A 1943 vintage Danish fishing boat which rescued Danish Jews during the Holocaust is in the process of being moved and restored, ironically enough, thanks to an anti-Semitic phone call.

The boat had been deteriorating for a while, but since the museum doesn’t charge for admission, raising money for a restoration project wasn’t exactly easy – until conservator Braeden Howard received an “obscene anti-Semitic” phone call and posted the anonymous diatribe on YouTube.

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“The Glenn Beck Show” got wind of the rant and shared it with viewers. Since then, the Houston Holocaust Museum has raised over $200,000 for the restoration of the boat, exceeding the estimated price tag for the 7-ton landlocked vessel.

TNT donated a crane, a shipyard donated a new and better cradle, and craftsmen have donated their skills.

Acting in response to a German roundup of Jews in 1943, the Danes organized a boat lift to smuggle Jews to neutral Sweden. Using a boat like this one, they were able to save 7,200 Jews.

 This article was written for JTA by By Jillian Scheinfeld

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