Life Changes 1938-1943

I was there.

Klara was ten years old when Nazi Germany occupied Denmark in spring 1940. German soldiers marched on the streets. Klara and her best friend Kamma went another way to avoid them. Sometimes a soldier came up and asked for direction. The girls then deliberately pointed out the wrong direction.

The curfew was difficult. When Klara visited someone, she didn't know if she could return home the same day, and therefore always took with her what she needed to stay the night.

Klara Tixell (1929), Denmark

Klara Tixell (1929), Denmark

Consider here how life changed for Klara and her family when the war broke out

Germany Occupies Denmark

Klara talks about how life changed during the German occupation of Denmark.

1) Listen to Klara as she talks about how life changed. Answer the questions.

  • 1a. How did the November pogrom affect Klara's relatives in Germany?

  • 1b. In what way did Klara notice that Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany?

  • 1c. Klara describes that she was scared during the air raids, especially on that day she was at home alone. How was she affected by that experience?

  • 1d. Klara tells that she and her friend Kamma gave the wrong direction to German soldiers in Copenhagen. Klara declares that this was her way of making resistance. What do you think she means by that?

  • 1e. How was Klara affected by the curfew?

Danish and East European Jews 

A slideshow about the Danish and East European Jews in Kopenhagen.

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My Childhood 1929-1938
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The Deportation 1943

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