October '43 (1993)

On the night between the 1st and the 2nd of October 1943 the German occupying power went into action against the Jewish population in Denmark. Shortly before, information had leaked from the German Head Quarter and Denmark had time to prepare themselves for the German onslaught. Escape routes were organised, and the Jews - now refuges in their own country - flocked north to Gilelleje, the key port of disembarkation. During the weeks that followed, the Danish resistance movement - widely supported by the rest of the population - managed to get 95% of the Danish Jews safely across to neutral Sweden. Less than 500 people were captured by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp "Theresienstadt". This documentary investiages the facts behind the success of the miraculous rescue? It reveals how Hitler's representative in Denmark, Dr. Werner Best, quite surprisingly played a crticial part in the Jewish escape.