Danish Freedom Council

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The Danish Freedom Council (Danish: Danmarks Frihedsråd ) was founded in September 1943 as an underground political body for the liberation of Denmark. By the end of the year he was joined by all the major Danish resistance movements of the most varied political orientation, as well as the Danes in exile, so that he could coordinate the resistance activities and make preparations for the post-war period. The model was the Polish underground state .

Initial political situation

In the summer of 1943, after strikes and increased acts of sabotage by the Danish resistance, which was supported and strengthened by the British secret service SOE with weapons and explosives , the German occupation forces ultimately demanded tougher action by the Danish authorities against the Danish resistance groups. On August 28, the Danish government ceased its activities and the Wehrmacht disbanded the remaining Danish military units and interned their officers as far as they could not escape to Sweden. The German security forces were reinforced partly to deal with the resistance but also in preparation for the planned deportation of the Jews .

founding

The founding idea was discussed on August 1, 1943 by Frode Jacobsen (writer and socialist politician), Erling Foss (contacts to the Danish secret service), Mogens Fog ( Frit Denmark newspaper , Communist Party) and Aage Schoch (formerly editor Nationaltidende with contact to the SOE) . Founding members on September 16, 1943 were Børge Houmann (DKP), Jørgen Staffeldt (Dansk Samling), Jacobsen, Foss, Schoch and, as a permanent advisor, the Danish writer and SOE officer Fleming B. Muus. The founding was spread by the Danish Council in London under John Christmas Møller via the Danish news of the BBC and the important Danish underground newspapers De Frie Danske and Land og Folk . In December, after negotiations with General Gørtz, the underground organizations of the disbanded Danish military joined, which until then had kept their distance from the communists.

Actions and Events

On October 29, 1943, the resistance was called to stop non-targeted and random attacks. Representatives of the German occupying power should not be attacked in order to avoid countermeasures like in Lidice . The liquidation of informers and traitors (so-called stikkers ) was allowed, but otherwise the focus was mainly on acts of sabotage against infrastructure essential to the war effort and raids to obtain weapons.

In November 1943 the political program was published in the brochure "When Denmark is Free Again" with a circulation of 100,000 copies.

During the spontaneous Copenhagen People's Strike from June 28 to July 12, 1944, the Freedom Council was able to influence the strike movement and the lifting of the evening curfew and the withdrawal of the hated Schalburg Corps from Copenhagen were negotiated with the occupying power .

On June 23, 1945, the Freedom Council dissolved.

Committees and representations

The most important bodies of the Freedom Council were:

  • The military committee under Stig Jensen took care of the formation of the Danish underground army, which numbered 20,000 men at the end of the war, and the Danish troops in exile in Sweden ( Danish brigade and Danish flotilla ).
  • The press committee was responsible for the underground newspapers.
  • The sabotage committee served as the general staff for acts of sabotage by the sabotage groups, which were autonomous for security reasons.
  • The legal committee developed the legal basis for the post-war period.
  • The arrest committee prepared the arrest of war criminals and collaborators .

Abroad, the council was represented by Ebbe Munck and later Erling Foss in Sweden, by John Christmas Møller in London and Thomas Døssing in Moscow.

See also

literature

  • Matthias Bath: Danebrog against the swastika, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , Wachholtz 2011, ISBN 978-3-529-02817-5

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias Bath: Danebrog against Hakenkreuz, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , pp. 95 ff.
  2. ^ Matthias Bath: Danebrog against Hakenkreuz, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , p. 115 f.
  3. ^ Matthias Bath: Danebrog against the swastika, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , p. 120
  4. ^ Matthias Bath: Danebrog against Hakenkreuz, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , p. 121
  5. ^ Matthias Bath: Danebrog against Hakenkreuz, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , pp. 211 ff.
  6. ^ Matthias Bath: Danebrog against Hakenkreuz, The Resistance in Denmark 1940-1945 , p. 126