The Danish Liberation Council ( Danmarks Frihedsrådet ), also known as the Freedom Council, is the governing body of the Danish Resistance Movement during the German occupation . It was founded in September 1943 in response to the strengthening of anti-partisan measures in Denmark.
Content
Background
On April 9, 1940, the German troops carried out Operation Weserubung , during which Denmark was captured in a few hours [1] . The Danish government and King Christian X formally condemned the German violation of the non-aggression pact, but did not offer resistance. Denmark's independence was formally maintained, but in fact Germany gained the right to at least deploy her troops unhindered. As a result, the Allies could not develop anti-German activities in the country, despite the hostility of ordinary citizens to the Germans, although the Danish fleet was forced to leave for the Union ports, and the Danish embassies in the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition did not recognize the decision of the authorities as legal.
The Danish Resistance Movement came about on the initiative of a group of civilians and former Danish soldiers. Initially, it only planned to transfer intelligence to the British Special Operations Department , but did not dare to conduct any sabotage, since any sabotage had to be coordinated with the leadership of the resistance in Denmark or Sweden. Since 1943, sabotage began to be carried out. British Marshal Bernard Montgomery later claimed that the Danish underground intelligence was the best of the Allied intelligence of the countries [2] .
Living conditions until 1943 were moderate, and the Danes were not much oppressed, but after a series of impudent sabotages, the Germans tightened their attitude towards the civilian population and began to arrest more often people who seemed suspicious to them. This led to a series of strikes and acts of civil disobedience. In August, the Germans delivered an ultimatum to the Danish government - they demanded that all those arrested be executed, threatening to impose martial law and declare curfew. The Danish government refused to comply and resigned. From that moment on, Denmark and de jure became an occupied country, but this finally untied the hands of the Danish Resistance. In October 1943, a total anti-Nazi movement began throughout the country, caused by an attempt to arrest Danish Jews, which the underground members managed to foil and smuggle Jews to Sweden .
Board Activities
In September 1943, the Danish Liberation Council was formed to coordinate the actions of the resistance groups in the struggle for the liberation of the country. The Council was called upon to unite the various groups supporting the Resistance. The Danish Council included activists from the Communist Party of Denmark , the Free Denmark movement, the Danish Unity Party and the Ring organization. The leaders of the council were Berge Houmann, Mogens Fogh, Arne Sørensen, Frode Jacobsen, Erling Foss and Oge Shock. Directives from the British Special Operations Office coordinated the activities of various groups [3] .
In December 1943, Great Britain received orders to organize military groups that should attack the Germans in case of invasion. The first organization was taken up by the communists and unionists, and then the figures of the Ring joined them. By the day the Allies landed in Normandy, the resistance was 20,000, and since that day the number of acts of sabotage, sabotage, and attacks has grown. This did not happen by chance: the British specifically ordered the Danes to divert attention in order to clear their way in France. The basis and refuge for the Danish resistance was precisely neutral Sweden, which did not give Germany to the figures of the Resistance hiding there and allowed the Danes to move freely across the border.
The Council was dissolved in May 1945, when Germany signed the surrender and was forced to disarm its troops, which never left Norway and Denmark.
See also
- Bopa
- Holger Danske
- Churchill Club
- Dössing, Thomas - DOS representative in Moscow
Notes
- ↑ Lauersen, Gert The German occupation of Denmark . Date of treatment May 11, 2015. Archived October 15, 2013.
- ↑ Jubel og glæde . Article about the Danish liberation by Bjørn Pedersen. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
- ↑ Denmark - History - The Occupation 1940-45 from the Danish Foreign Ministry. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
Literature
- Hæestrup, Jørgen. Secret Alliance - A Study of the Danish Resistance Movement 1940-45 . Vols I, II & III. Odense University Press, 1976-77. ISBN 87-7492-168-1 , ISBN 87-7492-194-0 & ISBN 87-7492-212-2 .
- Moore, Bob (editor). Resistance in Western Europe (esp. Chapter on Denmark by Hans Kirchoff), Oxford: Berg, 2000, ISBN 1-85973-279-8 .