Holocaust Studies Final: Resistance in Denmark by Claire Landa

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:05:04 UTC

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:09:12 UTC

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:10:45 UTC

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:12:22 UTC

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:14:23 UTC

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:17:46 UTC

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:20:29 UTC

“I will assume responsibility for everything I am going to do. I am consoled by my strong faith that good deeds can never be wrong.” -Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:20:56 UTC

“The Jews are a part of the Danish nation. We have no Jewish problem in our country because we never had an inferiority complex in relation to the Jews. If the Jews are forced to wear the yellow Star, I and my whole family shall wear it as a badge of honor.” -King Christian X of Denmark

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:22:25 UTC

“We Danes know that the whole population stands behind resistance to the German oppressors. The Council calls on the Danish population to help in every way possible those Jewish fellow-citizens who have not yet succeeded in escaping abroad. Every Dane who renders help to the Germans in the persecution of human beings is a traitor and will be punished as such when Germany is defeated.” -Danish Freedom Council, the Unification of All Danish Resistance Groups and the British Special Operations Executive (SOE)

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:23:38 UTC

The Story of Henny Sinding Sundø

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:26:41 UTC

Danish Resistance During the Holocaust - The HEART Organization

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:28:06 UTC

Rescue in Denmark - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:32:20 UTC

Resistance in Denmark - Holocaust Historical Society

Prominent Figures and Groups in the Danish Resistance Movements

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:37:27 UTC

King Christian X of Denmark

Georg Duckwitz

BOPA (Bourgeois Partisans)

Holger Danske (Resistance Group Named for a Danish Folk Hero)

Christer Lyst Hansen

Mogens Fog

Flemming Muus

Monica Wichfeld

Ove Kampman

Poul Brandt Rehberg

Poul Bruun

Marius Fiil

Niels Fiil

Jørgen Kieler

Danish Hospital Staff

Danish Fishermen

Danish Government Officials

Danish Freedom Council (Unification of All Danish Resistance Groups and the British SOE)

Timeline of Danish Resistance in WW2

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:43:18 UTC

April 9, 1940: Germany invades Denmark
June 22, 1941, to December 5, 1941: Germany invades the USSR (which emboldens and sparks Danish resistance)
Sometime in 1942: BOPA is Created and Begins Sabotaging Nazi Supplies
Sometime in 1942: Holger Danske is Created and Begins Sabotaging Nazi Supplies
1942-1943: Most Danish Resistance Groups Shift Towards Sabotage
Around 1943: Danish Resistance Groups Make Contact w/SOE
August 29, 1943: SS General Werner Best Declares Martial Law and Introduces the Death Penalty; the Danish Government Refuses to Cooperate
September 8, 1943: SS General Best Decides to Deport the Danish Jews on Oct. 1-2, 1943
Soon After Sept. 8, 1943: Georg Duckwitz Tips Off the Danish Government to the Upcoming Deportations
September-October, 1943: Danish Hospitals, Fishermen, and Citizens Hide/Evacuate Every Jew They Can Find
September, 1943: Danish Freedom Council is Organized
October 1-2, 1943: Germany Only Finds 284 Jews Out of 8,000
September-June, 1943: Danish Freedom Council and SOE Increase Rebellion in Denmark to Distract Germany from Normandy (D-Day Landings)
June 6, 1943: D-Day Landings in Normandy
Throughout 1944: The Danish Freedom Council Starts an Underground Newspaper That Publishes 11M Copies
June, 1943: Denmark Goes on Strike to Protest Germany’s Declared State of Emergency
Also June 1943: Germany, in Protest of Denmark’s Protest, Cuts Off Denmark’s Utilities, Establishes a Blockade, and Floods Copenhagen with Troops
July 1943: 23 Danes are Killed and Around 200 are Wounded, but Denmark Refuses to Give Up the Strike; Germany Gives Up Their Punitive Measures
May, 1945: Berlin Succumbs to the Allies, Forcing Germany to Abandon Denmark

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:45:49 UTC

Portrait of King Christian X of Denmark, who became a prominent symbol of Danish resistance for his refusal to back down to the Nazis and for his encouragement of Danish resistance.

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:47:14 UTC

King Christian X of Denmark - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Lack of Danish Resistance in Early WW2

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:56:38 UTC

Denmark, Sweden, and Norway declared neutrality at the beginning of WW2 because they didn’t want a repeat of WW1. When it invaded, Germany claimed to occupy Denmark to protect it from Britain and France. While Denmark surrendered to Germany in six hours, it remained lightly occupied by Germany and protested Nazism so vehemently that Germany couldn’t do much to get the Danes to comply with Nazi antisemitism. Early on, Danish resistance was few and far in between until Germany’s invasion of the USSR. Churchill called Denmark Hitler’s “pet canary” due to their lack of resistance before the Soviet Union's invasion.

BOPA - Bourgeois Partisans

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 14:58:52 UTC

Denmark's first resistance group was BOPA. BOPA was originally made up exclusively of communists because of Germany's hatred towards communists, but it expanded to include others later. BOPA largely targeted warehouses and supply depots in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital.

Where did the most Danish resistance and sabotage take place?

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 15:47:05 UTC

Most factories, warehouses, supplies, riots, and strikes took place in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital. This was because most Danish resistance groups, Danish government activity, and Nazi activities were based in Copenhagen.

Germany's Lack of Control Over Denmark

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 15:52:13 UTC

Because Denmark surrendered quickly, Germany didn't initially consider Denmark as enemy territory. However, this changed in 1942 because Denmark's resistance took a more violent turn. Arson, bombings, and strikes were becoming more common. So, to save face, the SS decided to begin planning the deportation fo Danish Jews. Fortunately, Georg Duckwitz, a German official, tipped Denmark's government off to the deportation plans.

Germany's Failed Deportation Efforts in Denmark

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 15:57:23 UTC

Because their deportation plans were leaked, most of Denmark's 8,000 Jews were either hidden or smuggled to Sweden by October 1, which was the night of the round-up. On October 1, 1943, Germany only found 284 of Denmark's 8,000 Jews. In total, only around 500 Danish Jews were ever deported by the Nazis.

Danish Resistance Towards the End of the War

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 16:00:41 UTC

Towards the end of the war, the Danish Freedom Council and the British Special Operations Executive ramped up resistance efforts in Denmark. They hoped that greater turmoil in Denmark, which was one of Germany's main suppliers of weapons and food, would distract Germany from France. This was because the Allies were planning the Normandy invasions of D-Day.

By 1945, there were 45,000 Danes formally enrolled in resistance groups. The true number of people who performed individual acts of resistance is unknown.

The Impact of Denmark's Actions

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 16:11:22 UTC

Out of all 8,000 Jews in Denmark, Germany only ever deported about 500. Germany deported these 500 to the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia. However, because Denmark's government kept pestering Germany about what happened to their citizens, Germany never sent these Jews to the camps. Denmark even sent a delegation with the Red Cross to check on its citizens in the ghetto. Although Germany tried to beautify the ghetto, Denmark did not buy their lies and arranged for care packages to be sent to their Jewish citizens.

Only around 50 Danish Jews perished in the Holocaust, meaning Denmark's Jews had a survival rate of about 99% overall.

The "Jewish Question" in Denmark

clairelanda — 2025-05-01 16:22:46 UTC

The Danish government and King Christian X of Denmark both refused to even consider Nazi Germany's "Jewish Question". They declared that all Jews were Danish countrymen and would be treated as such. Because of the government's harsh resistance towards Germany's antisemitism, Jews never had to wear the identifying yellow star in Denmark.