The history of Jews in Denmark goes back to the 1600s. Although there were very likely Jewish merchants, sailors, and among others, who entered Denmark during the Middle Ages, back in around the year 1000, when Denmark became the first Christian Kingdom until 1536, though no efforts were made to establish a Jewish community. At present, Jewish community of Denmark constitutes a small minority of about 6,000 persons within Danish society.
In 1814, when Norway gained independence from Denmark, the general ban against Jews entering the country was "continued" in new Norwegian Constitution. The community's population peaked prior to the Holocaust at which time the Danish resistance movement (with the assistance of many ordinary Danish citizens) took part in a collective effort to evacuate about 8,000 Jews and their families from Denmark by sea to nearby neutral Sweden, an act which ensured the safety of almost all the Danish Jews.
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