Miracle at Midnight
Encyclopedia
Miracle at Midnight is a TV movie based on the Rescue of the Danish Jews
in Denmark
during the Holocaust. It is a Disney production and premiered on ccc
in 1998. It was also portrayed in Ms. Saporita's "Morality" along with others including a documentary about a nun in South America.
Doctor Karl (Sam Waterston
) and Doris (Mia Farrow
) Koster are a Christian couple living in Copenhagen with their two children, 18 year old Henrik (Justin Whalin
) and preteen Else (Nicola Mycroft).
As Chief Surgeon of Christiana Hospital, Doctor Koster initially uses his position to protect a young resistance fighter shot by the Nazis. Meanwhile, Henrik is secretly working for the same group, commandeering weapons sent to the Nazis.
On Wednesday, September 29, 1943 (three years in to the occupation), Doctor Koster learns of the imminent arrest of the Danish Jews on midnight Friday (the beginning of Rosh Hashanah
). The Kosters start by hiding Rabbi Ben Abrams and his family, but soon become an integral part of an effort to transport over 7,000 Jews to neutral Sweden.
Doctor Koster, hospital staff and his family work with the resistance to save the Danish Jews from Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. As Doctor Koster narrates, "In every language and religion, to be humane is to love your neighbor."
Henrik and his friend load up a truckload of Jews and plan to send them to Sweden
. There they are stopped by German Nazi officials. They ask Henrik to open the back of the truck. When the Nazis find Jews, Henrik's friend runs and hides in the woods, and gets help from Henrik's father, who springs Henrik, but Henrik's friend is killed by the Germans distracting the Germans.
First they find hiding places for the Jews to survive the initial raids, and then work with the Swedish government and local fishermen to transport them to safety. Meanwhile, Henrik secures trucks and other transport to get people to the coast. They discover that one of the fishermen that was helping them transport Jews was a traitor and tried to turn them in to the German Police.
Finally, the Kosters themselves have to flee when the Nazis discover their work. Doris Koster is captured by the Nazis, but the rest manage to escape to Sweden. Doris is soon released and the family is reunited after the war has ended.
appears instead.
An official can be seen reading the Völkischer Beobachter
, the Nazi Party newspaper.
Rescue of the Danish Jews
The rescue of the Danish Jews occurred during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark during World War II. On October 1st 1943 Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ordered Danish Jews to be arrested and deported...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
during the Holocaust. It is a Disney production and premiered on ccc
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1998. It was also portrayed in Ms. Saporita's "Morality" along with others including a documentary about a nun in South America.
Plot synopsis
Set in Denmark during September 1943, Miracle at Midnight tells the dramatic true story of the Danish rescue of Jews from Nazi concentration camps.Doctor Karl (Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
) and Doris (Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
) Koster are a Christian couple living in Copenhagen with their two children, 18 year old Henrik (Justin Whalin
Justin Whalin
Justin Garrett Whalin is an American actor best known for his role as Jimmy Olsen in the American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...
) and preteen Else (Nicola Mycroft).
As Chief Surgeon of Christiana Hospital, Doctor Koster initially uses his position to protect a young resistance fighter shot by the Nazis. Meanwhile, Henrik is secretly working for the same group, commandeering weapons sent to the Nazis.
On Wednesday, September 29, 1943 (three years in to the occupation), Doctor Koster learns of the imminent arrest of the Danish Jews on midnight Friday (the beginning of Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
). The Kosters start by hiding Rabbi Ben Abrams and his family, but soon become an integral part of an effort to transport over 7,000 Jews to neutral Sweden.
Doctor Koster, hospital staff and his family work with the resistance to save the Danish Jews from Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. As Doctor Koster narrates, "In every language and religion, to be humane is to love your neighbor."
Henrik and his friend load up a truckload of Jews and plan to send them to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. There they are stopped by German Nazi officials. They ask Henrik to open the back of the truck. When the Nazis find Jews, Henrik's friend runs and hides in the woods, and gets help from Henrik's father, who springs Henrik, but Henrik's friend is killed by the Germans distracting the Germans.
First they find hiding places for the Jews to survive the initial raids, and then work with the Swedish government and local fishermen to transport them to safety. Meanwhile, Henrik secures trucks and other transport to get people to the coast. They discover that one of the fishermen that was helping them transport Jews was a traitor and tried to turn them in to the German Police.
Finally, the Kosters themselves have to flee when the Nazis discover their work. Doris Koster is captured by the Nazis, but the rest manage to escape to Sweden. Doris is soon released and the family is reunited after the war has ended.
Production notes
The film opens with a map of Nazi-occupied Europe in 1943. The map includes numerous errors. Austria is not displayed as an incorporated part of Germany. Yugoslavia shows its current division into independent republics. East Prussia is not shown; the Kaliningrad enclaveKaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
appears instead.
An official can be seen reading the Völkischer Beobachter
Völkischer Beobachter
The Völkischer Beobachter was the newspaper of the National Socialist German Workers' Party from 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from February 8, 1923...
, the Nazi Party newspaper.