Denmark’s longest-lived person confirms Nazi party membership

Kirsten Schwalbe, the longest-lived Dane in history, was a member of Denmark’s Nazi party during the German occupation, DR reported. The 112-year-old confirmed her membership to TV Midtvest and Kristeligt Dagblad. Her former husband was also a member, she said.

“Yes, I was signed up. My husband asked me about it, and I said I didn’t care. I wasn’t interested in politics at all, so I just did what he thought I should do,” Schwalbe told TV Midtvest.

Schwalbe joined the National Socialist Workers’ Party of Denmark, known as DNSAP, in August 1941, according to the Bovrup register, a list of party members. Two historians independently confirmed to Kristeligt Dagblad that her name appears in the register. Her surname is spelled “Schalbe” there, but her birth date and address match, the newspaper reported.

Historian Charlie Krautwald of the University of Copenhagen said the register records whether someone joined the party, but not why they joined, how long they were a member or whether they paid dues. A person could appear in the register without having been active in the party.

DNSAP was founded in 1930 with strong inspiration from Germany’s Nazi Party, the NSDAP. Schwalbe’s membership was not mentioned in a recently published book about her. Publisher Gyldendal said it had not known about this part of her history and would discuss with the authors and Schwalbe whether anything should be changed. TV Midtvest editor-in-chief Marc Killigren Akselsen said the broadcaster had not known about the membership.

Schwalbe, who is from Struer, reached 112 years and 218 days on Wednesday, becoming the longest-lived Dane in history.