To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Annemarie Johannsen, and I am a twelve-year-old girl who lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. Today the war ended, and the Nazis have been defeated. All over Denmark people are celebrating and bells are ringing. Finally, we are free!
In the last two years I have learned so much. Encountering the Nazi soldiers and their dogs taught me that real courage means facing your fears and moving through them to do what your heart tells you is right and just. Because the Danish people followed their hearts, we saved thousands of lives by hiding and transporting our Jewish friends to safety.
I’ve also learned how devastating and hideous war is. My heart ripped apart when a Nazi military car ran over my sister Lise. My friends as well as my family suffered grievously. My best friend Ellen Rosen and her parents has to leave their home and country just because they were Jewish. The Nazis were killing the Jews by the thousands, so we had to protect our friends by helping them escape. The Lise’s fiancé Peter, who saved hundreds of Jews’ lives, was captured and executed in the public square at Ryvangen. I wept for days and woke up screaming from nightmares in which I relived Peter’s and Lise’s tragic deaths. I pray for an end to man’s inhumanity to man.
But even in the face of the evil and horror that surrounded us, love and goodness prevailed because we acted with justice, compassion, courage, and conviction. Each of us listened to that still, small voice within us that guides us toward the light, and today the light conquered the darkness.
If you find this letter, read it to your friend and family. Pass it from house to house. Let people hear my message and create a world where peace, justice and human kindness prevail.
Love,
Annemarie Johansen