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Denmark, 1943

from The Other Side by David Rovics

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    This CD features Billy Oskay on violin. Songs include "I Can't Breathe," "Denmark, 1943" and "They All Sang the Internationale."

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about

I was sitting at a desk, overlooking the Baltic Sea, near Helsingor, Denmark, where thousands of Danish Jews managed to get to Sweden in the space of a couple days, with the help of a lot of other Danes. Sitting there, I heard the news about the one thousand refugees who had just sank to their deaths in the Mediterranean.

lyrics

When we heard the news that we were to be arrested
We had no doubt exactly what our fate would be
We had hours to get out, only hours to be tested
For five thousand people to cross the Baltic Sea

We had to go at night in the cover of the darkness
There's no way I could exaggerate the threat
We tried not to make a sound, wore nothing that would mark us
But no one knew how far across we'd get, and

I thank God for the fishermen who gave us a ride
And took us over -- to the other side

To find so many boats ready for the journey
To find so many prepared to risk it all
Not everyone could read the stars, not every boat was worthy
Not everyone prepared to heed the call, but

Chorus

Some risked everything for free, accepting nothing but a handshake
Some charged enough to live on for a year
But such details don't matter when so much is at stake
When all that matters is a boat that you might steer

We lived out the war in Sweden while so many others didn't
And most people now would easily agree
To say we deserved asylum would simply be redundant
In the boat lift of 1943, and

Chorus

credits

from The Other Side, released August 31, 2015

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David Rovics Portland, Oregon

Singer/songwriter, writer, podcaster (on Spotify, Substack & Patreon), anarchist, dad, lover of life.

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