Kim Broström,  20. marts 2014

Today, Friday the 21st of March, we honour a tragic day for both our school and country. On this day in 1945, our sister school, Jean d’ Arc School in Frederiksberg, was accidentaly bombed by allied pilots during the English attack on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen.  One of the bombers lost control during the approach into Copenhagen, and crashed into a nearby building in Frederiksberg, The following planes erroneously interpreted the crashed plane as a signal for where they should strike, and thus dropped bombs on the school. The tragedy that day led to the deaths of 86 school children and 18 adults, among them nuns who worked at the school.

There are many heroic stories from that day, wherin some of the sisters fearlessly tried to cover the children to protect them.  After the incident, the school never reopened. Most of the surviving children were transferred to our school, Institut Sankt Joseph, and thus became a part of the identity and history of our school.

On the school premises, we keep several monuments of our former sister school.  In front of the school there stands a sculpture showing a Saint Joseph Sister with two children by her side. The same motif is seen inside the school, and is the draft for a sculpture which today can be seen on Frederiksberg Allé. In addition,one can see a statue of Jean d’ Arc in the school yard. It is precisely this statue, which was undamaged in the bombing, that once stood in the garden of Jean d´Arc school.

Today we honor the children, adults and sisters who lost their lives and showed bravery that day. We carry the memory of their school and tradition forward and cherish the common history we share,  that tragically was brought about by the events in 1945.

The three photos show sisters viewing the remains of the school, the rescue efforts and a photo taken near The Shell House from a British flight plan.

URL: https://sanktjoseph.dk/mindedag-for-jean-darc-skolen-paa-institut-sankt-joseph-den-marts/