An American Patriot

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Oct. 8, 2004

AN AMERICAN PATRIOT

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise today to honor an American patriot who, although not American by birth, demonstrated the best ideals of our country. Steen Christian Fischer was born in 1920 in Copenhagen, Denmark; he died in August in Boise, ID, and I had the opportunity to get to know him during the last ten years of his life. Steen had a wonderful outlook on life and believed strongly in freedom and opportunity. Prior to the German occupation of Denmark during World War II he served in the Danish Navy. After the occupation, when the Navy was disbanded by the Germans, he joined the Danish Resistance and was a part of the remarkably successful evacuation of Danish Jews to neutral Sweden. He was ultimately captured by the Gestapo in Copenhagen, sentenced to be hanged, and transported to Neuengamme Concentration Camp near Hamburg. His sentence was not carried out as the paperwork never arrived. Of 106,000 inmates at Neuengamme only 55,000 survived. After 9 months in the camp, with the Allied army approaching, the surviving inmates were loaded onto a train to be transported to another camp, but he and some friends jumped off the train and escaped to freedom into the surrounding countryside. He spent the rest of the war hidden in various locations in Denmark. As soon as he could do so after the war ended, Steen emigrated to the United States and continued his quest for freedom and opportunity.

In New York State, he met a lovely young woman, Mary Anne Bruun, who also had Danish ancestry, and married her. Together they became the parents of seven children-Peter, Anne, Douglas, Barbara, Paul, Karin, and Mary. He called his children "the best thing in his life" and he passed his zest for life onto them. Steen was fearless and wanted to experience all that he could in the world. He told his children he wanted them to develop "wide horizons;" he was willing to go anywhere, do anything for the experience. Steen was the kind of guy who would take the dotted line on the map over the freeway every time. He was successful in passing down that philosophy to those seven children who have lived all over the world and are passing onto the next generation of Fischers that attitude of "wide horizons."

During Steen's last decade of life, he spent his time in Idaho where his commitment to freedom and his efforts during World War II were recognized by Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne. The Danish government considered him a hero and awarded him a war pension. His experiences were recorded for the U.S. Holocaust Museum and stand as a testament to the efforts of so many like him throughout the world who are committed to freedom.

Steen passed away in August of 2004 at the age of 83, having lived a remarkable, courageous life. He will be remembered by so many who loved him as well as many who had found freedom through his efforts during World War II. There is no higher compliment I can pay him that to call him a patriot who found freedom during some of the darkest times in our world's history. He will be missed, but never forgotten.