Subscribe- A broadcast hour length documentary
Logline:
“A Notable Exception” tells one of WWII’s most unique stories, the near complete rescue of the Danish Jewish population during Nazi occupation, through the eyes of Jørgen Kieler, 89, a resistance fighter who is about to give his last public presentation on the subject along with his good friend Herbert Pundik, a rescued Danish Jew.
Synopsis:
In October 1943, the German Police put out the order to arrest all Jews in occupied Denmark. But while all over Nazi controlled Europe millions of Jews were being shipped to concentration camps, in Denmark history turned out very different because most of the local population chose to defy their occupiers and help their fellow countrymen. The rescue operation was organized by the Danish Resistance movements and was aided by local politicians, nobility, pastors, ambulance drivers, fishermen and scores of ordinary citizens. Even more helped by not betraying the rescue. The plan was to help all Jewish citizens, approximately 8,000 people, move into hiding places throughout the country, from which they would be taken to other hiding spots by the coast and then ferried to neutral Sweden. In about a month, 7,500 Danish Jews avoided German controls and arrived safely in Sweden.
It’s been almost 65 years since the war ended but through their lectures and writings, Jørgen Kieler, 89, a retired Danish doctor and resistance hero, and his good friend Herbert Pundik, 81, a famed newspaper editor and rescued Danish Jew, have kept the story of the rescue alive. But Kieler knows he will not be able to keep up his efforts for much longer due to his age, and the two men have decided to give one final presentation together. It will be to a very special group – Danish youths – no older than what Kieler or Pundik were themselves during the war. Kieler and Pundik will use the following weeks to prepare their presentation. It will be a time to dig through the past, to remember what they went through and to consider how those events changed their view of the world, channeling their life and careers.
The story of the rescue played a particularly important role in Kieler’s life because it cemented his role in the resistance movement and started him on a path that, though always rooted on following a just cause, was filled with incidents of danger and of testing his morals – Kieler led a sabotage team. After avoiding capture numerous times he was betrayed and sent to Porta Westfalica concentration camp, were he endured forced labor and starvation while most of his friends died.
For Kieler this presentation will also be a great personal journey since it could be his last chance to reach a younger generation, many of who’s own grandparents were born after the war and have no direct connection to it. Kieler was a fighter and an idealist who watched his country be turned upside down and did all he could to right serious wrongs. He was somebody who truly made a difference and who is still trying to do so. He believes in the power of the people for a just cause. He’s lived it. “A Notable Exception” is about the legacy of the actions Kieler, a group of resistance fighters, and a whole nation took 65 years ago to save part of it’s population. It’s about Kieler’s own legacy.