Number The Stars

Øresund Bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark

One of my favorite books when I was in 4th grade was Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.  It's a story about a family in Copenhagen who help a Jewish family escape to safety in Sweden during WWII.  I now live in the destination setting, the city across the water in Sweden.

Yesterday, October 1st, marked 70 years since Danish Jews fled across the Øresund Sound to Malmö, Sweden.  Danes learned of Hitler's orders to round up Danish Jews on Rosh Hashanah and send them to concentration camps. The resistance fighters and Swedish fishermen helped ferry jews to safety in neutral Sweden.  So last night, Denmark and Sweden commemorated this event by lighting over 700 lanterns on the Øresund Bridge to symbolize that, "October 1943 was a light in the darkness" (The Local).

Maybe it's the residual influence of my history-obsessed family or my childhood dream to be part of a story that inspired me to go out into the chilly night to see this commemoration.  I convinced my Korean and German friend to go with me and we briskly walked through dark trails to an overview along the water where we could see a clear view of the bridge and the lights of Copenhagen in the distance.  To the surprise of my Korean and German friend there were several people there with their long-lensed cameras and revered spirits.  The distance was still great and we were not able to see the lanterns hanging half way between the two countries, but the bridge was beautiful nonetheless and I was happy to be part of this moment in history in a small way.