Danish resistance movement

The Danish Resistance Movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Denmark by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale than in some other countries. However, by 1943, many Danes were involved in underground activities ranging from producing illegal publications to spying to violent sabotage.

Nonviolent Resistance: 1940-1943

After the invasion of Denmark on April 9, 1940 (See: Operation Weserübung) the German authorities allowed the Danish government to remain in power. They had a number of reasons for doing so, (See: Occupation of Denmark), but the end result was that they were anxious to showcase Denmark as a "model protectorate." Since the democratically elected Danish government remained in power, there was less motivation for Danish citizens to fight the occupation than in other countries such as Norway, France, and Poland. Jews remained under the protection of the Danish government, democratically elected politicians remained in power, and the police remained in Danish hands. Daily life in Denmark remained much the same as before the occupation though the Germans did make certain changes: official censorship, prohibitions on dealings with the Allies, and the stationing of German troops in the country. The Danish government actively discouraged violent resistance because it feared a backlash from German authorities.

Nonetheless, as time went on, many Danes organized insurgent groups to oppose the occupation. When the Germans forced the Danish government to sign an anti-Comintern pact, a large protest broke out in Copenhagen.

The number of Danish Nazis was low before the war and this trend continued throughout the occupation, and was confirmed in the 1943 parliamentary elections, in which the population voted overwhelmingly for the four traditional parties or blank. The latter option was widely interpreted as votes for the Communist Party which had been outlawed on German orders in 1941. The election was a disappointment for the DNSAP and German Reichsbevollmächtigter, Dr. Werner Best, never attempted to install a cabinet led by Danish Nazi leader, Frits Clausen, due to Clausen's lack of public support.

During the first years of the occupation, active resistance activities were few in number and consisted mostly of the production of underground newspapers. This lack of active fighting prompted Winston Churchill to refer to Denmark as "Hitler's Pet Canary". Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, many Danish Communists formed resistance cells, and in 1942, the BOPA network was formed.

In 1942-43, resistance operations gradually shifted to more violent action, most notably acts of sabotage. Various groups succeeded in making contacts with the SOE which began making airdrops of supplies. The number of drops were slow until August 1944, but increased in the last part of the war.

Military intelligence operations

On 23 April 1940, members of the Danish military intelligence established contacts with their British counterparts through the British diplomatic mission in Stockholm, and the first intelligence dispatch was sent by messenger to the British mission in Stockholm in the Autumn of 1940. This evolved into regular dispatches of military and political intelligence, and by 1942-43, the number of dispatches had increased to at least one per week. In addition, an employee of the public radio was able to transmit short messages to Britain through the national broadcasting network. The actual intelligence was gathered mostly by officers in the Danish army and navy, and contained information about political developments, the location and size of German military units and details about the Danish section of the Atlantic Wall fortifications. In 1942, the Germans demanded the removal of Danish military from Jutland but operations continued, this time by plainclothes personnel or by reserve officers, since this group was not included in the evacuation order. Following the liberation of Denmark, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery described the intelligence gathered in Denmark as "second to none".

Violent Resistance: 1943-End

As the years went by the number of acts of sabotage and violence grew. In 1943, the number grew exponentially, to the point that the German authorities were unsatisfied with Danish authorities' handling of the situation. At the end of August, the Germans took over full administration in Denmark, which allowed them to deal with the population as they wished. Policing became easier for the Nazis, but more and more people became involved with the movement because they were no longer worried about protecting the Danish government.

Actions

Railway shop workers built this armored car for offensive use by the Danish resistance. It was employed against Danish nazis entrenched in the plantation of Asserbo in North Zealand, May 5, 1945

In 1943, the movement scored a great success in rescuing 6,500 of Denmark's Jewish population of 7,000 from being sent to the concentration camps by helping them into neutral Sweden. Later, Israel would award members of the movement who arranged the rescue the honor Righteous Among the Nations. At their own request, the rescuers were officially recognized as a collective group. (See: Rescue of the Danish Jews)

Another success was their disruption of the railway network in the country on the days after D-Day, delaying the arrival of German troops based in Denmark to France. Britain's Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery called the Danish resistance movement "second to none."

By the end of the war the organized resistance movement in Denmark had scored many successes, although slightly more than 850 of the Resistance had been killed for their work, either during action, in jails, or in concentration camps.

The Danish National Museum maintains the Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen.

Prominent members

• Christer Lyst Hansen
• Mogens Fog
• Flemming Muus
• Monica Wichfeld
• Ove Kampman
• Poul Brandt Rehberg
• Poul Bruun
• Marius Fiil
• Niels Fiil
• Jørgen Kieler

References

In-line:

General:

1. Robin Reilly (2002), Sixth Floor: The Danish Resistance Movement and the RAF Raid on Gestapo Headquarters March 1.

See also

• Holger Danske
• BOPA