was buried three times.

Listen to the episode here

Is there a Jewish Jellingsten and what connection do English airmen have to Danish Jewish burial grounds? Listen in when Bent and Bent come up with news from history and at the same time learn more about where the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews came from.

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What is Oehlenschlaeger and Johanne Louise Heiberg's connection to "The Jew under the tree"? Who was he and why was he expelled from the country 2-3 times? Listen along when Bent and Bent tell about some of the more unknown fates and darker side of Danish Jewish history.

Listen to the episode here

The greatly adored and easily misled. The priest and the charmer. The inspired preacher and cheap wisdom maker. The brilliant organizer and the self-aware dictator. This is how former Chief Rabbi Marcus Melchior described one of his predecessors. Listen in as Bent and Bent tell more about this one.

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Brandes was the first Jew to have a statue erected after him in Denmark. But it is not about him with the modern breakthrough. On the other hand, we are talking about Ludvig Israel Brandes, who changed many things in Denmark in both the medical and social fields. Listen as Bent and Bent tell more about Brandes, about other Jewish doctors and the special conditions they were subject to.

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Why weren't the Danish Jews in Theresienstadt sent on to the infamous extermination camps? Was it the cooperation policy that held the hand over them or was it part of the private plans of high-ranking Nazis? Listen in as Bent and Bent review what the evidence points to.

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Who would volunteer to fight and who are some of the people in Danish Jewish history who have volunteered for foreign service? Listen along when Bent and Bent, among other things also asking: would I have fought against the Nazis myself? 

Listen to the episode here