DENMARK TO N.Z.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 September 1940, Page 2

DENMARK TO N.Z.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER’S JOURNEY. AUCKLAND, September 12. The story of a remaisable journey was told in Auckland yesterday by a young Danish woman, Mrs Marie Warburg who left Denmark after the German occupation and travelled for three months through Soviet Russia and tlie e ar East with a five-year-old daughter to join her husband and elder child in New Zealand.

The husoand, Mr Christian Warburg, was a farmer in Denmark, but as tlie freehold land which he owned was too small to support a family his thoughts turned to settling in New Zealand. CiUrope was then at peace, but when lie had sold his land and was preparing to leave the war broke out. Being forbidden to travel to England or through Germany and Italy, he left by aeroplane for Rotterdam with his daughtei of nine, and after crossing France by train, joined an Italian steamer, in which they reached Sydney in February. Mrs Warburg remained behind .tv, settle some oi her husband’s business affairs. Having done so, she obtained a passport,, but was refused German and Italian transit visas because she was bound for a country with which Germany was at war. She then decideu to follow tlie same route that her husband had taken, but while she was negotiating for a French visa Germany invaded Demark on April 9. When she arrived at the consulate that day the staff appeared to be ali engaged in burning documents, which niiide a vast amount of smoke. She learned later that they had a car reauy in the. hope of escaping, but the German troops arrived first and riddled it with bullets. The invasion dashed Mrs Warburg’s hopes to the ground, but after an interval she again tried to obtain a visa for travel through Germany to Italy, which was then non-belligerent. Being again refused, she let matters rest for a little while. In the meantime, Belgium and Northern France had been invaded, and the number of German officials in Denmark was greatly reduced. Knowing that possibly she would be able in/-future to'deal with Danish officials only, she destroyed her first passport, except- for a British visa which she removed and hid. She then applied for a new one, seating, that- she wished to travel to. the United States. Having obtained it, she secured visas for the journey across Asia. . She was allowed to leave by steamer for Sweden, and at Stockholm she and the child hoarded a Russian air liner for Riga arid Moscow.. Since the invasion Mr Warburg had been, .trying to-get into touch with his wife, and .by, good fortune a cablegram from him had been delivered to her before she left the German and Danish officials assuming for some reason that the place of origin, Auckland, was in the United States. On getting a message from Stockholm that she was on her way, Mr Warburg consulted tin Danish vice-consul in Auckland, Mr C. G. Macindoe, who ’ immediately set about doing everything possible to make her long journey easy. He cabled to the Danish consulate in Moscow and to consuls, shipping companies and others at nearly, all points along her intended route, asking for help and cooperation. The resuclt was most gratifying, Mrs Warbtirg stayed a day in Moscow and then joined the train for the long transcontinental journey of nine days which eventually took her and her little girl to Dairen, the chief port of Manchukuo. There she boarded a Japanese steamer for Shanghai, and after a wait of 16 days connected with an Australian liner. This vessel called at seven Japanese .poets before turning isouth to Manila. Rabati] and Brisbane. Finally, after 12 weeks of travel, the family was reunited in Auckland. Mr Warburg /said yesterday that they would always remember with gratitude what Mr Macindoe, a ‘British citizen/ had done to bring them and their children together in New Zealand.