The Danish Resistance

I went with my Danish class to the Danish Resistance Museum today, which is a free of charge, nationally owned museum over by the Kastellet and the Little Mermaid.  I've been learning a lot about more about European history in the past week (well, since Prague, really). That's something I'm really grateful for, since it's a topic that my high school education severely lacked (I didn't even learn that much about WWII in those years).  For example, today was the first time I learned just how much of Europe was controlled or allied with Germany, and the rest were either apathetic or British (and half of France).  I'm astonished at those odds. 

Denmark, obviously, is a small country, and it would be incorrect to say that it played a large role in WWII.  Despite this small effect on the grand scheme of things, Denmark still has its own stories and battles.  Our tour guide through the museum was a young Dane whose grandfather and great-uncle were both part of the Resistance Movement.  I don't know how much of that affected his decision to work in the museum, but it certainly added more reality to the history he told us.  Yes, even the small Danish tribe lost children by orders of hate and under the name of patriotism.  As a temporary resident, it was also enlightening to realize what happened here.  In footage of the German invasion on 9 April 1940, I thought I spotted the town square in Køge, and footage from the liberation on 5 May 1945 included scenes from the plaza down the street of my school.  It was slightly more eerie to realize that a movie we watched referred to the Nazi headquarters as Dagmarhus, which is a building I pass everyday on my way to class. 

If you don't mind, I'd like to (succinctly) share some of the history I learned with you, since I feel that it was a fairly unique situation.  Denmark did cooperate with Germany with the occupation, as it allowed the government to stay in control of daily affairs.  While this was unfortunate, as it kept resistance movements from sprouting and made Denmark a tool for Nazi weaponry, it was a good situation for the state itself.  There's an old tale about how the King Christian X ordered all Danes to wear a Jewish star to stand in solidarity with the Danish Jews, but this is simply a story that sprouted from a statement the king had once made. In reality, the star was never introduced to Denmark because the Danes managed to hold basic control.

When the resistance did start to appear, the first group were boys aged 14-17 who called themselves the Churchill Club (Dumbledore's Army, anyone?) and sabotaged German buildings.  Although they were ordered for arrest, this was not entirely the case, as Danish law stipulates that no one under 15 can go to jail.  But in time, organized resistance increased, with the "liquidation" of Danish traitors, aided by the blind eye provided by most law enforcement groups.  Activity especially increased after the Danish government absolved on 29 August 1943, and chaos ensued on 26 June 1944 when the Vesterbro district began an uprising.  Granted, not everyone felt that these violent methods were the right way to handle the situation.

Finally, the most uplifting part of the story is how Denmark was able to save over 95% of their Jewish population.  Of 7,000 Jews in Denmark, 116 died, which is a stark comparison to the number of deaths in the remaining German-occupied countries.  Around 6,000 of them escaped to Sweden when the Nazi giving the order for their arrest sent advance notification.  Of the remainder, about half stayed in hiding in Denmark, while the other half were sent to Terezín, in the Czech Republic (which I had mentioned in my entry about Prague).  Conditions, of course, were terrible in the ghetto, but it's said that the Danish Red Cross often sent officials to check that they were being treated sufficiently (although sometimes what they saw and approved was a propaganda hoax).

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In other news, today is the worst weather I have yet to see in Denmark.  I'm ok with it being cold and rainy, but it's also too windy for my hood to stay up, and I was wearing flats.  I even heard thunder for the first time since I've been here.  What's worse is that the weather encouraged me to break a HUGE rule in Denmark:  crossing when the street when the light is red, and cars are about to start driving again.  I just really didn't want to be stuck in the wind on the median.