Rescue and Refuge: The Holocaust in Denmark

ANNUAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE EVENT:

 January 26, 2020 (Sandy Springs, GA) – In Commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Am Yisrael Chai presents a powerful and unforgettable event:

 RESCUE AND REFUGE: The Holocaust in Denmark

Rabbi Bent Melchior – Keynote Holocaust Survivor speaker; Former Chief Rabbi of Denmark

Rabbi Bent Melchior was born in Germany in 1929. When Hitler came into power in 1933, the Melchior family moved back to Copenhagen, Denmark. Bent was 10 years old when the war broke out. After the Nazi invasion of Denmark in 1941, the Danish government refused to collaborate with the Nazis. In 1943, Bent’s father – Rabbi Marcus Melchior warned all Jews of an impending round-up, and encouraged them to hide or plan an escape. The Danish Resistance Movement, with the assistance of many ordinary Danish citizens managed to evacuate 7,220 of Denmark’s 7,800 Jews by sea to nearby neutral Sweden where they were received as refugees. Bent Melchior and his family were among them.

Through this mammoth effort, more than ninety percent of Denmark’s Jews were saved.

 Rabbi Bent Melchior returned to Denmark in 1945. He volunteered as a soldier in the fight for Israeli independence, and then returned to Copenhagen where he received his PhD. He married Lillian Weissdorf in 1951, and they have four sons. He pursued his Rabbinical education in London in 1963. After his father’s death in 1969, he succeeded him as the Chief Rabbi of Denmark. He retired in 1996, and continues his humanitarian and charitable work both in Denmark and around the world.

 Date:             January 26, 2020

Time:              6:00pm -- Exhibit

                       7:00pm -- 8:30pm – Rescue and Refuge Event

 Venue:      Byers Theatre at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center

                        1 Galambos Way

                        Sandy Springs GA 30328

 RSVP required:            www.2020remember.eventbrite.com

 This event is free and open to the public. Sponsorships and donations appreciated and can be made by visiting us at www.amyisraelchaiatlanta.org

or contacting us at amyisraelchaiatlanta@gmail.com or when you sign up at eventbrite.

Sponsors will have reserved orchestra seating at the event.

Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center Parking available:

Self parking: $5 flat fee starting from 5pm for duration of the event or $15 for Valet Parking