memories of the Danish colonization of Greenland by Helene Thiesen

Trans. title: For Diligence and Good Behavior

the book

Helene Thiesen is only 7 years old when she is sent to Denmark together with 21 children from all over Greenland. When she returns to Greenland she can neither understand nor be understood by her family – she now only knows the Danish language. Even though Helene’s family lives in Nuuk, she has to stay at the orphanage with the other children.

the author

Helene Thiesen was born in Nuuk in 1944. She was educated in Denmark and when she later returned to work in Greenland, she had to struggle learning the Greenlandic language. Today she do talks about her fate.