Refugees in Ansager

When the war came by train

This is not a place with grand monuments in the information available here. It is a local memory story connected to Ansager Station and the town around it: about the days when German refugees arrived by train and had to be distributed onward to temporary places to stay.

The story begins in Grindsted, where two crowded trains with refugees from East Prussia via Copenhagen arrived in the days of liberation. According to the local account, around 1,200-1,500 people suddenly needed food, help and shelter in the town and surrounding area.

Ansager's quiet role

Ansager got its share of the refugees. Some went on foot, others were driven by horse-drawn wagon to places such as the mission house and Kærbæk Old School. This makes the story concrete: not as a distant war event, but as people making their way through small roads, school buildings and local meeting places.

One of the sharpest details is the account of Mrs. Nielsen, the cooperative store manager's wife, who from her window saw the dirty refugee children, had boiling water prepared and tubs fetched, and washed the children herself.

A short stay with long traces

After a short time, the refugees were sent on to Oksbøl Camp, which became Denmark's largest camp for German refugees after the war. In Ansager, however, a heavy local trace was also left behind: four small refugee children were buried in Ansager cemetery, all under one year old.