Stories by author "Gitte Toben": 18
Stories
Volunteering in Germany
"They thought that that was the best healing. And what they did right after the war, my dad was actually part of a Red Cross relief effort, and they went to Germany to help clean up the streets and do the civil services down there, 'Cause…
Going Underground
"The reason he went underground and disappeared was basically after they were blowing up one of the supply trains, and they were running away from the rail yard, jumping over the fences. He was shot in the back of the knee, but couldn’t go to…
Au Pair in England
"My mother was actually an au pair in London, so she learned to speak English, and she went to a business school, and she was a business associate at a department store in Copenhagen called Illum, and it's still, you know, in business…
Rescuing Jewish Friends
"The Final Solution was getting closer. Some of their Jewish friends needed to be in Sweden, and they were also in this rowing club, so...when you’re young, and the dopamine hasn’t set in in the mid-brain, to fool the Gestapo at the pier would…
A Close Encounter
"And then one morning, my dad is on his way home, and he has a little trailer on his bicycle with the seventeen rifles and ammunitions and whatnot, So he sees the Gestapo up on the bridge. And he thought, 'Well, if I turn around, they’ll…
Occupation of Denmark
"[On April 9th, 1940], my parents both, individually, remember waking up, getting ready to go to school, and hearing all the noise of the low-flying airplanes and then all the leaflets being dropped all over to surrender, that Denmark was now…
Father's Childhood in Denmark
"[My father] was very musical too, so he learned to play the guitar and later joined a jazz band. He was also a boy scout, In 1938 he met Lord Baden-Powell. Lord Baden-Powell came to Copenhagen and shook every boy’s hand."
Danish Parents
"[My mother's name was] Alice Lillian and my dad’s name was Kil Owe. And they were born in 1925 and 1926, and they met right after the war [at Englandsparken Athletic Club]—they were both very athletic—and they were runners and jumpers and, you…