Conference turris::scandia

    Re -.0
    
    I don't know about your first question but it's probably true.
    
    To the other questions. I'd like to say that to explain this thouroghly
    would take a book or two.
    
    As you know Sweden was neutral during the war. That position was
    naturally a tough one when Sweden was totally surrounded by German
    controlled countries. The goverment tried to balance between it's
    neutrality and trying to keep Germany satisfied. They succeded to
    keep Sweden out of the war, but did some things we shouldn't be
    to happy about. But one must also remember that there were many
    people in Sweden that was in favour of Germany (at least until 1943),
    after all Germany was Swedens main trading partner and Sweden was
    heavily influenced culturally.
    
    I would like to mention here that there off course were a lot of
    people fighting against the Nazi's. You must remember that Sweden
    had one of the biggest Social-democratic parties in the world with
    a support of almost fifty percent of the population. The Nazi party
    never reached more than about ten percent of the Swedish people.
    The problem was that most of the nazi support was in the upper classes,
    which means people with power.
    
    
    When it comes to the question about the Jews. Swedens attitude changed
    during the war. In the beginning Swedish authorities didn't want
    to see the problem. It was Ok was Danish and Norwegian Jews but
    the others... (Many Swedes thought of the Germans as their 'Brother'
    people). I'm not sure exactly why there weren't more refugees coming
    to Sweden from other countries, but you got to remember that the
    only way to get to Swedish territory was from German controlled
    soil. I have an old French friend that fled to Sweden during the
    war and he had to go all the way through Germany-Poland-Finland
    before he got to Sweden.
    
    At the end of the War Sweden started to accept refugees, and succeded
    to get about 10.000 jews out of Germany. People involved in this
    was Raoul Wallenberg and Folke Bernadotte.
    
    I can do some research if you'd like more information about this
    subject....
    
    Paul Ahlgren
   
    
   

    There were about 10,000 Jews in Denmark when the Germans invaded.
    Every single one of them was smuggled out of the country by the
    Danish resistance.  

    Re -.2
    
    I'm afraid that there were some 4-6 hundred Danish Jews that was
    deported to Germany and killed in the Concentration Camps.
    
    Paul

    There is also a book called "Finland and the Holocaust: The Rescue
    of Finland's Jews". It is by Hannu Rautkallio. I have ordered it
    from the bookstore and so have not read it yet.
    
    It deals with the bind that Finland was caught in during the war.
    Having to deal with the Russians and the Germans.
    
    I will report back further when I have read the book.
    
    Ruth-Ellen

    Re: .1
    
    > At the end of the War Sweden started to accept refugees, and succeded
    > to get about 10,000 jews out of Germany. People involved in this
    > was Raoul Wallenberg and Folke Bernadotte.
    
    Is this the same Bernadotte who was later assassinated by the Israelis?
    

    
    Yep. Bernadotte was assasinated by the Stern gang (early Israeli
    terrorists). Wallenberg is presumed to have died in a Soviet prison
    some time after the war. He was arrested by the Russians whilst
    helping refugees at the end of the war. He was never again seen
    or heard from.
    
    Denmark did rescue almost all of it's Jews by smuggling them over
    to Sweden on fishing boats. It is the country's only really proud
    event of WWII.
    
    
    

    Re: .7  only proud event
    
    Well, maybe not.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the "ceremonial"
    palace guard fight to the death when the Germans invaded?
    

    
    The "ceremonial" palace guard isn't "ceremonial". They are real
    soldiers carrying real guns. It is their duty to put their lives
    on the line to protect the royal family. This they did, but not
    to the death as claimed. Denmark put up a short, very short, resistance
    against the German invasion. Surrender took place in a matter of
    hours after the invasion. In contrast, the Benelux fought a hopeless
    fight for days. The fight in Norway went on for months and was first
    over when France fell and the Allies pulled their expeditionary
    forces out of Norway.
    
    Denmark was invaded so that Germany could use it as a staging ground
    for the invasion of Norway, which was the real target. Indeed, Danish
    airfields were used by German bombers the same day the German's
    invaded. This illustrates how quickly the Danes capitulated.
    
    

    
    Well correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Danish king so some
    things to be proud of during the war.
    
    I've read about an incident concerning the King's morning ride.
    The Gestapo said that it was too 'dangerous' for the King to ride
    around unprotected. The King got angry and took his horse to the
    central of Copenhagen and took his morning ride there.
    
    I must admit that my memory is very fuzzy about this, (Danish History
    isn't really my strongest side), but maybe someone can fill me in
    on this.
    
    Paul.

There was a Danish resistance (and they have a museum in Copenhagen quite
close to "The Little Mermaid").  One of the underground papers is still
being published (as a "real" daily newspaper).

There are several stories told about the Danish king:

-- Just before Germany invaded, Hitler sent a message suggesting that
   these "two great Aryan nations" should join forces (etc.).  The
   king politely replied that, at his advanced age, he didn't feel
   up to governing Germany.

-- The king took his morning ride every day; as a symbol that Denmark
   still existed.

-- When the Germans demanded that Jews wear a yellow star, the king
   had one sewn on his clothes.

I'll post more on the Danish rescue of the Jews when I have an evening
free (for translation).

Martin.

    RE: .several
    
> -- When the Germans demanded that Jews wear a yellow star, the king
>    had one sewn on his clothes.

    I had often times retold this anectdote, until my Danish teacher
    told me that it was apocryphal.  Does anyone know of contemporary
    documentation?
    

    Re .-1 (and others)
    
    There are some truth to this.
    
    When the germans demanded, that all jews should wear the yellow
    star on their clothes, the king announced that he would wear one
    to. Knowing that the day after allmost any dane would show up with
    a yellow star on their clothes, the germans dropped the subject.
    
    Pelle

re:294.0
At the Wannsee Conference - a meeting of Nazi officials on "the Jewish question"
a Martin Luther of the Foreign Office, warned of possible difficulties in the 
Scandinavian countries notably in Norway and Denmark. Luther proposed postponing
evacuations from Scandinavia. As far as Denmark was concerned, 
the country retained its independent government, and was 
allowed to remain a neutral state, until the fall of 1943, although along with
Norway it had been invaded by the German Army in April, 1940. There existed no
Fascist or Nazi movement in Denmark worth mentioning, and therefore no collabo-
-rators. Of all the Nazi occupied countries of Europe, it was in Denmark,
however, that the Germans found out how fully justified the Foreign Office's 
apprehensions had been. 
    The account of the Danish Jews is sui generis, and the collective behavior
of the Danish people and their government was unique among  all the countries
of Europe - whether occupied, or a partner of the Axis, or neutral and truly
independent. It is sometimes very tempting to recommend the account  as required
reading for all students who wish to learn something about the enormous power 
potential inherent in non-violent action in resistance to an opponent possessing
vastly superior means of violence. Like Denmark, Sweden, Italy and Bulgaria 
proved to be nearly immune to anti-Semitism, BUT of the 3 that were in the Nazi
sphere of influence, ONLY the DANES dared to speak out on the subject to their
Nazi/German rulers.
    When the Germans approached the Danes  quietly about introducing
the yellow ("star of David") badge, the Nazis were simply told that the King of
Denmark would be the first to wear one,and the Danish government officials were 
careful to point out that antiJewish measures of any sort would cause their own 
immediate resignation. It was decisive in this whole matter that the Germans did
not even succeed in introducing the vitally important distinction between native
Danes of Jewish origin. This refusal must have suprised the Germans, since it
appeared so "illogical" for a government to protect people - refugees whom it
had not naturalized as citizens - this group included some  fourteen 
hundred German Jewish refugees who had found asylum in the country prior to the
war and who had been declared STATELESS by the German Nazi government.
    The Danes explained to the German officials that becuase the stateless 
refugees were no longer German citizens, the Nazis could not claim them without
Danish assent. It was of course not statelessness per se that saved the German
Jews in Denmark, but the fact that the Danish government had decided to protect
them. Thus, none of the preparatory moves, so important for the bureaucracy of
genocide could be carried out, and the operations were postponed until the fall
of 1943.  What happened then was truly amazing; compared with what took place in
in other European countries, everything went topsy-turvey. In August 1943 after
the German offensive in Russia had failed and the Allies had invaded Italy -the
Swedish government canceled its 1940 agreement with Germany which had permitted
German troops the right to pass through the country. Thereupon, the Danish 
workers decided that they could help a bit in hurrying things up; strikes broke
out in Danish shipyards, where the dock workers refused to repair German ships.
The German military commander proclaimed a state of emergency and imposed 
martial law, and Himmler thought this was the right moment to tackle the 
"Jewish question". What Himmler did not realize was the fact that, apart from
Danish passive resistance - the Nazi German officials who had been living in 
Denmark as administrators for years were no longer the SAME. Not only did Gen.
von Hannecken, the military commander, refuse to put troops at the disposal of
Reich plenipotentiary, Dr. Werner Best; the S.S. units (Einsatz-kommamdos) 
employed in Denmark very frequently objected to "the measures they were ordered
to carry out by the central agencies" - according to Best's testimony at 
Nuremberg. 
    So finally Eichmann's office sent one of its best men to Denmark a person
named Rolf Gunther, whom no one had ever accused of not possessing the required
"ruthless toughness".. Gunther made no  impression on his colleagues in Copenha-
-gen, and now von Hannecken refused even to issue a decree requiring all Jews 
to report for work. Werner Best went to Berlin and obtained a promise that all
Jews from Denmark would be sent to Theresienstadt regardless of their category.
The night of October 1st was set for their seizure and immediate departure
- ships were ready in the harbor - and since neither the Danes  nor
the GERMAN TROOPS stationed in Denmark could be relied on to help, police 
units arrived from Germany for a door-to-door search. At the last moment the
"imported German police" were told by Werner Best that they were not permitted
to break into apartments, BECUASE the Danish police might then interfere, and
they were not supposed to fight it out with the Danes. Hence the the NaziPolice
could **only** seize those Jews who voluntarily opened their doors. A few days
before this date of doom, A German shipping agent, Georg F. Duckwitz, had 
revealed the whole plan to Danish government officials, who in turn had 
hurriedly informed the heads of the Jewish community. The Jewish leaders then
communicated the news openly in the synagogues on the occasion of the New Year   
services. The Jews had time enough to leave their apartments and go into hiding,
which was very easy in Denmark, becuase, in words of the judgement, 
"sections of the Danish people, from the King down to the ordinary citizens"
stood ready to receive them. 
      They might have remained in hiding until the end of the war if the Danes 
had not been blessed with un-occupied neutral Sweden as a neighbor. It seemed
reasonable to ship the Jews to Sweden, and this was done with the help of the 
Danish fishing fleet. THE COST OF TRANSPORTATION FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT MEANS -
about a hundred dollars per person WAS PAID LARGELY BY WEALTHY DANISH citizens,
and that was perhaps the most astounding feat of all since this was a time when
Jews in other European nations were paying for their own deportations. 
It took the better half of October to ferry all the Jews across the five to  
fifteen miles of water that separates Denmark from Sweden. The non-Danish Jews
were better off than ever, becuase they all received permission to work. The few
Jews the German police had been able to arrest were old or poor people, who 
either had not received the news in time or had not been able to comprehend its
meaning. When everything was over, it was the considered opinion of Eichmann 
that "for various reasons the action against the Jews in Denmark has been a 
failure," 
      Psychologically one of the most interesting aspect of this incident is
perhaps the role played by the German authorities in Denmark, their obvious
neglect of orders from Berlin. It is the **only** case known of in which the
Nazis met with OPEN local resistance, and the result seems to have been that 
those exposed to it changed their minds. The Nazis met resistance based on 
principle, and their "toughness" was somewhat reduced - all due to the 
courage and the determination of the Danish people from their King to the 
commoner. 

(This text was compiled from "Denmark and the Jews": Hannah Arendt, part
of the Norton Reader 4th edition.) 
    BTW: It took me so long  Dec.8th - May 16th, Prof. Reinke might give me
    a "Z" for tardiness ?
    
    k@b.

    Rabbi Ib Nathan Bamberger, whose synagogue I used to attend, was one
    of the Danish Jews who was evacuated to Sweden.  He's written a history
    of the Danish Jews called "The Viking Jews" (out of print).  His family
    went into hiding directly from the Rosh Hashanah services during which
    the Jewish community was warned of the impending round-up.  When they
    returned to their home after the war, the table was still set for the
    Rosh Hashanah meal.

    There was an exhibit on the Danish Jews at the Jewish Museum in New York
    a few years ago.  It included one of the small fishing boats that was
    used to smuggle the Jews to Sweden.

    (Thanks, Martin, for pointing to this note from GVRIEL::BAGELS).

    Re: 15
    
    Is Rabbi Ib Nathan Bamberger currently residing in Denmark/Sweden or
    perhaps in Canada/US ?
    G. Sacks, do you have a copy of the book "The Viking Jews" ?
    Any comments from Rabbi Bamberger you wish to share ?
    
    M.K.boateng
    

    He lives in The Bronx, New York.  I've got the book, but I've yet to
    read it.  Maybe this is the cue to read it.

Group soc.culture.nordic
article 313          

From: lars@salt.acc.com (Lars J Poulsen)                               
Subject: Denmark in WW II - and Danish Security Policy                   
Organization: Advanced Computer Communications, Santa Barbara, California

In article <28525@pbhya.PacBell.COM> whh@PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) writes:
>Denmark is a little more complicated.   Denmark was "conquered"       
>in about 2 hours--largely due to its proximity to Germany.  The       
>net result was that the existing civil government was unable to flee...      
  
    While the people that know have never talked much, there was obviously
    some weirdness going on, so the quotes around "conquered" are quite
    appropriate. 
   
    Denmark is a small country, entirely flat and densely populated. There
    are no hills to hide in, and guerilla warfare would inflict heavy
    casualties on civilians. One third of the population lives in the
    Copenhagen metropolitan area. Given that Germany was immediately
    adjoining, and Copenhagen was easily within range of most German
    airfields, while Denmark was demobilized so as not to pose a "threat"
    to Germany, while the German forces were already at fighting strength,
    it was obviously decided at the highest level of government that
    fighting the incoming forces would serve only to produce a blood bath.
    Army intelligence must have worked perfectly, and the word not to fight
    must have gotten out to just about everyone. 

    I know of only two units that put up a fight: A single infantry company
    armed with machineguns and rifles took position on higway A10 and tried
    to hold back the Panzer army coming up to take possession of Jutland.  
    They died trying.  And the ceremonial company of the royal lifeguards  
    regiment held the Amalienborg (royal palace square) for several hours  
    until the city was firmly in the hand of the occupation force and the  
    King ordered them to cease fire.                                       

    The coast guard battery at the entrace to the port of Copenhagen fired 
    not one shot. An official board of enquiry in 1945 established that
    this was due to equipment malfunction: The cartridge jammed in the gun,
    and  the cadet on duty did not get it cleared in time to shoot on the       
    destroyer heading up the troop convoy as he had orders to. A most      
    fortunate accident indeed (saving the lives of the entire regiment by  
    not making it necessary to bombard the coast battery or the navy base
    in the port): The oncoming convoy incorrectly deduced that they were      
    welcomed and did not shoot at all!                                     
 
    My father was serving his army duty in the winter of 1939-40, stationed
    in an infantry unit in Roskilde. In the early hours of the morning of  
    April 9, 1940 his company was roused and ordered to march to Helsing|r 
    (Elsinore) (25 miles) where they commandeered the railway ferry and    
    sailed to the Swedish port of H{lsingborg. The local commander had     
    apparently dediced that he did not like the orders he had received and 
    tried to get the troops to Sweden to join an army in exile. But since  
    nobody else showed up, the unit was interned at a Swedish air force
    base for a couple of months and then quietly sent back.                     
 
    While the situation ultimately worked itself out, the events of that   
    morning was a source of perpetual shame in many of the responsible army
    officers that lived through it, and there was a strong determination   
    that this should never happen again. After the war, documents in the   
    German archives revealed that Germany would not have attacked Denamrk
    if they had not been convinced that it could be taken within 24 hours
    with small losses. 

    The postwar NATO policy has been to establish a credible  defense,
    designed to hold the ground for 48 hours - long enough to bring in
    reinforcements. Denmark now has a standing army/navy/airforce of    
    about 12,000 men and a national guard militia reserve (hjemmev{rn) of  
    about 70,000 "weekend soldiers" trained to become an instant
    underground guerilla force in order to make it very expensive to occupy
    the territory. About 50,000 US marines are expected to move in during
    the first 24 hours; ammunition and other supplies for them are stored
    in Danish depots.