In the Senate Judiciary Committee session on July 24, Sen. William Cohen of Maine asked Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to explain her view of the constitutional right of freedom of speech, not only in spoken or written words, but also by actions of persons or groups. In her reply, Judge Ginsburg cited as an example of such an action the king of Denmark’s defiance of the Nazis during their occupation of Denmark, when he stepped into the street, wearing the same yellow armband the Nazis had forced Danish Jews to wear.
During the June 17 Thanks to Scandinavia 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the Rescue of Danish Jews in October 1943, Chief Rabbi Bent Melchior of Denmark explained to his audience at Chicago’s Anshe Emet Synagogue that this is a persistent, but untrue legend. The fact is that the late King Christian X, although a great friend of Danish Jews, did no such thing, because Danish Jews had never been required to wear such an armband.
