HOUR OF NEED

A new graphic novel tells the story of courageous, everyday Danes who helped Danish Jews escape the Nazis during World War II. For author Ralph

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Ralph Shayne grew up in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, but his roots are in Denmark. His mother was born and raised there but had to escape to Sweden at the end of World War II to avoid being captured by the Nazis and facing almost certain death. In Sweden, she met and married Shayne’s father, a Chicagoan studying abroad, and returned with him to Chicago.

Shayne recounts his mother’s story and the story of how everyday Danes contributed to her safety and the safety of other Danish Jews in his new book, Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews During World War II. The book, which is released on September 12, is illustrated with artwork by Danish artist Tatiana Goldberg.

Shayne got to know his mother’s family well through frequent visits to Denmark while he was growing up. It is a trip he made with his twin children to Denmark in 2009 that serves as a backdrop for telling the story of his mother’s escape from the Nazis.

“The way the book is structured, my mom tells them about what it was like when she was their age, nine years old, and then goes back and tells them about when the Germans came and the family had to flee,” Shayne says. “Everything is derived from family diaries and then research I did on the additional participants that helped my mother escape from the country.”

There are two moments that Shayne says were critical in shaping the idea for Hour of Need. His mother died in 2016 and a year later he went back to Denmark to reconnect with family. He had always planned on following his uncle's road map of the escape route to Sweden that his family took, so along with his cousin he took his family on that route and traveled down to the place on the coast where they got on a fishing boat and escaped.

“Then later that same year, I was at an event at Frances Parker, where I went to high school and where my kids also go, and Congressman John Lewis came and spoke and gave an amazing presentation about his graphic novel called March,” Shayne recalls, “That's when I really started to realize that I could take the story and put it into this graphic novel format that would make it accessible to my family and to kids. It was really inspired by Congressman Lewis’s book, and what March has has done in making civil rights history accessible to children and young adults.”

We don't hear enough stories about the Holocaust that show how everyday citizens came in and got involved and helped, Shayne says. That's what’s unique about Hour of Need The book was produced in collaboration with the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, which will host a book launch on September 10. Shayne hopes to work with the Museum to broaden the book’s reach to school children.

“One of our primary interests and the value of working with the Illinois Holocaust Museum is they have 100,000 youngsters who come through the museum every year,” says Shayne. “They're connected to almost 40 other Holocaust institutions around the country that also have similar education programs and we’re hoping to work with them to help access the school market in classrooms.”

Shayne worked with Danish artist Tatiana Goldberg to bring his words to life, and he says she turned out to be the perfect partner to illustrate the book. They met via Zoom calls and finished the project during a weeklong visit he made to Denmark last summer.

“She has been absolutely amazing and I’m very, very lucky,” Shayne says.

“She has taken such a personal interest in getting everything right, including what curbs look like in Denmark versus here and what ducks look like, and the coats that everyone wore. We had discussions about drapes and wallpaper. It was that level of detail.”

There have been a few tellings of the escape of the Danish Jews from the Nazis, but the story is not well known, and Shayne hopes Hour of Need will bring broader attention to the everyday heroes who made it happen.

“I felt that I had a very personal story to tell, and I definitely want to get it into people's hands. That's been the motivation, and also to be something useful to the Museum,” Shayne says. “I think it's a powerful story.”

Hour of Need will be published on September 12 and is available for pre-order at most major online bookstores. The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will host a book launch on September 10. For more information visit ilholocaustmusem.org.