Today marks the anniversary of the Nazi German invasion and subsequent occupation of Denmark in 1940—the so-called Operation Weserübung. Early that morning 68 years ago, German warships entered Copenhagen harbor in violation of a German-Danish non-aggression treaty signed the prior year. The Danish military was in no condition to pose a serious obstacle to German forces; Copenhagen was taken in a matter of hours and by dawn, Denmark had capitulated. Only 39 Danish soldiers were killed in the short battle.

Of course, Denmark was not strategically crucial to Hitler’s plans and was only occupied “on the way” to Norway, where the Nazis secured critical iron-ore reserves. By all accounts, Hitler intended the occupation in Denmark to be a “model protectorate” in Europe and because Danes were “fellow Nordic Aryans”, they could be trusted to handle their own domestic affairs. For this and a number of other reasons, the Nazis were inclined to be lenient with Denmark. Besides, the official reason for the occupation provided by Germany was to safeguard Denmark from a potential British invasion… But the Danes had other plans.

Many citizens were angry at the authorities for not doing more to resist the invading forces. A resistance movement was quickly set up, much in the same way as in France with sabotage and guerrilla raids disrupting the occupiers. At the centre of the resistance were residents of the working class district of Nørrebro. Still looking much the same today as it did in 1940, the narrow streets running to the north of the city centre create a maze of high tenement blocks. These provided excellent cover for snipers and the hated occupiers never felt safe walking through this area. Istedgade, now the main street in the capital’s red-light-district, was another focal point for the resistance. Named after a famous Danish military victory in Germany, the street was the scene of violent demonstrations against the invaders on more than one occasion.

Because Germany had allowed the Danish government to remain intact—albeit inferior to the Germany occupying authorities—the Danish parliament and government agreed to put a united front on their opposition to the Germans. Yet, in an effort to preserve the relatively privileged status Denmark had in comparison with other occupied European countries, they passed anti-democratic laws to keep the Germans happy. For example, the media was censored, relations with the Allies were severed, industrial trade was focused more on Germany, the Danish military was demobilized (though weapons caches were maintained and Danish intelligence worked secretly with the Brits until 1943, when the army was finally dissolved) and the Communist party was outlawed. Because of the latter decision, the Communists were among the first members of the resistance in Denmark.

In exchange for these concessions, the Danes resisted any effort to discriminate against Jewish citizens, they refused to impose the death penalty and similarly opposed efforts to authorize the German military court system jurisdiction over Danish civilians. Meanwhile the independent resistance thrived and by 1942, had become enough of a threat to the Nazis for them to label Denmark “enemy territory” for the first time.

In 1943, in an effort to demonstrate German “goodwill” and to help quell public discontent, the Nazis allowed relatively free elections to be held. Voter turnout was 89.5% (the highest ever) and only 2.1% of the population voted for the Nazi party. In 1943, when the Danish government again refused to impose German military courts, the death penalty or policies of discrimination against Jews, the Nazis finally dissolved the government—and the Danish cabinet submitted symbolic letters of resignation, which were never accepted by the King.

At the height of the occupation there were around 12,000 organised active resistance fighters. There were also those who supported the German invaders. A Danish version of the SS known as the Schalburg Corps was pitted against the men and women of the resistance movement. In one famous incident, a traditional two-minute silence marking the anniversary of the occupation ended in tragedy when members of the Corps began shooting randomly into a city centre crowd.

The Germans resorted to tactics they had used elsewhere in Europe and decided to remove all Jews from Denmark. Fortunately, their intentions were leaked and led to the best-known act of resistance in Denmark during the war. 7,200 Danish Jews (the vast majority of Denmark’s Jewish population) were taken by means of numerous fishing boats across the water to neutral Sweden. Many Danish families (including my grandfather’s family) secretly housed Jewish refugees at the time, before they were able to flee to Sweden and elsewhere.

Another particularly courageous group was formed in the Northern Danish town of Aalborg, where I now study. A group of teenaged boys formed the “Churchill Club” (one of the very first Danish resistance groups) and held clandestine meetings in the Helligåndsklostret, the city’s old Monastery. They perpetrated numerous acts of sabotage against the Nazis – even after spending time in a Nazi prison.

There is also a famous story of the Danish King Christian X having brazenly worn the Star of David in defiance of the German-enforced policy of identifying Jews. This alleged act of bravery inspired thousands of non-Jewish Danes to wear the Star, thereby rendering the German order defunct. The events even inspired a Disney television movie… but it never actually happened. The Germans never enforced the wearing of the Star of David in Denmark and King Christian X never made any such gesture. During the war, however, the King did remain a symbol of Danish resistance—defiantly riding his horse in the streets and meeting regularly with the Danish people. On one occasion, he sent a letter of regret to the Jewish rabbi of a vandalized Copenhagen synagogue, but this was as far as his activism went.

Relief for those fighting against the occupation finally came on May 4 1945 via a message on the BBC’s Danish service. The calm voice of Johannes G Sørensen broadcast the words: “It can now be confirmed that General Montgomery has announced that the German troops in Holland, northwest Germany and Denmark have surrendered.” Most people cannot remember the remainder of the broadcast as celebrations engulfed the country. The news spread quickly, with people sobbing openly in the city streets. Celebrations continued into the night and the streets were so full that the city’s tram system was unable to operate. Many German soldiers remaining in the capital joined in the celebrations. One shop displayed a sign reading “closed due to happiness”.

In the end, Denmark was spared much of the bloodshed of WWII and though the methods of appeasement chosen by the Danish government are often criticized and debated to this day, one thing is certain: Denmark suffered less than any other country in Western Europe. Out of Denmark’s population of 4 million, just over 850 resistance fighters were killed during the war, 900 Danish civilians were killed (by air-raids, civil disturbances or reprisal killings), 1,850 Danish sailors were killed (who continued to operate during the war) and just over 100 Danish soldiers died fighting with Allied ground forces. Of the 6,000 Danes sent to concentration camps, only between 360 and 600 died there.

For more information on the German occupation of Denmark see:

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