Herbert Krogman photograph collection

Herbert Krogman was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 13, 1926. He is the only son of Herman Krogman and Frieda Wöhlmuth Krogman. Herman (b. 1896) owned an electrical wholesale business. He met and married Frieda (b. 1898) in Hamburg, Germany in 1924. The Krogman family was active in the Jewish community, and they sent their only son to a Jewish boys’ school. Herbert celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in June 1939. A year later, on April 9, 1940, Nazi Germany occupied Denmark.

During Rosh Hashanah services in 1943, Rabbi Melchior warned the Danish Jews that arrests were imminent, but Herman Krogman did not believe that this was possible. His wife and son convinced him that they needed to go to their summer house south of Helsingør, Denmark. Two young men from the Danish underground arranged passage to Malmö in Sweden. Herman agreed, but first he returned to Copenhagen to close down his business. On October 1, 1943, at 3 PM, with one suitcase per person, the Krogmans and seven other Jews were taken by a row boat to safety in Sweden. More than 7,000 Jews and 700 non- Jewish relatives were transported from Denmark to Sweden within 3 weeks. The Germans observed the boats crossing to Sweden, but many were bribed and chose to look away.

Thora Theresa Krogman, Herbert’s paternal grandmother, who was 76 years old, was arrested and deported to Theresienstadt. She died there on August 13, 1944.

The Krogman family settled in Malmö where Herman started his own business. Herbert joined the Royal Danish Army (Hæren) in May 1945 over his mother’s objections, and the family returned to Copenhagen. The Krogman electrical business had been taken over by a Danish woman, but all of the customers followed Herman to his new