A case of signatures

A beautiful square cigarette case in shiny gold. For many years it has not carried cigarettes, but rather a series of engraved signatures. Together, they contain the story of the action against the Danish Jews, of the escape, refugee life in Sweden and return home. About helpfulness and gratitude.

By museum inspector Signe B. Larsen

The golden cigarette case originally belonged to Hamburg-born Mathias Max Lewisohn (1890-1973). It was a gift from his five years older brother and best friend, Oscar Lewisohn (1885-1929). The occasion was Mathias' engagement to the 13-year-younger Jenny Ruth Cunild (1903-1984). Therefore, the case was engraved in the upper left corner of one side with “ML 31. Dec. 1922”. “ML” for Mathias Lewisohn.

The cigarette case has undeniably had great emotional value for Mathias Lewisohn, which was not diminished by the fact that he lost his older brother 7 years later. For a smoker like Mathias, or Max as he was called in the family, it would be a reminder several times a day of the joyful event and of course the generous gift giver.

Warning and preparations

In September 1943, the family, which now - in addition to Max and Jenny - also included the children Alice Sophie (16), Birte (15), Inge (6) and Oscar Max (5), was visited by the family's doctor and good friend Aage Pedersen. He had hurried to the family, who lived in a villa on Høyrups Allé. It was evening and after curfew, but as a doctor he had certain powers. Aage came with a disturbing message and request: the family had to immediately pack the most necessary things and leave home. He had come directly from their mutual friend, later Minister of Church and Culture, Bodil Koch (1903-1972), from whom he had received the message that the occupying power would launch an action against the Danish Jews. This action would also affect the Lewisohn family. 

Aage Pedersen offers to adopt the couple's youngest child, Oscar:

“... themselves, they would have adopted Oscar, but we agreed to face what the future brings in a united flock, with a firm hand!” Jenny writes in a letter to her mother, dated September 29, 1943. The letter that Jenny writes to her mother and the memories that she writes during and immediately after her stay in Sweden 1943-45, are crucial for understanding the couple's experiences and the significance of the cigarette case. The memories can be found together with the letter in a digital copy at the Danish Jewish Museum.

As soon as the doctor has left, the couple quietly walks around the villa and packs for what they imagine will be a few weeks 'in the country'. They pack the children's winter clothes, but completely forget to pack clothes for Max. But he has the gold cigarette case - the gift from his brother - with him, of course. Early the next morning they wake the children with the message that they have to take the train at 8 o'clock from Klampenborg station. From there they go to the family's holiday home 'Solkrogen' near Gilleleje, where they will wait out the situation.

On the run

The trip to 'Solkrogen' is relatively uneventful and on Thursday, September 30, the family wakes up to a beautiful, sunny and quiet Øresund. For a moment, Jenny considers going back to Copenhagen to see her father, who is in the hospital, and to get clothes for Max, but after a call from some friends, she has second thoughts. Instead, Max goes to Gilleleje, where he intercepts news that makes the family determined to flee to Sweden as soon as possible. Later that day, all arrangements are made.

A little after eight in the evening, the family is picked up by a car. The youngest child, Oscar, has fallen ill, so he is well wrapped in two duvets. They say goodbye to 'Solkrogen' and are driven to Gilleleje, where they are welcomed by the wholesaler couple Mr. and Mrs. Eltang and the manufacturer Mr. Jacobsen. 

Around at half past ten they sneak in small groups down to the harbor and aboard a small fishing cutter, where they have to wait until early the next morning at 4.30 before the skipper leaves the quay. To Jenny's horror, they do not sail directly to Sweden. Instead, the skipper has to follow his usual route, down through the Øresund and past Copenhagen, as the Nazis know that he regularly sails to Bornholm.

Only around At 14.30 p.m. the skipper can convey the news that they are now sailing in Swedish waters, and at 17 p.m. On 1 October they sail into the Falsterbo channel.

In Sweden

In Sweden, they are received by the Swedish authorities, questioned and their luggage is searched. They are among the first Danish Jewish refugees to arrive. In the following days, the number of refugees increases drastically. Jenny comments in her memoirs that her camera is confiscated - she only gets it back 14 days later. The family is then taken to a refugee collection point, where they are handed a pile of blankets and housed in a large room together. From here, the family looks out the window in the evening and the children, who have lived the last few years in an occupied and blacked-out Denmark, exclaim: "Mother, they have completely forgotten to black out!"

The next day the family is brought to Malmö. Here they are interrogated again, and it takes a long time before the papers are in order and the family can move on. With their luggage, they stay at the Hotel Temperence, like many other Danish refugees. From the hotel, they call their acquaintances, the Meyer family, who immediately come and collect the whole family to dine at their home. The next night, the same thing, while all the kids take a trip to the cinema to see an American film!

In general, the family is lucky that various friends and acquaintances take good care of them by, among other things, inviting them home for dinner and helping with contacts who can provide information across the Øresund, e.g. from Jenny's family, who are still in Denmark.

The early October days are marked by the joy of reunion and relief at all the familiar faces they meet, and when the family's youngest daughter, Inge, turns 7, the family invites 14 other Danish refugee children to hot chocolate. But unfortunately, there is also plenty of unhappy news: Jenny receives the news that her father is dead, and they also hear about how their good friends, the Oppenhejm family, did not succeed in their escape, but were instead captured by the Nazis.

After a few days at the hotel in Malmø, they are told that the Danish refugees must move on out of Malmø and to resettlement. Here one of the family's acquaintances steps in and makes sure instead that they can be accommodated at the 'Tourist farm' in Vittsjö, where they enjoy a few days. Soon, however, they are back in Malmö, where they get the opportunity to rent an apartment on Tärningsholmsgatan. From here, the family can get a base. Jenny documents the apartment with her camera and decorates it with pictures of Christian X, for whom she has great admiration. Later, she puts these photographs in an album documenting the family's time in Sweden. The album is in the Danish Jewish Museum's collection.

A gesture of gratitude

One of these October days in Malmö, the couple is invited out to eat at the restaurant 'Admiral' by the Lindvall couple in 'Folkets Park', where Mr. Lindvall is the director. At this exquisite lunch, Max Lewisohn chose to present the golden cigarette case as a gift. The decision was made shortly after their arrival in Sweden, when Max had been to a large reception at the same restaurant, where Mr. Lindvall had given a speech. We do not know the speech, but it made a great impression on Mathias.

Jenny writes in her memoirs: 

"Max came home and was so moved and captivated that he immediately said, "I want to give that man my cigarette case". I still remember that I said nothing, apart from "if you think so, then do it" - but in my heart I was very surprised. The case had been given to Max by his late brother Oscar when we got engaged 30/12-22. I knew how happy Max was about that. -Furthermore, we were now standing on Swedish soil without money, without work and had no idea about the future. - But the day came when Max got serious about his wish to give Lindvall this gift, and I don't need to mention that he was happy."

Mr. Lindvall insists that the case be engraved with Max's and Jenny's signatures and therefore one can read their signatures together with the date “21/10 -43” and the word “Thank you!”.

Collection of signatures

The non-smoker Mr. Lindvall insists that the cigarette case will eventually return to the Lewisohn family, perhaps when the youngest of the family, Oscar, is old enough to receive it. Therefore, Mr. Lindvall – or Harald, as Max and Jenny now call him – plans to leave one inside of the case blank for his own and his wife's dedication to Oscar when the opportunity arises. The other side, however, is reserved for particularly significant signatures. He shows one of these to Max and Jenny at a dinner in 'Folkets Park'. Harald Lindvall proudly offers the company cigarettes from the golden case and emphasizes that he has had the signature of the Swedish Prime Minister, Per Albin Hansson, engraved on it.

In the spring of 1945, the Lewisohn couple and their children were able to travel back to Denmark and enjoy the summer in their summer house 'Solkrogen' near Gilleleje. However, it wasn't long before they revisited their good friends in Sweden, as they were already on their way to Malmö in the autumn of 1945.

Several years later in 1962, Max contacts Harald and Edith Lindvall with an inquiry. Their son, Oscar, is getting married, so Max asks if he can buy back the cigarette case to give it as a wedding present to Oscar? Harald Lindvall quickly replies, of course he can have it back. Lindvall has one more thing to add: over the years, he and Edith have had some signatures engraved that they believe were of great importance for the Lewisohn family's escape to Sweden. He hopes this does not diminish the value for Oscar.

In the summer of 1962, Oscar Max Lewisohn receives his father's cigarette case as a gift. In addition to the previous engravings, it now also contains a dedication from the Lindvall couple: “To Oscar / den 4 Aug 1962 / Edith . Harald". On the opposite side, signatures have been added that emphasize the central position that October 1943 has given to the family and the great gratitude for the role of individuals in the events. The signature of Aage Pedersen, the doctor and friend who stopped by their villa to warn them personally, can be found. A signature of Bodil Koch who warned Aage and GF Duckwitz's signature symbolizing his role in the warning. 

The German shipping expert and Nazi Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz (1904-1973) had become close friends during the occupation of Denmark with Plenipotentiary Dr. Werner Best, who was the initiator of the action against the Danish Jews in October 1943. According to Duckwitz, he had information about the action directly from Werner Best. Information that he chose to pass on to leading Danish Social Democratic politicians.

Duckwitz's motives for his actions in connection with the escape and rescue of the Danish Jews are heavily debated among historians. Some believe that his actions were an expression of pure self-preservation, that he was a convinced Nazi and that the warning was mostly about saving himself and his legacy after the war, which he also embellished in his diaries. Others believe that it was mostly Werner Best who used Duckwitz with the same purpose in mind, and Duckwitz was also a fundamental part of Werner Best's defense after the war. In contrast, the Danish occupation-era historian, Hans Kirchhoff, frankly described Duckwitz as 'the good German'. In 1971, Duckwitz was also awarded the title of 'Righteous Among the Nations' by the Israeli government precisely for his role in warning the Danish Jews.

Regardless of Duckwitz's motives, his actions and positive legacy have given him a place among those who helped the Lewisohn family escape to Sweden. It was Harald Lindvall who believed that Duckwitz's signature belonged alongside Aage Pedersen's and Bodil Koch's. This placed Duckwitz centrally in the history of the Lewisohn family. However, Max Lewisohn did not oppose this placement, and he personally wrote to GF Duckwitz to ask for permission to have the signature engraved. Duckwitz gave permission to “Sehr geehrte Herr Lewisohn” in a short letter, which can also be found in the Danish Jewish Museum's collection together with the correspondence between Lindvall and Max Lewisohn regarding the cigarette case. In this way, the cigarette case is a unique testimony to the story of Duckwitz's role in the escape and rescue of Danish Jews.

The cigarette case will remain in Oscar Max Lewisohn's possession until his death in March 2024.

In the summer of 2024, the cigarette case became part of the Danish Jewish Museum's collection.