The True Story of How Henny Sinding Helped Denmark’s Jews Escape the Nazis
By Susan Hood
4RBooks: 6/6, grades 6+
Amazon rating: 5/5, grade level 5-6
Good Reads: 4.25/5
Common Sense Media: Not yet reviewed
355 pages (plus additional pages of historical information and pictures after the story)
Synopsis:
WWII has started in Europe and Denmark is trying to stay neutral. They sign a peace agreement with Germany which angers many of their citizens, including Henny Sindig. She lives in Copenhagen with her parents, older sister, and younger brother. Henny is not happy with the German occupation of her country, especially when word gets out that they are coming for the Jewish citizens to send them to concentration camps.
Henny joins a resistance group and becomes part of a secret plan to help Jewish residents of Denmark escape to Sweden. She loves the sea, her father is a navy officer, and is working with a ship called the Gerda III, a lighthouse supply boat. Henny, the ship’s crew, and the resistance make arrangements for escaping Jews to travel in the hold of the ship until they can make it safely to Sweden.
Henny also helps the resistance in other ways as the war progresses until word gets out that they have been betrayed. She will have to say goodbye to her friends and family and make her own escape to Sweden.
Parental Guidance: low
Tense moments of potential danger.
News of people who committed suicide, drowned, or were shot.
Jews being rounded up to be sent to concentration camps.
Recommendation:
This was an amazing book. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one day. It is a compelling story about a slice of WWII history that I didn’t know. The subtitle makes it seem that it’s only a story of Henny Sindig, but it was much more than that. The entire country of Denmark was as much the hero of the story as Henny was. It made me want to plan a trip to visit as soon as possible.
Though marketed for children, this is a book that teenagers and adults can enjoy, too. It’s written in free verse so 355 pages is a quick and easy read, but there is so much there. I highly recommend this book and was disappointed that it only has three ratings and reviews on Amazon and 31 on goodreads.com. More people should be aware of this book.
It would be an easy read for elementary children, but they would probably need some front loading on the events around WWII, Hitler, and the Holocaust. It’s more of a middle school read, but I would recommend this book to high school sophomores and juniors who are studying WWII. Adults who enjoy WWII history should give it a read, too.
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