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DenmarkResisting the

Nazis: A War ByOther Means

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The German Invasion

On April 9, 1940 at 4:15am, Germany invaded Denmark on theirway to invade Norway. The Germans said their invasion was to"protect" Denmark against the British attack. The Danish Army did

not put up resistance.

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Germans wanted to keep Denmark happy so they could exploit theirlabor and agriculture. They were told to treat the women with respect,avoid political arguments, and respect the Danes because they

belonged to the master race.

The government has acted in the honestconviction that we have saved the countryfrom an even worse fate.

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What Is A Good Dane? You must not go to work in Norway and

Germany.

You shall do a bad job for the Germans. You shall work slowly for the Germans.

You shall destroy important machinesand tools.

You shall destroy everything which may

be of benefit to the Germans. You shall delay all transport.

You shall boycott German films andpapers.

You must not shop at Nazis stores.

You shall treat traitors for what they are

worth. You shall protect anyone chased by the

Germans.

Join The Struggle For The Freedom ofDenmark!

This list was written by a 17-year-old boy and distributedto his citys importantpeople doctors, politicians,bankers, and journalists.

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Challenging the occupation would have goneagainst the governments policy of

cooperation.So they celebrated Danishculture by wearing traditionalclothes. They had music festivals

around the country to sing

Danish songs.

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Things Got Worse.

The media was no longerfree.

Danish men had to join theGerman army.

They had to build boats forthe Germans.

Life in prison was given toenemies of Germany, theoccupying power.

The politicians still followeda policy of cooperating withthe Germans.

Now, song festivals andmarches in the street werenot enough.

The Danish people had todecide whether to fight withthe Nazis or against them.

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Action is required of us allIt is our duty to haveonly one thing in our view, that which hurts

Germany the most. Do your duty do your work.

A strong undergroundpress movement started.

Millions of copies ofnewspapers distributed

Writers were young

people, inexperienced People secretly listened to

BBC

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Political Cartoons

These were sometimes mailed to Nazioffices, which made them very angry,

because they were disrespectful.

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He sustains us, heunites us, he guidesus.

King Christian X rode hishorse everyday through thestreets of Copenhagen,Denmarks capital.

Thousands of peoplegathered to see him he rodewith no bodyguards.

When Hitler sent him abirthday card, King Christianonly responded with a notethat said, thank you. Hitlerwas very angry.

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Wartime Elections

To prove that it valuedDenmarks autonomy,Germany allowed it to

have parliamentaryelections in 1943.

90 percent of thepopulation voted, and the

Nazis only got 3 seats inParliament out of 150.

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StrikesFactory workers and shipyard

workers walked out.Fisherman, police, firemen, officeworkers, civil servants gathered in thecity centers.Sabotage

Destroyed bullet factoriesDestroyed ships and weapons andcarsOver 300 incidents in the summer of

1943Helping the other sideGave away information to the Britishmilitary.

Sent information to media outsidethe countr .

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No More!! The Germans fined the Danish city of

Odense 1 million kroner because of a strikethat became violent.

A curfew was made. Cinemas were closed.

Strikes became punishable by death.

The Germans took over the government.

But for the Danish people of t he res is tanc e, t he

repress ion m ade i ts m iss ion even more c lear. The

res is tance g rew s t ronger !

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For Denmarks Jews,the situation in 1943grew worse.

In September, Hitler gavethe order to startarresting Danish Jews.

They planned to arrest

them on Rosh Hashana,the Jewish New Year,when they would be athome.

Until then, Jews inDenmark had been fairlysafe. They didnt evenhave to wear the yellowstar.

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I knew what I had to do.Georg Duckwitz, a German who had once been involvedwith the Nazi Party, learned of the plan. He informed Danishpoliticians and started warning the important members of the

Jewish community.

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Ambulance drivers drove to homes of families with

Jewish names and took the away to hide in safe places.

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Almost every part of Danish

society spoke out against theGerman action against Jews.

Universities closed for a week in protest. Clergymen sent letters and spoke about it

in their sermons.

Regular people volunteered to transport theJews to the coast.

Fishermen took them across the sea toSweden by night.

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If we desert the Jews in this hour of misery, we desertour country.

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Jews being taken to safety in Sweden.

Denmark was able to save almost 90 percent of its 8000 Jews.

It was the only country in Europe that actively and successfullyworked to protect its Jewish population.

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If the Nazis, the cruelest killingmachine in this centurys history, couldbe kept off balance by Danishschoolboys, amateur saboteurs, andunderground clergymen, what otherregime should ever be thought

invulnerable to nonviolent resistance? -Peter Ackerman and Jack Duvall