Duke's Boys

"There will come a day. This is your day!" August 2019, Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, officially apologized for the abuse and mistreatment of orphaned children in institutions from 1938 - 1970. Author Lise Muusmann interviewed surviving victims of one institution, Godhavn (Safe Haven) in 2014 and has created a fictional story, based on accounts from those interviews. This is the boys' story, told in their own words.

It is 1960, Dennis, 15, misses his father who was a jazz pianist, and he decides to form a jazz band in secret. The story evolves with planning the project and building fierce friendships in the face of incredible odds. The boys aged from 9 - 16 survive day to day in circumstances that are deeply shocking to us in today's western society. They are sent out at dawn to work details, often hungry and in poor clothing in all weathers. Injury, serious illness and death are the children's daily reality. They are abused regularly by those who should be caring for them. Yet they support each other and forge strong and enduring bonds.

This is a story to be told once, then to realize that we as a society must pay attention to care for the vulnerable; the young, old or infirm. Do not lock them away to be forgotten or ignored by the wider society, so that predators or unstable minds can slip through the net to take positions of responsibility, like letting foxes take care of the henhouse.