We were able to board the bus just a few blocks from our hotel across the street from the fabulous Magasin.
The tourist office had recommended we take the bus rather than the train so that we could see the scenery. We crossed the sound on the Oresund Bridge and the trip didn't take too long.
Once we disembarked, we found ourselves in a city square.
We were really clueless about where the museum was or what it was called. We went looking for people who might be able to help us, and found a very nice man named Jan who at least pointed us in the right direction. It was a funny conversation. He asked if we were Aussies, and shared he had lived in Australia for a time. He told us he was originally from Poland, and that he had married a lady who was half Polish and half Swedish. Then he showed us photos of his children. It was sweet, but odd.
Jan's suggestion was that we should get a bus pass and then take the number eight out to a museum with a submarine outside. His thinking was that the museum with the submarine outside would be the most logical venue for the exhibit as it might be able to house one of the white buses we wanted to study. We went to a news stand to purchase our passes and asked the clerk to confirm that this was indeed the right museum. She frankly, was not aware whether or not Malmö even had one museum, let alone which one would house the White Buses exhibit. It's so interesting that people are sometimes completely unaware of the resources available in their own cities.
We caught the number 8 bus and then asked a few people if they knew where the museum was. Jan had told us it was only a five minute ride. The first few people didn't know, but finally we saw a teen-aged boy who seemed to know where to direct us.
We got off the bus once we saw the submarine Jan had mentioned.
It was a bit of a jaunt 'round Robin Hood's barn to find the entrance, but we did succeed.
We quickly learned that this wasn't the right place. Fortunately, the correct venue was a mere 150 meters down the road at the Malmö Museum, which had served as a refugee camp following WWII.
This exhibit told the story from the eyes of the refugees. There were five stations featuring interviews with people who had been rescued by the buses, as well as a feature on modern refugees who settled in Sweden.
The story of the white buses is not well known. The Danish government had been forced to accept German control, but had started working as early as 1942 to try to rescue their countrymen. The exhibit we saw later in the afternoon at the Copenhagen National Museum outlined the extent of these efforts. More on that later.
Initially, the buses carried Red Cross packages to various camps. This was a map posted outside of the Malmo Museum.
Once the British learned about this plan, they insisted that the buses be painted while and carry the red cross so they would be easier to detect from the air. Regardless, the Allies fired on some buses because the Germans had also painted some of their transports white, and there were both prisoners and rescuers who perished from those attacks..
These were perilous missions taking between two to five days. Two drivers were assigned to each bus, allowing them to spell each other. According to a placard outside of the bus behind plexiglass, the buses were loaded with food, fuel and medicines for the concentration camp victims.
Our visit to the Malmo Museum exhibit took a little over an hour. We were anxious to get back to Copenhagen to visit their much more extensive exhibit at the National Museum.
We decided to take the train since it was much faster. The Malmo train station was a bit of a surprise. We noticed moving films projected on the walls across from the platforms.
The National Museum exhibit was a revelation in how to put together an exhibition. Visitors entered a darkened room with spotlights that move around. A simulated cattle car experience is the gateway to the rest of the exhibit. Visitors were asked to pack one of the care packages and then were challenged with questions about ethics. For example, one of the questions posed concerned how the participant felt knowing that these packages reduced costs for concentration camp operators (the Nazis). Also, they acknowledged that often materials from the packages went missing before they found their way into the prisoners' hands. Another challenging question concerned the privileged status of the Danish prisoners who received these packages. This didn't make them very popular, even though it likely saved their lives.
There was a tent erected in the middle of the floor with projected film of some of the drivers, et al., who participated in these missions. They talked about how these tents were also targeted during air raids.
The end of the exhibit features film of Danish politicians and social workers talking about the ethical responsibilities of ordinary people to help those less fortunate then themselves. Visitors are asked to respond to questions about the role of the government in helping the refugee and other less fortunate people. There was a row of buttons allowing multiple respondents to participate. The results were then projected.
It's an incredible exhibit, but unfortunately it will only be up until early January 2016. Even more unfortunate was the fact that the book based on the exhibit is available only in Danish. I hope someone will translate it to English and that the exhibit will travel. It was incredibly inspiring on so many levels.
We decided to get dinner right away and then headed back to our room.
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