White is the colour of innocence and purity. It was the colour of the Red Cross ambulances that brought Scandinavian prisoners of war from Nazi concentration camps to safety in Sweden at the end of World War II. The “White Buses” humanitarian operation rescued 15,345 internees during March and April 1945, including at least 425 Danish Jews incarcerated at the Theresienstadt camp in what is now the Czech Republic.
But this was just the tip of the iceberg as far as Danish Jews were concerned. In the summer of 1943 there were around 7,800 Jews living in occupied Denmark. The Danish government had negotiated a policy of cooperation with the German authorities; Denmark would continue to supply Germany with food and other essential goods, while Germany would allow the country to continue to govern itself. As part of the agreement, Germany accepted Denmark’s demands not to impose capital punishment, not to order the Danish military to participate on the Axis side, and not to pass discriminatory racial laws. Unlike other parts of Europe, the Jews in Denmark could live in comparative safety.
This changed, though, in August 1943 when a groundswell of popular unrest led to a wave of general strikes, street demonstrations and acts of sabotage. In response, Germany ordered Denmark to implement the death penalty for resistance. This, the Danish government rejected, resigning en masse, and precipitating the imposition of martial law in Denmark. The arrest and deportation of Danish Jews was ordered by Hitler the following month. Plans were made to round up the Jews on the evening of 1st October, when they would be celebrating Rosh Hashanah together in their homes. But news of the impending purge was leaked to the Jewish community by a German diplomat on September 28th. When the SS called, they found almost none of the people on their wanted list were at home.
The great majority of the Jews had gone into hiding and immediately started making plans to flee across the Øresund strait to Sweden. And thus it was that 99% of Denmark’s Jewish population survived the Holocaust. Those who returned from Theresienstadt were just a tiny fraction. But the story of that humanitarian rescue mission and the earlier flight of the Danish Jews inspired Benjamin Koppel to make his remarkable album, White Buses.
Koppel is a Danish saxophonist and composer. His White Buses album carries alternating tracks of lightly orchestrated spoken testimonial and short instrumental commentary. It begins with pieces about the evil inside all of us, living in fear of one’s life, hunger and deprivation. A little hope creeps in as the story unfolds. And at the end there is relief, joy and deep thankfulness. It is both a history lesson and a rather lovely listening experience, blending classical and jazz.
Testimonials
I. There is a devil under the skin of any human being. Beware it never gets out.
II. I see him shoot the woman who stands on the square with her violin.
III. My stomach was aching and I felt sick. … I was terrified.
IV. Most of the time went by talking about food. What you would like to eat, what kind of food you like, and what you wanted to eat when you got home.
V. And then, when I found two birds in the nest, I ate them alive. I took off their heads with my teeth and ate them with feathers on, and everything.
VI. There was a terrifying bombing. It was night time and there were light bombs all over. And then we heard the airplanes high in the sky, and we thought, “Please come take us away”.
VII. And then the rumours began. When there were rumours in Theresienstadt, it always caused panic.
VIII. And then it happened. There was suddenly light in the barracks where we slept. They were screaming, “Die Dänen Haus”.
IX. One morning we were all assembled on a giant field. We didn’t know what was going to happen. I was a little girl sitting there, and a German soldier was pointing a rifle at me. Then my father came crawling to us and gave us some food.
X. Can you see a white bus with a red cross? Yes, I can see that. That bus and a whole lot of other buses will take us all home to Denmark in a few days.
XI. A lot of the people we had known in Theresienstadt had come to say goodbye to us. They cried. We cried. We didn’t know what was going to happen to us, and they didn’t know what was going to happen with them.
XII. I remember how we saw the flashing lights in the sky. And we could hear the cannons and feel the impact from the bombs that made the bus shake. Then the planes flew around and threw a light bomb. He could see that it was a white bus, and then he flew away. The bus I was in … we were all on the floor. We were twelve. We drove through a totally destroyed Potsdam.
XIII. The population in southern Schleswig were mute with joy over seeing us returning from Theresienstadt. They cheered and shouted, “Hooray!”, and threw candy and a lot of other goodies through the windows. We had the most amazing welcoming. People were waving flags and throwing flowers at us. It was a very warm and fantastic welcoming.
XIV. It was neat and clean. The china was clean. There were knives and forks that fit together. Nice glasses, white cloths on tables. And when we were going to bed, there were white linen sheets and white pillows, and we were completely amazed. We pinched each other’s arms to see if we were awake or dreaming.
XV. It was a miracle that we came home. A fantastic miracle.
XVI. To us, it wasn’t a filthy bus; to us, it was a golden carriage.
Crotchety Man 