Modstand. Modstand. Modstand. (Resistance. Resistance. Resistance.)
A famous photo of a boy running with the results of a resistance sabotage in Odense
Winston Churchill dubbed Denmark “Hitler's pet canary” and the Nazi’s touted Denmark as the perfect Aryan protectorate[i] after they occupied it on April 9, 1940.
Three years later, the pet canary decided enough is enough. One of the most important events that shaped the Danish resistance movement took place on July 28th, 1943, when a Danish worker bombed a German freighter at the Odense shipyard[ii]. The Germans posted armed guards in the shipyard, which provoked a strike. The strike quickly spread to other places of work within the town’s iron industry, with about 3,000 men walking out, and lasted more than a week[iii].
This caused the tensions between the Germans who were guarding the ship that was bombed and the Danish laborers increased, culminating in the August Uprising, which spread across Denmark[iv].
Unable to quell the uprising, the Germans gave the Danish government with an ultimatum on August 28th, 1943:
· prohibit strikes
· public meetings of five or more persons
· any private meetings in closed rooms or the open air
· impose a night curfew
· collect all weapons
· turn censorship over to the Germans
· establish summary courts to deal with any infractions of these rules
· impose the death penalty for sabotage, defiance of the German military, and weapons possession.
The Danish government refused. On August 29th, 1943, Germans arrested influential figures of the resistances and occupied key installations[v]. The Germans ultimately declared Denmark "enemy territory" later that month; the Danish government was dissolved, and martial law was imposed[vi].
UDDRAG AF MANUSKRIPT NAZISYMPATISØRER: DANMARK’S BESKIDTE HEMMELIGHEDER. Forfatter: Sanne Melgaard. (Excerpt from the manuscript, Nazi Collaborators: Denmark’s Dirty Secrets by Sanne Melgaard)
[i] Levine, E. (2000). Darkness over Denmark: The Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews (available free on www.openlibrary.org)
[ii] Sørensen, MJ. Glorifications and Simplications in Case Studies of Danish WWII Nonviolent Resistance. Journal of Resistance Studies, ISSN 2001-9947, Vol. 3, no 1, p. 99-137. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-64351.
[iii] Holbraad, C. (2017). 1940–45: From cooperation to resistance. In Danish Reactions to German Occupation: History and Historiography (pp. 42-130). London: UCL Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1mtz53j.6
[iv] Grooss, Poul (2017). The Naval War in the Baltic 1939–1945. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-52670-002-5.
[v] Danish citizens resist the Nazis, 1940-1945. Global Nonviolent Action Database. https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/danish-citizens-resist-nazis-1940-1945. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
[vi] Larsen, Jørgen (29 August 2003). "Operation Safari". Berlingske. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
