​(Communicated by the President's Spokesperson)

President Reuven Rivlin began his visit to Denmark today (Wednesday 10 October, 2018) by laying a wreath at the monument to the Danish underground which led the effort to save the Jews of Denmark during the Second World War. The president was escorted by the Danish minister of defense, Mr. Claus Hjort Frederiksen.
 
Along with the president, holocaust survivor Salli Besiakov also laid a wreath at the monument to the Danish underground. Salli was rescued as a fifteen-year-old by the efforts of the underground. In October 1943, Salli and his family left their home for a safe house in Copenhagen. His life was saved when he was taken in a fishing boat to Sweden.
 
President and Mrs Rivlin shook his hand warmly and discussed his life. “The determination with which the Jews of Denmark were saved moves us even today,” said the president in his meeting with Besiakov.
 
After the ceremony, President and Mrs Rivlin will meet Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark for a private meeting.
 
President Rivlin is in Denmark at the invitation of the prime minister of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the Gribskov local council and the Gilleleje church for a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the rescue of over 7000 Danish Jews from Nazi persecution and their safe transfer to Sweden in October 1943.
 
The story of the rescue of the Jews of Denmark is one of the most remarkable in the history of the holocaust. 90% of the Danish Jewish community was rescued and when they returned home they found that their property had been protected by their fellow Danes.