History of the Jews in Iceland

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Icelandic annals do not mention any Jews in Iceland until the early 19th century. According to the annalist Jón Vídalín, the first Jewish ship entered an Icelandic harbour in 1815. We do not know its nationality, but due to marital and trading rules it is almost certain that it involved Danish Jews.

Today there are only a handful of Jews in Iceland.

Contents 1 Early contact 1.1 The laws on foreign Jews 1.2 "The first Jew" 2 Twentieth Century 2.1 The "Jewish Question" and Icelandic opinion 2.2 Iceland's Jewish policy 2.3 "Kindness outlawed in Iceland" 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Early contact

Although Jews in Iceland were first mentioned by the annals in 1815 is it only reasonable to assume that Jewish merchants had visited the country during the early modern era, or even before. Under the Danish monopoly the Icelandic trade was for a time based on the Danish German subjects in cities such as Altona and Glückstadt. Later its centre moved to the free city of Hamburg and finally to Copenhagen. All those cities had fairly large Jewish communities, including a large number of merchants.

If any Jewish merchants had traded with Iceland, they could not have admitted their beliefs due to the Lutheran monopoly of religion. Thus it is impossible to establish the alleged Jewish origin of any of Iceland's traders. However, the members of the Althing admitted in 1855 that Jews had "traded [with] and had representatives in Iceland." Also, the final restrictions on foreign trade in Iceland were not abolished until 1855.

Whatever part Jewish merchants played in the Icelandic trade, we know almost for certain that no practising Jews lived in Iceland until the early 1900s. We know, however, that a number of conversos settled in Reykjavík, Iceland's capital, soon after the abolition of the monopoly of trade when non-Danish immigrants were first admitted to Iceland. The Icelanders usually welcomed foreigners, as long as they could be useful and integrated into the society. However, the demand for assimilation in fact ruled out Jews and non-Protestant Christians.

However, against Icelandic legislature, the king of Denmark promoted laws from 1814 on the equality of all Danish citizens, regardless of their religion. Although in theory Jews could settle in Iceland we have no information on any attempts by them to do so. The main reason, excluding the barrier of religious intolerance, was probably the unilateral economic resources in Iceland. Sea products were its main export, which could not yet establish a large-scale industry due to lack of sophisticated harbours and vessels. Jews were urban dwellers, and thus were primarily engaged in trades and petty business. Iceland's biggest town, Reykjavík, had only a few hundred inhabitants and thus hardly feasible to Jewish traders.

[edit] The laws on foreign Jews

In 1850 the Danish government enforced its "laws on admitting foreign Jews to the Kingdom." The Danish king was, at that time, executing his favourable policy towards Jews due to their beneficiary contribution to society and the demands of democracy. After the revolutionary year of 1848 the king surrendered his "absolute monarchy" in favour of democratic reforms.

In 1853 the Danish government introduced these laws to the Althing for acceptance or refusal, as was customary concerning Danish laws. Members of the Althing (MA) did not, however, agree on the necessity of such laws. They argued that Jews, as other Danes, could settle in Iceland and engage in trade. However, they could not practise Judaism there and since the Althing repeatedly refused to instate freedom of religion, there was no reconciliation in this matter. Since only Danish subjects could settle in Iceland, there seemed to be no reason to admit Jews, of all people, as the first foreigners. Therefore the MAs declined the laws by thirteen votes to six. Notwithstanding the practical reasons, prejudice played a great part in that decision. The MA Ólafur Sívertsen stated:

I fear that time if we were to invite Jews to [Iceland] and we would more appreciate their regards than arrival. I would like to mention also, in addition to previous discussions, that this less desirable nation is infamous for trading and their clever salesmanship could trouble our own merchants and indeed all Icelanders.

In 1855 the King of Denmark abolished the Danish monopoly of the Icelandic trade, which also meant that Christians of whatever nationality could settle in Iceland. To encourage trade, he resubmitted the laws on foreign Jews that the Althing had rejected in 1853. This time the MAs responded differently. They still had to come down from the nostalgia that arose when the hated monopoly was abolished and wanted to exploit all means to elevate the Icelanders from the state of backwardness to that of prosperity. After some discussions, the MAs agreed by sixteen votes to four to allow Jews to settle in Iceland. The Althing's resolution stated that

just as it is spurious for any society's prosperity to discriminate the rights of citizenship on the basis of religion, it could also harm the Icelandic trade if Jews were not allowed to settle in Iceland due to their religion. It also seems that Jews are not accustomed to pull others to their beliefs. In fact, if the [Jewish] trade would not be allowed, it might harm our trade and dealings with other nations, since it is generally believed that among the Jews are many hard-working and honest traders and [Jews] in general are good workers, useful and peaceful citizens where they have been allowed to settle.

It is notable that the prejudice that became frequently apparent in 1853 had almost vanished in 1855. They had now transformed the "infamous" traders into peaceful citizens and honest merchants. Some MAs that had protested strongest in the previous parliamentary session made only some minor references to the le peril Juif. The advocates of this proposal stressed that the Norwegian Storting had allowed Jews to immigrate and seemed to have nothing to worry about. It seems that the Norwegian experience had assured the Icelandic MA's that the Jews were no imminent danger to the well-being of the nation. This reference to Norway seems bizarre, since Jews did not immigrate into Norway to the same extent as predicted. In 1852, a year after Norway had admitted her first Jews did the first Jew immigrate. Next decades the Jewish community grew slowly and numbered around 200 in 1890. In 1855 there could only have been fewer than a dozen in Norway, since the main stream of immigration arrived after the Russian pogroms in the 1880s. This allusion about Norway's favourable experience of the newly arrived Jews must have occurred due to some misunderstanding. One cannot accept that Norway's "good experience" had anything to do with the Althing's resolution, although frequently mentioned by the MAs. However, on 6 January 1857 the Danish King confirmed the Althing's resolution and stated:

Such as it is lawful for local [Danish] Jews to settle in Iceland, so are foreign Jews permitted to settle there also. Their presence in Iceland is only limited by the same restrictions as applied to other foreigners.

The Danes had now imported their tolerance to both Norway and Iceland. There were now no serious obstacles of Jewish immigration to Iceland, yet the Jews failed to accept this invitation.

[edit] "The first Jew"

In 1874 the King of Denmark arrived at Þingvellir, the ancient site of the Althing, to participate in Iceland's millennium anniversary with his own birthday present, its first constitution. Several countries sent their delegates and the first journalists to visit Iceland arrived to cover the events. Among them was a certain Hungarian journalist, Max Nordau from [Buda]Pest, who later became the President of the Zionist Organization. He was, to our best knowledge, the first practising Jew mentioned by name in Icelandic annals. His entrance did not, however, encourage Jewish settlements in Iceland, although the new constitution abolished the last barrier to Jewish activities there, by introducing freedom of religion. If Jews had ever been ready to immigrate to Iceland, they would have thought twice about that possibility after having read Nordau's report, if they did so. He had previously travelled through Scandinavia and admired the Nordic countries to a large extent. Iceland, on the other hand, received a much worse report. Nordau's biographers wrote:

Passing the Shetland and Faroe Islands the July weather grew so cold that Nordau wrote home it might be better to be a dog in Pest than a traveller in Iceland... In the harbor of Rejkjavik [sic] Nordau saw dozens of whales floating on the water. It was much milder here, verdure was green and delightful on account of the never setting sun. Lodgings were practically impossible to get; the correspondents were finally compelled to take shelter in the hospital.

After Nordau had covered the story of the millennium anniversary he had had more than enough of Iceland, as described in his book From the Kremlin to the Alhambra. He did not appreciate the Icelanders' primitive way of living, who were "overwhelming in their melancholy." Iceland's primitive way of living, although ruling supreme in 1874, was soon to change due to the Industrial Revolution.

[edit] Twentieth Century

[edit] The "Jewish Question" and Icelandic opinion

When Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of the German Reich, the right wing newspapers, the Morgunblaðið and Vísir, did not conceal their applaud. Under his leadership was Germany rising from the ashes of depression, inflation, unemployment, civil unrest and communism. Hitler's antisemitism was only considered a minor issue and not much more than a side-effect of the Nazi anti-communism campaign. In October 1934 the Morgunblaðið stated:

Icelandic newspapers and radio often mention the persecution against the Jews in Germany... Most frequently the issue is discussed in that manner as the victims of the "Nazi cruelty" were saints who had done nothing to deserve that except for being of other race than the Nazi "butchers."

The Morgunblaðið's results were that since the German nation was leading in culture and education the Jews must have had provoked the persecutions by being parasites who had managed to enrich themselves at the cost of the Germans. Those Icelanders who objected were simply labelled as "Jews".

The Vísir put its attention to Germany's economic issues but also the revival of Nordic culture and heritage. If the Aryan revolution would deprive Communists, Jews and other "enemies of the Reich" of their rights, it simply had to be. The newspaper's editors could not understand why most of the Icelandic media had protested against the persecutions of Jews in Germany, since they were unimportant and had no lasting effect. Professor Þór Whitehead discussed the right wing newspapers' policies and stated:

Since the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, the Vísir displayed most support of all Reykjavík's newspapers. Even though the Morgunblaðið accepted some aspects of the Hitler regime it was to a much lesser extent than the Vísir which did not conceal its admiration for Hitler's actions against Communists... The newspaper repeatedly stated the arguments of those who thought that Hitler was a man of peace, and abused the Nazi victims of Jewish descend when they sought refuge here [in Iceland].

Even with the news of large-scale persecutions in Germany, the Jews found no mercy on the Vísir's pages. It seems to have still believed that the refined German culture would proceed above the Nazi ideology. In June 1938, some reports about Germany's antisemitism and Nazi actions to restrict Jewish fundamental rights were reported. According to the Vísir, these "horrible persecutions" were the following: Soldiers searched in two restaurants and cinemas in Berlin and expelled its Jewish customers. The following day the newspaper reported increasing actions by the Nazi government: Soldiers arrested and maltreated Jews in the poorer neighbourhoods (Communists!) and were so bold to paint warnings on Jewish shops. As the persecutions appeared in the Vísir, they were more like childish pranks than cruel subjugation. Although it was considered non-agreeable to harm any man physically, the positive aspects of the Nazi government, such as its anti-Communist stand, were of so much greater importance than some minor attacks on Jews, whose bad "behaviour in Germany had caused the persecutions anyway".

The Vísir pursued even stronger policies concerning Jews in Iceland. In May 1938 it discussed the growing number of refugees in Reykjavík, "mostly Jews who by some reason had abandoned their former homes." Although "Icelanders cannot usually accept that people are persecuted because of their faith or nationality. On the other hand, we cannot allow that to misguide us." The Vísir concluded by stating that Iceland could not be of any help to the refugees due to local unemployment. Also, those Jews were not worth much in the first place.

When news from the Kristallnacht had reached Iceland, the Vísir refuted the Nazi hooliganism, but very soon the paper gave its increasing attention to German explanations of these incidents, including the amazing statement that the Jews had put their houses on fire to defraud the insurance companies.48 When it had become a common knowledge that the persecutions were on a dangerous level, the Vísir did not change its policy to any extent. Shortly after the Kristallnacht it published an editorial, where it said:

No nation cannot afford as the smaller ones as the Icelanders the immigration of foreigners and the intermixture of races which follows. A renown Icelandic scientist has argued that only 50 Jews, who would be embodied into the race, could deprive the [Icelandic] nation of its characteristics in 2-3 generations.

The Vísir now condemned the persecutions of Jews in Germany, mainly because they might lead to their mass immigration to Iceland. There were already some Jewish refugees in Iceland who had been brought in by Communists and the Icelandic branch of the Para Pacem, a left wing humanitarian organisation. The Government should take a stand against this immigration, because of "the sacred duty to protect the Icelandic race, the Aryan and Celtic blood." The Vísir followed a strict policy concerning the immigration of personas non gratas into Iceland. In May 1939 it stated:

The surveillance of foreigners seems not to be strict enough. The national authorities must diligently preserve this country from allowing the vermins of foreign wandering scoundrels to settle here.

The Vísir undoubtedly considered the Jews as belonging to an inferior race which was not supposed to mingle with the Icelandic Aryans. Professor Þór Whitehead stated that although the Morgunblaðið was less extreme than Vísir, "their detest towards Hitler's victims, especially Jews, was obvious. These papers' editors had been deceived by Nazi propaganda against the Jews."

The Morgunblaðið adopted a similar policy as the Vísir, yet not as extreme. According to its article from March 1938 the Jews were, as it seems, the "wandering foreign flock of degenerates" whose presence was not welcome in Iceland. In April the newspaper reported with a victorious smile the expulsion of the Jewish Rottberger family. Hans Rottberger from Berlin had arrived in Iceland in 1935 and soon had established his own business. Unfortunately, he was in competition with the very Icelander who had helped him to settle in Iceland. His former benefactor, Atli Ólafsson, demanded his expulsion after Rottberger had refused to sell his manufacture at the standard price or co-operate in solving their disputes. After the Government had repeatedly delayed his expulsion Rottberger was finally deported in April 1938. The Morgunblaðið rejoiced and stated:

We must express our delight that the authorities had pulled up their sleeves and done something about those wandering scoundrels who have roamed to Iceland with the hope that no restrictions were en-forced as in previous years.

Concerning the persecutions of Jews in Germany the Morgunblaðið adopted a less extreme policy than Vísir. Yet, after the Jewish Gruenszpan had shot and critically wounded a German diplomat, Ernst von Rath, in Paris, the Morgunblaðið predicted that severe revenge would follow. The morning before the Kristallnacht the newspaper stated that the assassination of von Rath had not been an isolated incident, but a part of an organised plot by the Jews to weaken the Nazi government. By murdering a German diplomat in Paris the Jews were trying to sow a discord between Germany and France, which friendship had been signed by the Munich treaty earlier that same year. This devious murder was indeed a part of a Jewish conspiracy against the German people. The following day the "Jewish conspiracy" was discovered inside Germany, when its police raided some Jewish homes and expropriated 2.700 bats, 1.700 guns and 20.000 bullets, which was an obvious sign of the Jewish intentions. These reporting were the last that were conducted in this manner. The Morgunblaðið's editorial board refused to submit to the reporting of its agent in Denmark but approached British and American news agencies directly. The following day there appeared a total change of course. In the Morgunblaðið's reporting from 11 November the Nazis were condemned in a rather harsh way. The great German nation of higher culture had fallen victim to the barbarous Nazis who persecuted and killed innocent Jews for no substantial reason. The following weeks the Morgunblaðið continued its condemnation of the Nazi government in Germany, either because of its Jewish policy or deteriorating relations with the Independence Party's archetypal country, Great Britain.

After the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939, the right-wing support for Germany deteriorated. By siding with the hated Communist state, most right wingers could hardly show her support. Thus they joined camp with the Socialists in condemning the Nazi regime. The Alþýðublaðið, the Labour Party's main organ, had refuted the Nazi party as early as 1930, and in 1933 it attacked Hitler's regime with rigour. One of Iceland's most famous authors, Þórbergur Þórðarsson, went the extra mile in his fierce condemnation of everything connected with Nazis. He labelled Nazi leaders with terms such as "sadists", homosexuals and drug addicts. His attacks were so fierce that the German Consul-General filed an official complaint to the Icelandic government. It was no surprise, since there was hardly an abusive term known in the Icelandic language which the Alþýðublaðið did not use referring to the Nazis.

At first, the Alþýðublaðið did not consider the persecution of Jews in Germany a very serious matter. It considered the Jews as capitalists and thus deserving a little whipping. They were only 1% of Germany's population but were in control of much higher proportion of the country's wealth and official positions. The Nazi hatred towards the Jews was thus understandable, even socialistic. After all, the new regime was National Socialistic, thus their antisemitism was considered as a struggle between a strong government and capitalistic minority in Germany. In the summer of 1933 this attitude changed rapidly when German Socialists turned out to be persecuted with the same cruelty as Jews. Now it was "recalled" that Karl Marx and most of Germany's Socialist leaders were Jewish and the situation turned upside down. The Nazis were transformed into capitalists who were persecuting the workers, both Jews and non-Jews. Also, since British Socialists had demonstrated against the pogroms they had to be disagreeable. The Alþýðublaðið thus turned against the Nazi government and supported the Jewish cause in Germany to the utmost of its capacity.

During the Great Depression the Alþýðublaðið agreed with the right wing newspapers on the necessity of keeping a solid surveillance of foreigners in Iceland. Its motives were yet totally different since the Labour politicians could not accept many foreign workers, except those with special qualities, in the midst of a growing unemployment. The organs of the Communist Party, first the Verklýðsblaðið and later the Þjóðviljinn, were evidently very hostile to Nazism and thus friendly towards the German Jews. Their columnists apparently allowed their hatred for the "brown plague", as they called Nazism, to rule over decent manners and most basic rules of journalism. Their abusive attitude and rigorous language did not really serve their purpose but the meaning was clear: Nazism was the greatest evil this world had seen and had to be overthrown. The persecutions of Jews were considered enough evidence of their brutality and barbarism.

The organs of the Progressive Party, the Nýja dagblaðið and Tíminn, did not give Nazism much space on their pages, but the relatively few instances were rather objective. They did not express much dislike to the Nazi policies in general, not even their racial ones, but disliked the violence and cruelty that were used to enforce them. The Tíminn also mentioned the Soviet antisemitism and wondered why the Russians did not solve the Jewish problem in Germany by adopting their Jews and settling them somewhere in their vast empire. Since it was the official organ of the Governmental party, it should perhaps have looked closer to home and examined Iceland's population density and policy towards immigration of Jews.

[edit] Iceland's Jewish policy

The Danish-Icelandic authorities seem to have adopted a designated Jewish policy in the early 1930s. According to a sample from the Danish National Archives, provided by Dr. Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, the Danish Embassy in Berlin refused Jews entry to Denmark-Iceland even before the ascension of the Nazi party. German "Aryans" obtained visas without many difficulties, but applications from Jews, or "Germans" with obvious Jewish names, were marked by a red ring in their right corners. One does not know the reason for such classification concerning Iceland, since her Foreign Bureau's files at the National Archives do not contain any such commands.

The Hermann Jónasson's governments 1934-1942 enforced a strict immigration policy. During 1936-1937 were several laws and orders promulgated, all of them in order to minimise immigration and restrict rules of admission for "useless persons." The Government's policy was that the "main rule was that foreigners should certainly not be admitted to [Iceland], except in special circumstances." As it turned out, this rule was rarely enforced concerning non-Jewish immigrants.

Sveinn Björnsson, Iceland's representative to Denmark (President 1944-1952), enquired in 1938 whether the Government would grant a visa to the dentist S. Rubin, of which there was a great shortage in Iceland. Mr. Jónasson, as the Minister of Justice, responded by stating that his government was "in principle against granting German Jews visas to Iceland." This manifesto was a confirmation of the already enforced policy concerning Austrian and Czechoslovak Jews. By refusing Jews from those three countries to enter Iceland, the Government was in fact closing its doors to all Jewish immigration. On the other hand, Germany's non-Jewish subjects were allowed to immigrate to Iceland as before.

Jews under Nazi domination had to face a rough choice for the future. They could stay in Greater Germany, in the face of growing persecution, or emigrate empty handed. Also, by leaving Germany they had to sign a declaration which forfeited their future rights of staying in Hitler's Third Reich. This statement was an issue when the Icelandic authorities discussed an application from three Austrian Jews:

...the Ministry [of Justice] states that it can neither grant those people visas to Iceland nor other Jews who are compelled to sign such a declaration... not to return to Germany (Austria).

On this basis was a fair number of applicants denied access to Iceland. Also, Helgi P. Briem, Iceland's representative at the Danish Embassy in Berlin, had to refuse visas to a large number of Jews on strict orders from the Government.65 According to the files of the Icelandic Ministry of Justice, some 160 individual Jews, excluding families, were refused immigration or transit visas in 1938-1939 by the Icelandic government. We can assume, however, that their number was much larger, since those matters were usually dealt with by the Danish Consulates, not the Icelandic government directly. Their files are presently preserved at the National Archives in Copenhagen, as mentioned concerning Dr. Vilhjálmsson's contribution to this subject. Almost all applicants were German speaking, but there was also a fair number from Czechoslovakia, especially from Prague. Many applicants had already emigrated to countries such as France, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Finland or Norway. The majority of the applicants were residents of Berlin, Vienna and Prague. Also, some of them lived in other big cities, such as Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich.

This author assumes that most of the applicants had already been refused visas by the Danish authorities but then decided to apply directly to Iceland. Also, it is very likely that Jews sent applications to all the Scandinavian countries hoping that at least one country would accept them. Steven Koblik gives us the Swedish situation: "The Swedish minister in Prague wrote that the legation was being inundated by Jews who were trying to leave Czechoslovakia like "rats leaving a sinking ship."" The desperation revealed in almost every application is a clear evidence of the applicants' situation. They had obviously tried everything else and were willing to grasp any asylum they could get. Most applicants detailed their qualities and experience and also stressed their dangerous situation inside the Third Reich. These biographies did not charm the Icelandic authorities.

[edit] "Kindness outlawed in Iceland"

During the first months of 1939 the physician Katrín Thoroddsen applied, on the behalf of Para Pacem, for a temporary visa for about 10 Jewish children from Austria. She argued that their parents were in danger of being sent to labour camps and it was an extreme necessity to rescue those children from hardship. Para Pacem in Norway, Sweden and Denmark had already been granted such permissions from the relevant governments and Dr. Thoroddsen saw no reason why Iceland should not follow suit. Prime Minister Jónasson refused her application, without giving any reasonable explanations. The chairmen of all other political parties had promised their support, but of no avail. Against public and official opinions, even from within his own party, Jónasson did not change his mind, as Dr. Thoroddsen discussed explicitly in the Þjóðviljinn. Against her accusations the official organ of Jónasson's Progressive Party defended his actions. In Tíminn was stated that although it is to be considered kind and noble to assist foreigners would it be "probably closer to home to help first those who are wanting here." The Alþýðublaðið condemned the hypocritical attitude of Mr. Jónasson's government. At the same time as innocent and helpless children were refused entry to Iceland, several members of the Nazi party were admitted. It stated: "If we cannot afford to shelter one refugee child, how can we afford to support foreign dictator's spies or agents?"

The Alþýðublaðið's argument was not far from reality. The NSDAP established its cell in Reykjavík in 1934 and had, in 1939, enrolled most Germans in Iceland into its rank. We also know of Nazi agents in Iceland, as well as growing interest that Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, had shown towards this small, but geographically well situated and "racially pure Aryan" country. Those spurious men had been granted visas to Iceland without any special restrictions until the summer of 1939.

Another example of "outlawed kindness" was the story of Carl Löwy, a merchant from the Austrian town of Linz. He had been "re-settled" at Dachau where he slave-laboured albeit his 60 years of age. The Danish General-Consulate in Vienna applied for a two months transit visa to Iceland, since the United States had promised him an immigration visa. The application was received by Mr. Jónasson's assistant who underlined the following sentences.

This man's son was here today. He told us among other things that his father had been sent to the Dachau labour camp, due to his origin. The [German] authorities were willing to release him on the condition that he would leave Germany (Austria) and could show a documented proclamation from a foreign state that he will be accepted.

The Icelanders were well informed about Dachau and the inhuman treatment of prisoners as conducted there. Two Icelanders that had worked in Dachau in the mid 1930s told their story to the public. One of them, Sveinn Einarsson, refused to continue his internship at the SS ceramic factory at Dachau because he was most grieved when he saw aged men, most of them were Jewish, who obviously had never done this kind of hard labour, were subjected to such slavery. Most of his co-workers had no sympathy for the inmates and called them "Jewish demons." They thought the Jews deserved their fate due to their abuse of the citizens' need to swindle out money after World War I.

Since Jónasson knew, at least roughly since he had recently visited Germany, what was going on in Dachau, one could imagine he would not object to a transit visa for Carl Löwy. However, his answer was short: "The Ministry [of Justice] wishes that a visa will neither be granted to this man nor others in similar circumstances."

We might take yet another example of such a policy, this time it is concerned with a local resident. Kurt Sonnenfeld arrived to Iceland in 1935, then newly graduated as a dentist. He established himself in Reykjavík as an assistant dentist and in 1939 married to Elisabeth Ulrich, a German photographer who had been living in Iceland since 1926. Soon after their marriage he learned of his parents' dangerous situation in Germany and was determined to return to Berlin. He went to Denmark and tried to cross the German border. He was advised not to do so by a German soldier, due to the hazardous situation of Jews in Germany. Thus he appealed to the Icelandic government for immigration visas on the behalf of his parents. There he stated:

My mother is 64 years old, a German, but my father is 71 years, Jewish, and they are now endangered by the new racial laws in Germany to be transferred to Poland. There they do not know anybody and thus I would appreciate very much if it can be avoided. I have been working in Reykjavik last four years as a dentist. My wife, who also is of German origin, has been living hear for more than 13 years and likewise has a good job, and thus it seems that we could be able to sustain my parents.

His appeal was discussed in the Icelandic government, which was unusual for such cases. A new coalition government had been established, supported by all parliamental parties except the Communist Party which had merged with radical Socialists in 1938. Hermann Jónasson was still the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, but due to the hazardous situation in Europe, other ministers were allowed to take more part in the policy making. The result was that "the majority of ministers will allow it. HJ." 76 Although we have no actual records of that meeting, one can assume that Jónasson shared the minority vote, probably along with Jakob Möller, the former editor of the Vísir. Anyway, the Sonnenfelds did not arrive in Iceland but managed to hide, probably in Berlin, until the end of the War. The surviving members of the Sonnenfeld family immigrated to Iceland in 1946.

Albeit Hermann Jónasson proved to be hostile towards Jewish immigration he turned a different face to "Aryans". When the British army occupied Iceland in 10 May 1940 some dozens of suspected German Nazis were arrested, and many others until 5 July. After the War their Icelandic families begged their return to Iceland, but the then Minister of Justice, the Labour MA Finnur Jónsson, declined due to their connection to the NSDAP, at the same time as the Government rescued an Icelandic war-criminal in Norway and Wehrmacht officers from Denmark. With the knowledge of their Nazi connection, Hermann Jónasson fought hard in the Althing demanding their return.78 There is no doubt that he had Germans of "Aryan" origin in esteem while he disliked German Jews. At his latter years he revealed his policies in an interview with the Tíminn. He admitted that he liked Germans

because I had studied in Germany... yet I always made a distinction between them and Nazis. When they [the Nazis] were concerned I always took every precaution as history confirms with evidences one cannot deny.

However respectful that sounds, it is largely untrue. Nazis had access to Iceland without any specific restrictions from 1933-1939. At the end of the War their past was forgotten. Now they were simply former German POWs and should be allowed to re-enter Iceland, on humanitarian grounds. On the other hand, Jónasson never discussed the fate of the Jews he had deported from the country, for example the Rottbergers who had close relatives in Iceland.

During the debate in the Althing concerning the German POWs in 1945, Einar Olgeirsson, the leader of the Socialist Party, attacked Jónasson's policies and discussed his dealings with Jewish refugees during the 1930s, especially the case of Dr. Katrín Thoroddsen. Jónasson responded by stating:

But one thing is sure, that according to information we, who have been discussing this issue, received, Icelanders allowed more Jewish refugees to immigrate, compared with population, than any other European nation... It is a common knowledge that relatively many Jewish refugees were here [Dec 1938 - Feb 1939] and we Icelanders have done our part in receiving them.

In February 1939 the following Jewish refugees were in Iceland:

• Robert Abraham, pianist.
• Ernst Wilhelm Beckmann, handicraftsman.
• Charlotte Edelstein and two sons. Family of non-Jew Heinz Edelstein, musician.
• Edith Daudistel. Wife on a communist author, Albert Daudistel.
• Fanny Klahn. Wife of a musician Klahn.
• Karl Kroner. A German surgeon, saved by Helgi P. Briem.
• Helene and her son Hans Mann: Unstable employment.
• Gerhard Meyer: Industrial worker. Had concealed his identity to the authorities.
• Ernst Prüller: Worker.
• Harry Rosenthal: Worker.
• Ernst Schickler: Worker. Had concealed his identity to the authorities.
• Kurt Sonnenfeld: Dentist.
• Heinrich Israel Weinmann: Tourist

According to official documents, these were the "relatively many" Jews in Iceland. Two of those, Ernst Prüller and Heinrich Israel Weinmann were deported from Iceland soon after. Some of the others were also given deportation orders. The Icelandic government's policy towards "the numerous Jewish refugees" was thus fairly different from the picture drawn up by Hermann Jónasson in 1945. Those 16 Jews were only 0.002% of the Icelandic population, and as it seems the lowest rate in the Western world. Instead of being in the front seat, Iceland's admission of Jewish refugees was probably the lowest, in a complete contradiction to Jónasson's statement. Furthermore, the European countries contained established Jewish communities, but Iceland was in fact Judenrein.

Hendrik Ottósson re-opened these cases in the Þjóðviljinn in 1946, as a result of the Nuremberg trials and the revealing of the death camps. He condemned the policies of the Icelandic government towards Jewish refugees in the context of the debates in the Althing concerning the German POW's. He especially mentioned the fate of a certain Alfred Kempner, who had been deported for owing a relatively small amount at a Reykjavík guesthouse. The documents of the Ministry of Justice, preserved at the National Archives, show that the cases of deported Jews mentioned earlier, where not the only ones. To this author's best knowledge, the deported or expelled Jews were as follows:

• Ernst Wilhelm Beckmann: expelled - cancelled due to public intervention.
• Dr. Felix Fuchs and wife: expelled.
• Fritz Duhnow: Expelled
• Henny and Peter Goldstein: expelled - cancelled due to marriage.
• Alfred Kempner: deported.
• Helene & Hans Mann: expelled - repeatedly delayed due to health conditions, last time 27 March 1940.
• Ilse Pein: deported.
• Ernst Prüller: deported.
• Marcus Rosenblum: expelled.
• Felix Rosenstock: expelled.
• Harry Rosenthal: expelled. Cancelled twice due to Icelandic intervention.
• Hans Rottberger & family: Deported.
• Osias Meyer Sprechmann: expelled.
• Heinrich Israel Weinmann: deported.
• Fritz Walbaun: deported.

The fate of most of the expelled or deported Jews is presently unknown. However, Hans and Olga Rottberger survived the War and resettled in Germany. Felix Rosenstock was granted temporary asylum in Norway and seems to have settled in Bergen. His name and date of birth appears on the Norwegian monument of the Jews who were deported to Auschwitz and died there.

[edit] See also

World War II

The Holocaust

[edit] External links

• Jews of Iceland