We have been focusing on the Danish resistance movement in WWII in my Danish Language and Culture class. So, in this post, I will share some of my newly acquired knowledge with my loyal readers.
Denmark came under German control in 1940. It was the second country to be invaded (Poland was first). Denmark was valuable territory. It served as a stepping stone to Norway, which housed several valuable British ports. Also, German men were encouraged to reproduce with Danish women to proliferate the Aryan race.
It only Germany only two hours to occupy Denmark. The Danish military didn’t stand a chance against the German army, and Christian X (the Danish king) thought it best to surrender, rather than sacrifice thousands of Danish lives in a war he would eventually lose.
At first, Denmark was allowed to preserve its government through a “loyal cooperation” with Germany. Christian X kept his throne and the Danish court and parliamentary systems remained. This arrangement, however, required that the Danish government accept German demands.
This “loyal cooperation” lasted for several years. During this period, Denmark was able to protect its Jewish population. However, this cooperation came to an end when Germany insisted upon a condition that Denmark refused to accept: the death penalty to any Dane who had actively fought German occupation. When the Danish government refused to institutionalize capital punishment, Germany dissolved the Danish government and installed its own.
Many Danes continued to resist in small ways. They paraded behind Christian X during his daily tour of Copenhagen to demonstrate that they still recognized him as their ruler, and not the newly established German government. Before the war began, Christian X was not a particularly popular king. But, during and after WWII, his popularity grew as he became a symbol of national pride. According to my tour guide at the Danish Resistance Museum, Danes also resisted German occupation by, “being cold to the German soldiers” and, “talking about the Germans behind their backs” — pretty wimpy resistance if you ask me. Danish children found their own means of resistance as well. Many carried around a piece of paper showing four pigs. They’d ask, “Where is the fifth pig?” After folding the paper in a certain way, the pictures of the four pigs formed Hitler’s face.
A popular tale claims that during one of his daily tours of Copenhagen, Christian X wore the Star of David to encourage non-Jewish Danes to bear the Jewish symbol, thereby making it was difficult for Germans to distinguish Jews from non-Jews. However, at the Danish Resistance Museum, I learned that this tale is merely a myth. In fact, Danish Jews (who were treated very well in comparison to Jews other German-occupied countries) were not required to wear the Star of David at all.
There were only about 8,000 Jews living in Denmark before German occupation. As many may know, the night before Danish Jews were supposed to be deported to concentration camps, someone leaked information about these deportation plans. That night, Danes saved most of their Jewish population from deportation by transporting them to Sweden (a neutral country) in boats. In fact, 99% of Jewish Danes survived the Holocaust. But who leaked this information to the (formally null) Danish government? Many suspect it was a German diplomat. Why? By this point, it was clear that Germany would not win the war. Accordingly, many suspect that the German diplomat leaked this information so that he would have a better standing and a defense when tried upon Germany’s defeat.
As the war came to a close, was unclear which country — England or the Soviet Union — would liberate Denmark from German control. England actually sent a letter to the Soviet government, asking for permission to liberate Bornholm (one of Denmark’s eastern islands). However, Soviet forces ignored the letter and occupied Bornholm, and then responded to English forces with a letter that essentially said, “Whoops! Too late.” Soviet forces occupied Bornholm for over a year while English forces liberated the rest of Denmark. As a result, different parts of Denmark had markedly different liberation experiences.