THE WEEKLY PAGE 📝 No. 207
Anniversary of Operation Carthage + what to read, watch, listen to and enjoy...
Did you know I majored in History and Museum Studies? 🤓 On that note, today’s newsletter has a little history lesson — something I didn’t know about WWII until I moved to Denmark (TW for war, death of children)…
On March 21,1945, allied planes took off from Norfolk, England toward Copenhagen. Flying low to avoid detection and entering the city just above street level.
It was called Operation Carthage and the goal was to bomb a shell house that the occupying German forces had turned into a Gestapo headquarters. It contained evidence against the Danish resistance, and the top floors had been filled with POWs as human shields.
The plan was to attack the building at street level, hopefully destroying the lower floors while leaving POWs in the top floors unharmed.
Tragically, the first plane to enter the city clipped a light post and crashed into a small building. Several planes in following waves mistook the burning wreckage as a target, and dropped their bombs on the Jeanne d’Arc School, where hundreds of students and nuns were starting their school day.
It left 123 Danish civilians dead. 87 school children and 18 adults, including many nuns, two firefighters, and two fathers who ran into the school in an attempt to rescue their children.
While some inside the school were crushed by the initial blasts, many also drowned in the cellars, which flooded after they took refuge there.
The building was a complete loss, and today in its place is this memorial, surrounded by tiles with the names and ages of the victims.
Isn’t it tragic that children paid the price in a battle waged by men? We would never accept children solving a dispute through violence, and yet we accept that from our world leaders — educated, powerful people with all the world’s resources at their disposal and still, nearly 80 years later, this is still how we’re solving conflicts.
Yesterday was a beautiful, blue-skied afternoon in Copenhagen, so I made my way there to leave some flowers from all of us 💐
📚 READ: There was a really cute video that went viral this week of a bunch of Danish kids having fun at daycare (I’ll put it below if you haven’t seen it 😂) and it reminded me of this book, There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids by Linda Åkeson McGurk.
📺 WATCH: The story of Operation Carthage, which I discussed above, was made into a movie in 2021 and is available on Netflix. It’s a very disturbing film, obviously, but really well done and worth watching. Watch The Bombardment on Netflix.
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🎧 LISTEN: One of the most important things women can do as they age? Lift weights! This is something I’ve been learning more about (and just celebrated 12 months of consistent weightlifting 🥳) and loved how this episode of the Zoe podcast explained the benefits of weight lifting for navigating perimenopause + menopause. See the show notes here or see where to tune in.
🧡 ENJOY: I’ve been back on a halloumi kick lately and love it in veggie bowls with a bit of hummus or yogurt sauce. One ounce (28 g) of halloumi contains 7 grams of protein, making it a pretty solid protein source. These Fried Halloumi Quinoa Bowls from Snixy Kitchen are calling my name for next week.
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