Berger Christensen passed away August 13, 2021. Berger was a faithful member of the Gideon International Organization and he used to visit churches on Sundays and give talks about missions and the great works that the Bibles placed by the Gideons did to bring people to the Lord.

This was a talk Berger wrote in 2001, giving his life story:

“Hi, my name is Berger Christensen. I was born April 2, 1932. Hans Christian Andersen was also born April 2, so my wife tells everyone that I also am a good story teller – that has yet to be seen!

I first saw the light in Ikast, Denmark, which is between Herning and Silkeborg., where the Heaven Mountain is. I remember going there. We went on a boat that took us to the base and then we had to climb up the hill. In 1994 my wife and I visited Denmark for the first time. We stayed with my cousin in Herning for a few days, and they asked if we would like to go up to Heaven, and of course the answer was yes! To my surprise we drove right up to the top, no climbing stairs or ride on the boat. The boat was still there and was the same one I rode on as a kid.

My dad bought a house that had a basement with a small store in it and behind the store was a room for seamstresses. Dad traveled around selling clothing on the farms to the workers there, so he got around the country quite a bit.

The whole Christensen clan lived in Ikast. My grandpa on dads side and my uncle were both bricklayers so my dad was also taught the trade.

I think it was when I was 7 that I started school. Of course, you had to walk or ride your bike if you were lucky enough to have one. I was one of the lucky ones, Dad got me a bike. It had to last a while, so I had a hard time reaching the pedals. It also helps if you know how to ride. “No problem, your sister and brother will teach you”. They took me to the neighbor’s house. It had a small hill in the driveway that was in line with my Aunts house across the street. She had a row of cherry trees at the end. I found out, quite painfully that those cherry trees made a good back stop, but I learned to ride my bike!

So on the morning of April 9, 1940, I could hear the sound of many engines roaring, almost like they were coming over our house. 8 year old me ran outside to see where that horrible noise was coming from, but I couldn’t see anything. I don’t remember the name of the next street over, but that was the edge of town, after that farmland. I looked in that direction, because that was where the noise was coming from. I could see airplane tail fins going by above the rooftops. They were troop transports. Not far from Ikast was a city with an airport where they were to land.

Just what year dad sold the house I don’t remember, but it was most likely 1940. Dads travels took him to Northern Denmark, so he moved us to a town called Skovgaard which he liked. There he bought a house with a storefront that had big windows, and he set up shop. On Saturdays dad would get up early to go to Aalborg to auctions to buy clothing and other things that he would sell at the store. I think it was close to Christmas on a Saturday, he told me to check out his coat pocket. I put my hand in one… nothing, “try the other one”. Out came a little wiener dog, he was light brown. 

Our house was right at a T. You took the road up to the farms. The road went up a hill and at the top was a large knoll, the highest in the area, perfect for a radar station.

It wasn’t long before we had as many soldiers in town as citizens. They took over the hotel, church and part of a house that had several apartments. The hotel was their headquarters. They had to walk past our house every day. Our storefronts big windows had ventilation holes at the top and bottom to prevent them fogging over. Remember that little wiener dog that I told you about? It was his favorite spot, by one of those holes. As the soldiers would walk by they would tap on the window making the little dog mad. However the Nazi captain would stop and really tease the dog. As he grew older the dog’s fur had gotten darker, so he was called the suntanned dog. He loved to ride on bicycles and he also had a special spot on dad’s hip.

It was on a beautiful sunny day in early May when everyone was washing their windows and other outside cleaning jobs, that the captain came by. Dad was standing in the door with the dog in his spot on dads’ hip. The dog wiggled down ran up and nipped the captain in the heel. He turned around, yelled at the dog and dad and reached for his gun. The dog ran into the backyard.

Facing the captain waving the gun around, dad said “”you svinehund! (a despicable person) If you hadn’t stopped and teased the dog he would not have bit you!"  Dad was called to the Hotel and was warned that he could not call the captain a svinehund – this captain was said to be so devoted he bowed down to Hitler’s photo in his room. Thankfully the captain was shipped out not long after. After that, with the captain gone, all the soldier in town liked and wanted to pet the dog.

Everyday life was mostly routine, except for the Nazis playing their war games. When we moved to Skovgaard, I had to go to school a couple of miles away. It was a couple of small one room classrooms. 1-2 grade in one, 3-4 in the other. When I started middle school, I would take a train. It was not always on time because the troop trains had priority.

Of course, at the beginning of the war all light had to not be seen from the outside, so we rolled down thick black shades. Listening to the radio was also limited. BBC out of London was forbidden – but that was where we got all the news as to how the war was going. During the newscast there would be a list of greetings which told the underground where they would drop supplies for them. Aalborg had an airport which the Nazis had enlarged quite a bit. No matter how dark you made the houses and buildings, you can’t black out water and the English planes would follow the river and bomb the airport. We could see the search lights sweeping the sky and tracers going up. We bought milk from a neighboring farm nearby. It was those nights we would see the lights and gunfire.

As you know millions of Jews were taken in many other countries. Word came that all of the Jews in Denmark were to wear the Star of David on their right arm. King Christian came on the radio and said he would wear the Star on his right arm and urged all Danes to do the same. The King was at his home and the Nazis flew over the castle. They said they would come and take the Danish flag down and raise the swastika. “They would over my dead body” the King said. ”That can be arranged” was the reply. It didn’t take long before sandbags with guns atop surrounded the castle making the Germans back off.

The King was an avid horseman riding his horse almost every day – it was in the Fall one of his horses threw him and almost killed him. It was believed that the Germans had had something to do with it. The Danes were ready to make war if the King had died.

Word came that they would take all the Jews and send them to concentration camps, The Danes hid them and got them out of Demark. They got 178 elderly out of a home in Copenhagen.

We always had to go through Aalborg, the tracks went around one portion of the airport and looking out of the window – you could see the machine guns follow the trains to let you know they were there.

Many young men joined the underground and blew up the trains and ammunitions. Once when one of the trains was blown up the Germans gathered up all of the people within 40 kilometer radius to see if they could get the men responsible. They started by shooting the children, then the women then the men. Other places they would light the haystacks on fire to kill anyone possibly inside.”

That’s where Dads talk ended, I couldn't find any more pages. He was a proud Dane for sure!

Dad was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Verona and precious great-grandson Jobe. I know there was a great celebration in Heaven as they were reunited once again.

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