August revolt

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The August revolt (Danish: Augustoprøret ) was a series of local wildcat strikes and riots in August 1943 in Denmark. Together with acts of sabotage by the communist-bourgeois partisan movement BOPA, this led to a state of emergency being imposed by the German occupying forces , the dissolution of the Danish armed forces and the arrival of the German police , SS and Gestapo with their system of terror.

background

During the Nazi era, Denmark pursued a pragmatic, pro-German neutrality policy, since the German economy played a major role and the country was militarily helpless. After the occupation of Denmark by Germany on April 9, 1940, cooperation based on domestic independence developed between the Danish unity government and the German Reich. The important Danish food deliveries to the Reich increased and the German occupation costs were the lowest in Europe. In March 1943 this policy was confirmed again in the Danish Reichstag elections, but in the spring and summer there was a slide in opinion when the German defeats at Kursk and in the Mediterranean neared the victory of the Allies. In August there was a sharp increase in sabotage by the Danish resistance , as the British SOE provided explosives and weapons.

Events

German soldiers in conflict with the population, Aalborg , August 1943

The strikes started in Odense on Funen in mid-July . The real uproar began in Esbjerg on the west coast of Jutland at the beginning of August and was directed against the policies of the government and the German occupying power with various, mostly spontaneous, strike measures and for various reasons in 17 cities. The main bearers of the strike activities in the factories were above all the shop stewards of the banned Communist Party . Few of the strikes went without excesses against German-friendly businesses, local Nazis and German-friendly girls. There were also fights and skirmishes with German soldiers.

August revolt, Odense , 19 August 1943

The government sent police reinforcements from Copenhagen and senior officials negotiated tirelessly to calm the situation. The local Wehrmacht commanders showed moderation and flexibility and there is no evidence that the unrest was deliberately provoked on the German side, as was assumed for a time.

While the German Reich Plenipotentiary in Denmark Werner Best wanted to pacify the country with a policy of understanding and adjustment and keep it deliverable, the interests of the Wehrmacht commander in Denmark, Hermann von Hanneken , lay in disarming the remaining 5,000-strong Danish armed forces. On August 26, Best was ordered from the Führer Headquarters to give the Danish government an unacceptable ultimatum and the like. a. with the demanded introduction of the death penalty and hostage-taking. On August 29, the Wehrmacht disarmed and interned the Danish armed forces in Operation Safari and declared a state of emergency. The Danish government submitted their resignation, which King Christian X rejected.

consequences

Denmark was now administered by permanent state secretaries and the government was inoperative. The communist resistance movement had triumphed over the "old politicians" and Best stated that "the political parade horse Denmark is dead". For the resistance, the establishment of the Danish Freedom Council as a bipartisan umbrella organization was accelerated and carried out on September 16. The British Foreign Office now endorsed Denmark's admission as an "Associated" to the United Nations. In September the technical preparations for the deportation of the Jews from Denmark began .

literature

  • Matthias Bath: Danebrog against the swastika, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , Wachholtz 2011, ISBN 978-3-529-02817-5 , pp. 95-105
  • Aage Trommer: Sabotage and strikes in occupied Denmark . Published in: Second World War and Social Change: Axis Powers and Occupied Countries . Ed .: Waclaw Dlugoborski, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1981, ISBN 3-525-35705-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl Christian Lammers: Denmark between state collaboration and resistance. Published in Handbook on Resistance to National Socialism and Fascism in Europe 1933/39 to 1945 . Ed .: Gerd R. Ueberschär , De Gruyter 2011, ISBN 978-3-598-11767-1 , p. 77
  2. ↑ Bo Lidegaard: The exception. October 1943: How the Danish Jews escaped extermination with the help of their fellow citizens . P. 72.
  3. ↑ Karl Christian Lammers: Denmark between state collaboration and resistance. P. 76
  4. ^ Aage Trommer: Sabotage and strikes in occupied Denmark . P. 262
  5. ↑ Karl Christian Lammers: Denmark between state collaboration and resistance . P. 76
  6. ^ Aage Trommer: Sabotage and strikes in occupied Denmark . P. 263
  7. ^ Aage Trommer: Sabotage and strikes in occupied Denmark . P. 263
  8. ^ Aage Trommer: Sabotage and strikes in occupied Denmark . P. 265