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Danish resistance movement

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Danish resistance
Part of The European theatre of World War II

Resistance members disarming danish SS members
DateNonviolent resistance
9 April 1940 - 29 August 1943
Violent resistance
29 August 1943 - 4 May 1945
Location
German occupied Denmark
Result Resistance victory
Belligerents

 Germany

  • Danish collaborators
Resistance Groups
Danish Brigade in Sweden
Support:
 Sweden

The Danish Resistance Movement was an underground movement 

organized to resist the Nazi German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation authority allowed the democratic government to stay in power, the resistance movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale than in some other countries.

By 1943, many Danes were involved in underground activities, ranging from producing illegal publications to spying and sabotage. Major groups included the communist BOPA (Danish: Borgerlige Partisaner, Civil Partisans) and Holger Danske, both based in Copenhagen. Resistance agents killed an estimated 400 Danish Nazis, informers and collaborators until 1944. After that date, they also killed some German nationals.

Resistance fighters and German soldiers battling

After the war the Resistance was supported by politicians within Denmark and there was little effort to closely examine the killings. Studies were made in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and people learned that there was sometimes improvised and contingent decision making about the targets, with some morally ambiguous choices.

[change | change source]
  • Lowry, Lois Number The Stars (1989) historical fiction, in English, 1990 Newberry Award winner