M Y  M E E T I N G  W I T H 
H E I N R I C H  H I M M L E R
A P R I L  20/21, 1945

N O R B E R T  M A S U R 

PART I

During the last year of the war, Jewish organizations within the neutral countries of Europe tried their utmost to bring help to their brethren in the German concentration camps. In Sweden, the Swedish section the World Jewish Congress was one of the active participants in this aim. Many endeavors were in vain, but some led to positive results. 

During the course of negations, one of the members of our section, Mr. H. Storch, started to negotiate with Dr. Felix Kersten who through his medical treatments was in touch with Himmler. We had been told that Kersten, at the behest of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, was partly responsible for the freeing of a large number of prisoners from both German prisons and German concentration camps. At the request of Mr. Storch, Dr. Kersten volunteered to try to negotiate with Mr. Himmler to better the situation of the Jews in the concentration camps.

In the beginning of March 1945, Kersten visited with Himmler and told him of our desires. Several important things resulted from this. It is quite possible that through these negotiations several concentration camps were surrendered to the Allies without a fight. To achieve further concessions, Kersten proposed that Himmler should negotiate directly with a representative of the World Jewish Congress. Himmler agreed to this and promised safe conduct for the person who would in the company of Kersten, come for the session.

We discussed the plan in our section of the WJC. Because of the unusual precarious aspects of a meeting with Himmler, the section did not want to make a decision, especially as it was impossible to contact New York in this regard. It was therefore decided to leave it up to a volunteer for this mission whether or not to go ahead. 

We discussed the matter with the Swedish Foreign Ministry, which was of the definite opinion that direct contact with Himmler would be valuable and would lead to worthwhile results, very much in line with the desires of Sweden, for a rescue operation. The three local embassies of the Allies who were informed by us did not have any objections, in fact the delegate of the War Refugee Board located in Stockholm encouraged us in this. Therefore we asked Dr. Kersten to let Himmler know that a member of our section as a private citizen would come on this mission. Himmler was agreeable with this. Several of our members volunteered for the trip and it was myself who finally was chosen to make the trip.

Several weeks passed without a date being set for the meeting. The war situation in Germany got more critical every day, and we assumed that it would not be possible to go ahead with the plan. However, suddenly on the morning of Thursday April 19, I was notified that Himmler was awaiting us on Thursday or Friday and we were asked to take the noon airplane from Stockholm to Berlin. I had some doubts as to the value of the trip at this late date, however, an inquiry with the Foreign Ministry resulted in a positive opinion, in that they still held the trip to be worthwhile. The Foreign Ministry prepared several lists of names of Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners, whose freedom we were to try to achieve. After receiving this information, Kersten and I decided to leave immediately on the trip.

At 2pm on April 19 the airplane, marked with the swastika, left Stockholm for Berlin, Kersten and I were the only passengers, otherwise the plane was loaded fully with Red Cross packages. Now I had time to think about the mission. For me as a Jew, it was a deeply moving thought, that, in a few hours, I would be face to face with the man who was primarily responsible for the destruction of several million Jewish people. But my agitation was dampened by the thought that I finally would have the important opportunity to be of help to many of my tormented fellow Jews. I had been in the midst of other help missions before, but always from the safety of Stockholm. This time it was action at the front lines.

The trip to Berlin was without incidents. The North-German plain was peacefully in front of our eyes. The fields seemed to be tended carefully. Only once did I discern a bomb crater, the first sign of war, otherwise there were no traces. No soldiers or motorized columns were visible, only an occasional farmer. However, when we approached Berlin, the signs of war became more evident, bombed out houses, factories without roofs. And still, from my bird’s eye perspective, it appeared that Berlin was not quite as destroyed as I had expected, and as I later on saw during my drive though the city.

At the Tempelhof airport, my companion showed his passport, however, I kept mine in my pocket. I did not have a visa, because only Himmler and his closest associates knew about our visit, it was held in complete secrecy from all the other Nazi bosses. Because of this, I could not apply for a visa at the German embassy in Stockholm. The Gestapo simply ordered that a man in the company of Dr. Kersten should be admitted without passport control.

At the airport, the limousine of the Swedish embassy was awaiting us to take us into the city. However we could not use this car, and had to wait for a Gestapo car, as we were to proceed to an estate approximately 70 km north of Berlin. Unfortunately, we had to wait almost 2 hours. 

In the meantime, I had the opportunity to get a first impression of the atmosphere in Berlin. I had a conversation with some of the workers at the airport, and was able to discern that they were war-weary and without hope. Every night there were air raids lasting 5 to 7 hours, therefore they had to spend that long a time in uncomfortable air raid shelters without sleep, that is too much even for the strongest person. The air raids occurred with the punctuality of a time table. Every evening, shortly after dark, the Russians began the attacks, followed by the Americans, and the British would finish the raids.

Because of this, it was important for us to get out of town before the beginning of the air raids. Around 10 pm, the car arrived, and the excuse was that the telephone connection with Stockholm was interrupted, and they did not know for sure if we were coming. The car left immediately, it was dark, and the moon was shining. The ruins of the houses were like ghosts. The driver sped through the city, which looked as if it was dead. Just now and then a lonely pedestrian who immediately tried to hitch a ride with the car, as public transportation was minimal. We passed piles of destroyed houses, and drove through the narrow openings of tank traps. Several times we had to take a detour to avoid streets that had recently been closd because of bombings.

Finally, after half an hour, we were out of Berlin on the highway. It only took a few minutes before a military patrol stopped us and asked the driver to turn off the headlights, as there was an air alert. The nightly show over Berlin had started. We now had the choice to go into the woods, and wait, or to continue without lights in the dark. We decided to continue.

The anti-aircraft searchlights began to play in the sky, and we stopped and got out of the car to watch the sinister, but fascinating show. From all sides we heard the whirring of propellers, which our driver, with his trained ears, identified as Russian. We saw how illumination flares spread out like a carpet, slowly descending to the ground, lighting up the entire area, how planes would be trapped in the spotlights, but we did not hear any flak. At my question as to why there was no shooting, I got the significant answer that all the flak ammunition had been sent to the front.

We continued past suddenly appearing military vehicles, past mounds of destruction in the town of Oranienburg, which had suffered an air raid recently. For me, the name Oranienburg was ominous, as here many of my closes relatives became acquainted with the terror of concentration camps, before I was able to rescue them to emigrate to Sweden. 

Finally, close to midnight, we arrived at our destination, an estate belonging to Kersten. Here we were supposed to await the visit by Himmler. That night I was not able to sleep. Not because of the constant noise from the planes, but the tension at the thought of meeting with Himmler, the feeling that possibly the destiny of thousands of Jews were dependent on my words. Even though I knew that Himmler’s reason for negotiating was the catastrophic war situation in Germany still many important results could come out of these negotiations. I was especially concerned about the prisoners in the Rawensbruck camp, which was only 30 km from the estate.

Friday morning, one of Himmler’s closest associates, Brigade Commander Schellenberg, arrived at the estate to greet us. It was April 20, the birthday of the Führer, and Schellenberg told us that Himmler was to participate at the birthday dinner that night and then would get to the state as quickly as possible. Hitler should only have known that Himmler, after the birthday party, would be negotiating with a Jew!!

Schellenberg made some very ironic remarks about the birthday party. I had the feeling that it was a birthday dinner, but that, as often occurred in history, some of the participants who fell into misfortune, would come into conflict with each other with dire results. In addition to the Nazi top honchos, several other well-wishers were on the way to Hitler. The air space above us was full of allied bombers all day long, which were traveling in formation like migration birds, to reach their destinations. The house, in which we were staying, suddenly began to shake from the explosions of bombs, which were destined for the railroad tracks 2 km away.

During the morning, I had extensive conversations with Schellenberg. I was surprised to see a good-looking young man with soft features, in civilian clothing, not the hard Nazi type which I had expected. He was terribly depressed, considered the war as lost, and was very pessimistic about Germany’s future. The main cause of the defeat in his opinion was the systematic air warfare, which destroyed the material and psychological will to resist of the German people. He seemed to have complete understanding for my attempts to rescue the Jews, and promised energetic support of my wishes with Himmler. However, he mentioned that the circle around Hitler even now are strongly opposed to any betterment of the lot of the Jews. 

In the fall of last year, when Himmler allowed 2700 Jews to flee to Switzerland, upon hearing this, Hitler became a raving maniac and prevented any further planned freeing of Jews. I had the impression that Schellenberg was sincere in his talk with me. It was especially meaningful for me to find out that the military situation in Germany was much worse than had been assumed by us in Stockholm based on the news reports, and the total collapse was only a question of a few weeks or evens days. The reasoning for our petition to Himmler to rescue people would have to be based on this realization.

I spent the afternoon inspecting the estate and talking with the workers there. It was an odd assemblage of people. All of the field and office workers were former prisoners from concentration camps who had been in the camps between 5 to 8 years. They belonged to a sect which refused military service on religious grounds, also they would not say “Heil Hitler”, as “heil” (salvation) can only come from God. 

Because of this, all of the followers of this sect were put into concentration camps during the first years of the Nazi regime and had to stay there until Kersten was able to get some of them released in 1941/42. Several of the people who had been in Buchenwald for a number of years, talked about the severe abuse they were exposed to, and which did not abate until 1938, when Jewish prisoners were brought to the camp and the guards were able to pursue their sadism towards them. In addition, there were a number of refugees from eastern and central Germany on the estate, relatives of the owners, all of them traveling for weeks and fleeing the front lines.

During the course of the evening, we received a telephone call to tell us that Himmler would not come until around 2:30 am. We were sitting in the living room by candlelight, as the electricity, as always during air raids, was turned off. I was greatly worked up. Would this man, who was the real ruler of Germany, whose days however were numbered, appear as a man at the top of his power or would he already reflect the shadow of defeat?? I was excited at the thought that in a few minutes I would be face to face with one of the greatest murderers of the Jewish people.

At exactly 2:30 am we heard the noise of a car arriving. Kersten went outside, and after a few minutes, Heinrich Himmler entered, followed by Brigade Commander Schellenberg, adjutant Dr. Brandt, and Kersten. In spite of my inner excitement, I appeared outwardly perfectly cool. Himmler greeted me with “Guten Tag” instead of “Heil Hitler”, and conveyed his satisfaction at the fact that I came to see him.

End of Part I

Translated from original by Henry Karger, 1993

Published with kind permission, WJC

Published by Scandinavian Jewish Forum

Georg Cohn. 
Photo: Courtesy of Emilie Cohn Roi

GEORG COHN

1887-1956
PART I

     ------------------------------------------------

Early Years

Georg Cohn was born on August 14, 1887 the oldest of five children. His mother’s family had moved to Copenhagen from Moisling-Lübeck in the middle of the 18th century and his father came from Germany. 

He grew up in Copenhagen and went to Slomann’s School. He loved literature and the poet Viggo Stuckenberg was his favorite teacher. Being very musical, he studied violin with Bernhard Rosenbaum, father of Victor Borge. 

Completing school with distinction, he was admitted to the University of Copenhagen to study law and philosophy. Georg with his younger brother Naphtali, also a brilliant law student, gave private tutorials to other students and published several textbooks and journals on legal subjects. He also joined a small group of students at weekly sessions with the philosopher Harald Høffding. His own book on Ethics and Sociology won Georg the University’s gold medal for a philosophical work. The two brothers completed their studies with distinction and also found time to study Torah and Talmud extensively during these years. (Georg was to receive Rabbinical ordination [smicha] in 1936.)

In 1913, when Georg Cohn was 26 years old, having specialized in International Law, he was accepted to a position in the Danish Foreign Ministry. (His brother started a law practice and, within a few years, made a name for himself as one of Copenhagen’s most successful lawyers.) 

The Foreign Ministry was at the time a small establishment, rather like a club for members of the noble families. When World War I broke out in 1914, Georg Cohn became one of the central players in the successful effort to maintain Denmark’s neutrality. He was also prominent in arranging help for wounded prisoners-of-war sent by the belligerents to neutral countries to recuperate. 

In recognition of his services, King Christian X bestowed upon him in 1919 the prestigious knighthood of the Order of Dannebrog. He also received an award from the Danish Red Cross citing his “help to prisoners-of-war 1914-1919”. In 1922, he received another award, from the Austrian Red Cross.

The war had shown Georg Cohn the horror and suffering, in his eyes nothing less than the mass murder of a whole generation. He had also seen the importance of maintaining neutral territories, for all the countries involved. His main concern and efforts thenceforth were directed to finding ways to avoid war and ensure the possibility of remaining neutral in the event of war. At the same time he remained dedicated to the need to guarantee the rights of the civilian population and also of prisoners-of-war.

Shortly after the war, Georg Cohn participated in the conference of the Scandinavian Foreign Ministers and in the Versailles Peace Conference (1919), where he was concerned with protecting the interests of the neutral countries in the formulation of the peace agreements. 

Denmark’s Foreign Ministry was at that time expanded and reorganized. Georg Cohn was asked to head the League of Nations Department and was appointed Advisor in International Law, a position he filled until the end of his life.

In November 1920, he was chosen to be part of the Danish delegation to the opening session of the League of Nations in Geneva. He was again a delegate to the League Assemble in 1925 and in 1929.

In 1924, Georg and Naphtali Cohn traveled to Frankfurt and purchased Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s old synagogue in Schützenstrasse, to prevent its sale outside the Jewish community. That same year, Georg married Elfriede Bamberger from Kitzingen in Bavaria, great-granddaughter of the renowned Rabbi Seligmann Baer Bamberger of Würzburg. 

Maintaining Denmark’s Neutrality during World War I 1914-1918

In an article published in 1920 in the monthly Law Journal that he had founded with his brother, Juridiske Tidende, Georg Cohn gives an account of the difficult, often nerve-wracking, task of keeping Denmark neutral during the war. He describes the prevailing neutrality laws, largely based on the Hague Conventions of 1907 and the London Declaration (1909), explaining how problematic they had been even before war broke out, because of England’s and Germany’s conflicting interests. These laws were frequently violated in practice, while the introduction of aircraft and submarines into modern warfare, with all their implications, created new problems.

Denmark had immediately declared itself neutral, yet Georg Cohn describes in detail a series of incidents in which British and German warships violated its neutrality by fighting in its territorial waters. The most dramatic incident was that of a Spanish merchant ship Igotz Mendi, which had been captured by a German raiding vessel Wolf and used as a depot ship for cargo and prisoners. On its way to Germany, this ship was stranded off Skagen in Jutland. Only careful negotiations and the application of international law principles were able to prevent open conflict with Germany.

Georg Cohn concludes that the war demonstrated that a new concept of neutrality needed to be defined in international law and recognized for the future. First signs of this change already appear in the Covenant of the League of Nations.

The League of Nations, Neutrality and Neo-Neutrality 1919-1939

Denmark faced a dilemma. In accordance with article 16 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, member states (with the exception of Switzerland) were required to defend one another and participate in sanctions against any aggressing state. This article, in fact, annulled the option of impartial neutrality. Denmark decided, nevertheless, to become a member.

In various articles written between 1920 and 1924, Georg Cohn suggested a new concept of an active neutrality that would combine solidarity with a state that was victim of aggression and the cessation of all relations and economic dealings with the aggressor with non-involvement in any military action. He termed this “Neo-Neutrality”.

His writings, particularly from 1924, were the only source mentioned for the “Lamas Pact”, which secured peace among the South American States (1933). When Argentine’s Foreign Minister, Dr. S. Lamas, received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1936, he declared that Georg Cohn was the true father of the pact and that he, therefore, should have been awarded the prize.

The official opening of the League of Nations, 
15 November 1920. Courtesy: National Library
 of Norway

In 1929, Cohn was appointed member of Denmark’s permanent representation to the Court of Arbitration at The Hague, and in 1930, headed the panel of arbitrators in a dispute between Poland and the United States. For this he received an award from the Government of Poland. 

Permanent Court of Arbitration. Members of 
the Permanent Court of Arbitration, established
at The Hague in 1899 to settle international 
disputes by judicial means.
Photo: Courtesy Britannica

The following year, he represented Denmark in its negotiations with Sweden over the maritime border in the Øresund straits − an issue in constant dispute since the 17th century. For his services in resolving the dispute to the satisfaction of both sides, he was promoted by the King to a higher ranking in the Order of Dannebrog, while the King of Sweden bestowed on him a similar honor.

In 1931, Georg Cohn received a doctoral degree from the University of Frankfurt for his work Kriegsverhütung und Schuldfrage (War Prevention and the Question of Guilt). His book makes the case for the League of Nations, in the event of war breaking out, to take immediate steps to put a stop to hostilities. Only after this, he argues, must ways be found to punish the aggressor. That same year he took part in the disarmament conference in Geneva.

In 1937, he received a second doctorate, from the University of Copenhagen, for his thesis on neo-neutrality. The book, Neo-Neutralitet: Folkeretlige Studier over Neutralitets begrebets Nyeste Udvikling (Neo-Neutrality: The Newest Development of the Concept of Neutrality), was published that year in Denmark and then in the United States in an English translation, with a necessary update, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The American edition was to influence later scholars, as well as the neutrality policy followed by smaller countries which gained independence after the war.

P. Munch, the Danish historian and politician who was Foreign Minister from 1929 to 1940, writes in detail in his memoirs about Denmark’s policy of neutrality in the 20 years between the two world wars. He describes the central characters, including Georg Cohn, who were instrumental in the shaping and implementation of this policy, both at the League of Nations and at home.

The Greenland Case 1932-1933

Greenland had always been considered Danish, so when Norway suddenly declared its sovereignty over certain territory in East Greenland, Denmark protested. Tension between the two countries (their kings were brothers) ran high. Denmark and Norway agreed to bring the dispute before the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

Georg Cohn spearheaded the team in the Foreign Ministry that prepared the case (over nearly two years) and appeared before the court in The Hague. The judges accepted his arguments, recognizing Danish sovereignty in the face of conflicting claims.

The Greenland dispute is still widely used as a case-study in international law on criteria for establishing sovereign rights in contested territories.

In appreciation for his achievement, an area in Northeast Greenland was named after him, appearing on the map as “Georg Cohn Land” or “Cape Georg Cohn”. 

In the Shadow of the German Threat  1936-1940

Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, war in Europe gradually became inevitable. The League of Nations had proved a total failure, and now a number of small European states, including the Scandinavian countries, prepared themselves to remain outside the conflict, as they had in the First World War.

Georg Cohn’s theories of active neutrality developed since the 1920’s, offered the small countries a certain degree of flexibility in adapting their actions to changing circumstances, specifically in the eventuality of a war between major powers. He argued that this neo-neutrality should be recognized by international law. His theories would soon be put to the test.

On April 9, 1940, German troops invaded Denmark, brushing aside a non-aggression treaty that had been signed between the two countries on May 31, 1939. Germany presented Denmark with an ultimatum, promising to honor its integrity and sovereignty, provided that the government guaranteed to keep the civilian population quiet in the new situation. 

The offer was accepted, albeit accompanied by a strong protest against Germany’s violation of Denmark’s neutrality. (Norway received the same ultimatum and rejected it.) Munch resigned and Erik Scavenius replaced him as Foreign Minister. An extraordinary situation arose, which has often been characterized as “the fiction of neutrality and sovereignty”.

Cohn’s theories of neo-neutrality provided a theoretical basis for the idea that Denmark could maintain its neutrality in any circumstances. When the Germans invaded the country, the government upheld its principle of neutrality. This has since become known as the fiction of neutrality. 

With gratitude to author Emilie Cohn Roi

The text is based on Emilie Cohn Roi's book, published in Hebrew in 2003: Courtyards of Copenhagen

Georg Cohn: The Quest for War Prevention

Other books by the author include:

*A Different Story, About a Danish Girl in World War II, available in English (Yad Vashem Publications) Finnish, German and Hebrew

*Chance Meeting (Pegishah Mikrit) in Hebrew

Published by Scandinavian Jewish Forum

Georg Cohn.
Photo courtesy of Emilie Cohn Roi

GEORG COHN

1887-1956

PART II

Under German Occupation 1940-1945

Germany’s occupation of Denmark (lasting from April 9, 1940 until May 5, 1945) differed from its occupation of the other European countries. The fiction of neutrality was maintained, in theory though less in practice, yet it enabled the King, symbol of a free Denmark for his people, as well as the government, the courts and the central institutions to maintain a certain degree of independence. 

The people and their leaders were thus able to preserve their moral freedom, in disregard of the presence of the German occupying forces. This “neutrality” also provided a safeguard for the well-being of the Jews in Denmark - up to the end of the summer of 1943.

Georg Cohn -
Photo: Courtesy Emilie Cohn Roi 

Negotiations between Denmark and Germany were carried out between the two foreign ministries. At the same time, the Danish government maintained a policy of cooperation. 

The recall to Berlin of Ambassador Renthe-Fink (who had warned against touching Denmark’s Jews), and his replacement by Dr. Werner Best as Reich-Plenipotentiary in November 1942, marked the beginning of a change in Germany’s policy towards Denmark. Strikes and acts of sabotage became more and more frequent during the summer of 1943. 

When Germany gave the Danish government an unacceptable ultimatum, the government resigned in late August 1943. Germany declared a state of emergency; the King was placed under palace-arrest, and parliament closed. Without a government, the department heads and general directors of the ministries continued to negotiate with the German authorities. 

Germany now treated Denmark as any of the other occupied countries. They decided to deport all the Jews. The planned round-up of the Jews on the second day of the Jewish New Year (October 1, 1943) was leaked to the Jewish leadership. Forewarned, almost all the Jews left their homes and went into hiding, helped spontaneously by friends, neighbors or even the man in the street. The Danish people, indignant at the threat to innocent fellow-citizens, came to their aid. The underground arranged for them to be smuggled across the straits in fishing-boats to neutral Sweden.

Thus, the majority of the 7,000 Jews who lived in Denmark were saved. Some 470 Jews were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Irma Bamberger, Elfriede Cohn’s mother, who had remained in her home in Copenhagen in spite of the warnings, was among those arrested and sent to Theresienstadt.

The Flight to Sweden October 1943

Georg Cohn had remained in Rungsted with his wife and eight children (their five and the three children of Naphtali and Mina, who had passed away) during the winter months as well, believing that the village would be safer than the city. He continued to work in the Foreign Ministry, though Munch commented at one time in his diary: “Georg Cohn comes in occasionally and takes no part in the work.” There had been a suggestion that he should be sent to serve as Danish Consul in Portugal, but nothing came of this proposal. The Danish authorities had steadfastly refused to comply with German demands to dismiss Jews from all positions of prominence in public service and in the press.

On Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Tito Wessel, Denmark’s ambassador to Chile, who had already warned Georg Cohn two weeks earlier, came to the house in Rungsted. At his insistence, the family left at once. That night they stayed with neighbors. They left the following day, shortly before a German truck arrived at the house to arrest them. After a week in hiding, they escaped from Hornbæk harbor, where a small fishing boat waited to take them to Sweden.

On October 17, (1943), Munch wrote in his dairy that Best had told Svenningsen (Director of the Foreign Ministry) that a few persons in whom Scavenius or members of his former government were specially interested could be issued permits to travel abroad… and that Georg Cohn with his family, without permits, had crossed over. (Documents show that Best in fact refused to issue any permits!)

Sweden 1943-1945

The family arrived at Hälsingborg on 8 October1943, the eve of Yom Kippur, staying briefly in Ramlösa Camp before continuing to Stockholm.

Soon after, Frants Hvass, Georg Cohn’s former secretary, now a department head in the Foreign Ministry, forwarded Irma Bamberger’s address in Theresienstadt and information to the effect that letters and parcels of clothing (and later of food) could be sent. Several postcards arrived from her. 

In June 1944, Hvass was a member of the International Red Cross delegation that paid a visit of inspection to Theresienstadt.  He then went to Stockholm to report on the “reasonable conditions” of the Danish Jews that he had witnessed. Hvass even showed Georg and Elfriede Cohn an album of idyllic drawings of the camp by one of the prisoners.  In April 1945, Irma Bamberger was among the Danish Jews who were brought to Sweden in the “White Buses”, a few weeks before Germany surrendered.

During his year and one half stay in the Swedish capital, Georg Cohn worked in the Danish Embassy with Ambassador Kruse. He also gave lectures on the prevention of war at Stockholm University, spoke on the radio and wrote his book: Kan Krig forhindres? (Can War Be Prevented? A New Science of War Prevention).

After the War 1945-1956

As soon as war ended, Georg Cohn returned to his post at the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen and three months later the family followed, returning to their house in Rungsted. They met survivors from the death camps and heard about the horrors.

In October 1945, Georg Cohn, the only male speaker, was invited to address an international women’s conference for peace in Copenhagen. He suggested that they should find new ways of securing peace, recommending that they form their own party and become active in political life.

In September 1946, he was appointed Minister with the rank of Ambassador. Shortly after, he flew to New York as a member of the Danish delegation to the opening session of the United Nations at Lake Success. 

Returning after three months, he lectured widely, also on the radio, about his experiences at Lake Success. He foresaw serious problems for smaller states, largely because of the veto rights of the major powers.

In 1947, he offered to volunteer his services to the Jewish Agency for Palestine, so they could benefit from his experience in international law, to help its diplomatic mission at Lake Success. The Jewish Agency, however, already had an expert.

Not long afterwards, Israel’s Prime Minister Ben-Gurion sent Haim Cohn, the future Attorney-General and Supreme Court judge, to Copenhagen to ask his opinion on the issue of State and Religion in the future State of Israel. Georg Cohn strongly recommended separation.

In 1948, Georg Cohn participated in the Red Cross Conference in Stockholm.  Later the same year he headed an international committee to resolve the outstanding problems of the continental shelf and the issues of sovereignty over the sea-bed and sub-soil adjacent to the coastline. 

In 1949, heheaded the Danish delegation to the Red Cross Conference in Geneva, staying there with his family for several months. At this conference, Denmark supported Israel’s request for recognition of the “Red Magen David”, which was turned down.

He visited Israel in April, 1950 with his wife and two daughters. The rebirth of the Jewish State was in his eyes nothing less than a miracle, and the most important event in his lifetime.

That same year, threats of a new war (in Korea), possibly nuclear, concerned the Free World. Interviews with Georg Cohn appeared in the Danish press and radio almost daily on this and other topics.

World Peace continued to absorb him, as did his continuing concern for the civilian populations and the rights of prisoners-of-war in time of hostilities. Yet in his later years, his thoughts were occupied with the issue of justice for the individual before the law. 

His last book, Eksistentialisme og Retsvidenskab - Existentialism and the Science of Law, was published in Denmark in 1952. Translations of this book also appeared in English and German and (posthumously) in Hebrew. The book argues that real law is bound to the moment and results from an evaluation of the total concrete situation, which cannot be reached by applying one or several rules of law, legal concepts or principles. In forming his verdict the judge must consider the human aspect and the unique circumstances of each individual case.


At Home and with the Family


Elfriede and Georg had five children. In 1936, Georg Cohn’s mother died. The following year Naphtali and his wife also passed away, and their children were brought up in Georg and Elfriede’s home. Elfriede’s two brothers were arrested the morning after the Kristallnacht (“The Night of Broken Glass”) pogrom, and later released from Buchenwald concentration camp, thanks to Georg Cohn’s intervention, and brought to Denmark. (Her two sisters also left Germany, one going with her husband to Bolivia, and the younger reaching London with a Kinder-transport.)   

Shortly after Kristallnacht, Elfriede’s father died in Kitzingen, and his widow finally received an entry permit to join her daughter in Copenhagen, arriving just before the outbreak of the war.

Returning initially to Rungsted in 1945, the family eventually moved to an apartment in Copenhagen, spending the summer months in a new house in Humlebæk on the coast. Georg Cohn spent his free time reading, writing and lecturing, enjoying music, theater, films and nature, walking in the city or travelling abroad. He was also a connoisseur and collector of art, old and illustrated books, and Judaica.


The Last Years


Georg Cohn continued working in the Foreign Ministry, even after retirement age. His opinion was still courted by the media, as well as by politicians and diplomats, on every possible aspect of current affairs. He was popular and widely quoted, both for his wise counsel and for his sharp sense of humor. His philosophical involvement with Existentialism never diminished. 

He remained faithful to Orthodox Judaism and tradition, firmly believing in the need for loyalty to one’s heritage. He was deeply concerned about the future of the old family synagogue in Læderstræde, founded by his mother’s grandfather Moses Levy in 1845.

Weakened by heart trouble since 1953, Georg Cohn again fell ill in late 1955. On April 8, 1956 he died at his home in Copenhagen, at the age of 68.

Obituaries on the radio and in the press recognized his great services to Denmark, both as a world-famous expert in International Law and as a philosopher of law who had pioneered a new science of war prevention. Three major contributions were singled out: his part in maintaining neutrality in the First World War, his role in resolving the Greenland dispute and  his unceasing concern for the protection of civilians and prisoners-of-war. 

Georg Cohn had burned his diaries when the Germans invaded. However, two brief notes and a chronology of events in his public life, written after 1950, were found among the papers in his library and seem to sum up what he considered most important in his life.

Elfriede Cohn lived another 38 years and saw grown-up grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She died on April 29, 1994 in her home in Copenhagen. She was 87 years old.

She had kept the apartment and library without change from the days of her husband. Old and new books, documents, photographs, newspapers, articles, letters and notes had all been left there, safeguarding the told and untold stories of former generations and times past.

With gratitude to author Emilie Cohn Roi

The text is based on Emilie Cohn Roi's book, published in Hebrew in 2003: Courtyards of Copenhagen

Georg Cohn: The Quest for War Prevention

Other books by the author include:

*A Different Story, About a Danish Girl in World War II, available in English (Yad Vashem Publications) Finnish, German and Hebrew

*Chance Meeting (Pegishah Mikrit) in Hebrew

Published by Scandinavian Jewish Forum

Julius Hüttner. Photo: Courtesy Peter Hüttner

J U L I U S   H U T T N E R

The efforts to rescue the war stricken European Jewish population during and following WWII were very complex due to the massive relocation efforts that were necessary to prevent further disaster.

"The Swedish government spearheaded the effort to allocate funds to these efforts and thus, the government and its people have been remembered for their “unexampled demonstration of devotion to humanitarian principles,” according to a 1943 article by the Joint Distribution Committee.

The first refugees in the 1930s were German Jews, and following the occupation of Norway and Denmark many non-Jewish refugees who fought against Nazism arrived in Sweden. The larger flow of refugees began after April 9, 1940, when Germany occupied Norway and Denmark, and began persecuting socialists, state employees, officers and policemen.

Julius Hüttner. Photo: Courtesy Peter Hüttner

There was great interest among Jews living in Sweden to join the general Jewish relief work, even if the efforts were limited due to the neutrality of the government. Funds for relief work were collected annually from various Jewish communities as well as from the central Relief Committee of the Jewish community in Stockholm. However, because of war conditions and increased cost of living, there was a gap between what was needed to continue to support the refugees and what the Jewish community was able to give.

 Julius Huttner was one of the Swedes who was capable of closing this gap. Born in Gothenburg in 1881, Julius was one of four children. His father Benjamin Salomon Hüttner came from Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1859, and his mother was born in Königsberg. For generations, Hüttner’s family had been watchmakers, a tradition which he continued. Hüttner’s watch business grew, and by the time Hitler came to power in the early 1930s, he was a prominent Gothenburg figure. 

When the persecution of the Jews began, Hüttner wanted to help. He reduced his business, spending his time and energy to help organize the Jewish community’s aid efforts.

“I had no idea what a gigantic task I undertook when I began helping refugees in 1933,” Mr. Hüttner said in 1951 New York Times interview.

He first had to struggle with the authorities, as a better system of collaboration was only established in later years. “He had to convince them to give refuge to people threatened, often with the promise that some other country would accept them after a short stay in Sweden,” says Mr. Hüttner’s grandson, Peter Huttner. “The work also led to contacts with people in and outside Gothenburg who decided to take the refugees in, but often wanted some economic compensation for doing so. The refugees were thrown  in to an unknown world and often need comfort and advice.”

In the 1930s, Mr. Hüttner was named the General Consul of Costa Rica, and it was in this position that he was able to obtain passports and visas for a number of refugees from Germany early in the war. He also distributed money coming from the Joint Distribution Committee in London intended for refugees living under harsh conditions in the Swedish  countryside.

“The first refugees arrived in Sweden in the early 1930s,” Mr. Hüttner said in a 1965 interview published in Unzer Wort. “Most of those were German Jews. Later came a stream of non-Jewish refugees. I made no distinction between Jews and Gentiles. I provided so that they could get a roof over their head, finding homes for them, in Gothenburg and the vicinity, finding employment. The biggest problem was getting jobs for 40,000 people.”

“It was necessary to obtain a residence permit for the refugees,” Mr. Hüttner continues, “getting clothing and funds for money, doctors, medicine and hospitals. We also provided for those who died during this time. We made sure they got a proper burial. For non-Jews it was also provided for, to get their final resting place in a cemetery. We also provided for the religious Jews to have kosher food. The Swedish state realized the value of humanitarian work and covered all costs of refugee assistance.”

After the war, Julius Hüttner was given the Danish Order of Dannebrog, an honor given to the faithful servant for meritorious civil service and his particular contribution.  

He was also honored with the Norwegian Freedom Cross. In 1951 a grand parade was held in honor of his 70th birthday. Delegations from 15 nations attended the parade and thousands gathered outside his home to pay tribute. The whole city of Gothenburg was decorated for the occasion. Greetings poured into Hüttner’s home, including one from Winston Churchill and several from the International Red Cross.

Julius Hüttner. Photo: Courtesy Peter Hüttner

However, Mr. Hüttner continued to remain humble about his contribution to the rescue of European Jewry during the war. Asked in a 1965 interview if he would speak about the relief he provided many Jewish and non-Jewish refugees who came to Sweden during the war, Hüttner replied, “”I have only done my Jewish and humanitarian duty.”

Click here to see a letter written to Julius Hüttner from a man seeking help in rescuing his wife.




Published by Scandinavian Jewish Forum