Episode 4: Denmark "Living with the enemy"

Episode four focuses on Denmark and the occupation of German forces.

In 1940,  Adolf Hitler's army took over most of continental Europe, including Denmark. The Nazis occupy Denmark in six hours, as Denmark had declared neutrality in the war. Peter Munch, the minister of foreign affairs, is given an ultimatum: cooperate with the Third Reich or else. According to his son, the minister had believed that cooperation was the least harmful mode for the people.

"Under a unified government, Munch initiates a "negotiation under protest" strategy with the Germans that is designed to protect Danish lives and salvage cultural identity.  Dane's goal is to buy time with the Germans while projecting the appearance of cooperation."

The Germans are using Danish farms to use to feed German troops and use the resources to supply their own needs. The challenge for the Danish was to create ways to undermine the Germans while not provoking violence. Things like work slowdowns, slowed the extraction of resources. The Danish were told to build ships and never finished them. They had to be dragged down to Germany for completion. The country felt a sudden swell in pride, singing songs in public and holding festivals.

In 1943, Danish government received orders from the German occupancy. Strikes must be banned, curfews imposed and saboteurs executed. The parliament debated for six hours on how to proceed with the demands. The Danish government refused the orders. "Germany puts it out of business and quickly places troops at railroad stations, power plants, factories, and other key facilities. New rules are brutally enforced." The population became hostile and rebellion.

In September, word leaks out that the Nazis are about to round up Danish Jews for exportation, following Germany's racial laws in Denmark. The citizens are faced with their first emergency. They began to actively resist the German government. Danish resisters take Jews to neutral Sweden or are hidden in attics, churches, basements and homes of Danish. "In a testament to human determination, only 472 out of roughly 8,000 Danish Jews are lost to Hitler's 'final solution.'"

In 1944, following a declared state of emergency, the entire city of Copenhagen goes on strike. Shipyard workers state that they must tend to their gardens early because the German curfew prevents them from working in the evening. Most didn't go to their gardens. They gathered in the streets and set bonfires. Infuriated, Germany floods the city with troops, cuts off water and electricity, and establishes a blockade. Though troops are ordered to shoot large groups, the population gets water from a nearby lake, they cook over fires and follow the orders of resistance leaders. Eventually, the Germans waved the white flag, lifting the curfew and pulling troops out of the city. The Dutch saw this as a great success, and found that strikes were their best weapon against the German occupation. During the next months, they ordered two minute stoppages and strikes around Denmark.

"In May 1945, war-ravaged Berlin succumbs to advancing Allied forces, prompting Germany to abandon Denmark altogether. Thanks to civic unity and non-cooperation, the Danes have denied the Germans much of the value of occupation and emerge largely unscathed from the war."


DENMARK TIMELINE: 

April 9, 1940    Germany invades Denmark.

Early 1942    Anti-German sabotage within occupied Denmark begins.

July 1943    Anti-German strikes begin in Odense and spread across Denmark.

August 28, 1943    The Danish government rejects the German ultimatum to crack down on resistance; Danish ministers resign in protest.

October 1943    Germans begin the round-up of Jews in Denmark; helped by other Danes, almost all the Jews escape to Sweden.

September 16, 1943    The Freedom Council is established.

June 26, 1944    Copenhagen workers start leaving work early; a general strike begins.

July 3, 1944    German officials give in to the strikers' demands.

May 4, 1945    Germany capitulates to Allies.

In this video, Esben Kjeldbaek from the Museum of Danish resistance discusses how the Danish helped save Jews from persecution during the German occupancy.




photo courtesy of: aforcemorepowerful.org
video courtesy of: wonderfulcopenhagen via youtube.com