Exodus '43

The speaker is old Reuben Abrahamsen, one ofthe richest shipowners in Copenhagen, a man whohas sought for sixty years to escape his own Jewishness. His granddaughter Rosa sits by his bedside,listening to his memories of the past and to hischilling vision of what is to come. He sees theNazis marching through the streets of Copenhagen,the Danish Jews being herded off to die, the poisonof anti-Semitism seeping into a country that hasnever known it. But Rosa is not concerned with his thoughtsabout the future-after all, Denmark, if neutral, issafe. She knows, however, that it is Reuben's pastthat is about to engulf her. For, a fugitive from theTsarist pogroms, he had found refuge in the freedom and tolerance of Denmark, and a fortune whenhe wrested a shipping empire from the Larsen family. The Larsens were never to forgive or forget;and now Rosa is in love with Valdemar Larsen.