It has been nearly sixty years since the October 1943 Danish rescue of Danish Jewry. Since this time, no historian has examined the role that the timing of the planned Jewish round-up played in the degree of success of the rescue. Would a National Socialist round-up of the Danish Jews have been successful if it occurred in 1941 for example? As long as the Danish government was in power, no anti-Jewish measures were implemented in Denmark. Within a month of the Danish government's resignation, National Socialist plans to eliminate Danish Jewry were being drafted. This thesis examines the major events in Denmark that led to the resignation of the Danish government in August 1943, and the failed plan to round-up and deport the Danish Jews. The most important conclusion of this thesis is that to a significant degree, the Danish people were successful in their rescue of Danish Jews because of the timing of the anti-Jewish measures.

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