Danish rabbi remembers his WWI and WWII career

By Sheila Orysiek

SAN DIEGO — In a well-run library, books are not only organized, kept in good repair, new books of interest added, but also those of less interest are withdrawn. In looking over Temple Emanu-El’s library collection of biographies I noted that the shelves were full and perhaps it was time to consider withdrawing those books which seem not to have attracted interest.

A small autobiography with worn yellowed pages written by an author I had never heard of, with only one reader listed on the borrower’s card, seemed a good candidate for the library’s “give-away” basket. But something about it caught my heart so I decided perhaps I should read it before withdrawing it.

Rabbi Marcus Melchior’s A Rabbi Remembers is written with a light but steady hand. A Danish Jew, he is caught up in the tempestuous events of WWI and WWII, including the Zionist movement, flight from Nazi evil and finally readjustment and resettlement. His activities as a rabbi located him not only in Denmark, where he rose to become Chief Rabbi, but also in Germany (between the wars) and Poland.

The reader is given a window into the Danish Jewish world; Jews who fared quite differently from those in the rest of Nazi controlled Europe. Fortunately, both the Danish government and the people were horrified that citizens of their country would be separated out and harmed by the Nazi invaders. The effort to save them started from the very top with many ordinary citizens risking their lives. The Jews of Denmark were transported to neutral Sweden – in all 99% were saved. This is in stark contrast to other countries such as France, Hungary and Romania, where both government and people participated in the slaughter of their Jewish citizens.

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From the Jewish Library
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Melchior wisely doesn’t burden his book with an overly detailed description of his life and he doesn’t repeat facts that are generally well known; he thus keeps this book from becoming tedious or bogged down with minutiae. His light touch is evident when he relates how as a very young newly ordained rabbi he is met at the railway station by the members of the board of his first congregation – only to have one of them faint at the sight of the youth they had hired.

Though published in 1965 the book is still available for purchase. This special autobiography has been returned to its place on the library shelf; no give-a-way basket for this book.

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Orysiek is the Temple Emanu-El librarian in San Diego and a freelance writer specializing in the arts.  She may be contacted via sheila.orysiek@sdjewishworld.com