The Danish Resistance and the Survival of Danish Jews during WWII
TLDR Despite being occupied by Germany during WWII, the Danish government practiced a policy of cooperation while not actively collaborating. Danish Jews were protected and helped by the Danish people, resulting in over 99% of Denmark's Jewish population surviving the war.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
During the Second World War, Denmark was occupied by Germany, but the Danish government decided to surrender due to the overwhelming power of the German war machine.
04:26
During the German occupation of Denmark in World War II, the Danes practiced a policy of cooperation with the Germans while not actively collaborating, and the Danish king, Christian the 10th, symbolized Danish sovereignty and resistance by riding through the streets of Copenhagen on his horse every day.
08:24
King Christian the 10th of Denmark adamantly refuses to allow the Germans to touch Danish Jews, leading to worsening relations between Denmark and Germany and ultimately the dissolution of the Danish government by the Germans.
12:19
Duckvitz, a German diplomat in Denmark, learns of the Nazi plan to round up Danish Jews and deport them, and he tries to convince the Germans not to go through with it, while also reaching out to the Swedes for potential refuge for the Danish Jews.
16:13
During the Nazi occupation, Jewish families in Denmark go into hiding with the help of their friends, while physicist Niels Bohr escapes to Sweden and enlists Greta Garbo's help to secure refuge for Danish Jews.
20:18
During the Nazi occupation, Danish families help Jewish families go into hiding on a family by family basis, with people staying in various locations such as seaside homes, churches, hospitals, and hotels, and being transported to Sweden on fishing boats, row boats, and even kayaks, while the Germans are oblivious to their escape.
24:18
During the Nazi occupation, a group called the Friends of the Sound helped transport almost 1000 Jewish families across the strait between Denmark and Sweden, but the innkeeper who organized it was arrested and died in a concentration camp; in another village called Gilliläa, about 80 Jews were hidden in a church loft and many more were hidden throughout the village, with the locals determined to protect them from the Germans.
28:19
During the Nazi occupation, the Danish people were outraged by the deportation of Jews to concentration camps and demanded that the Germans allow them to send food and medicine parcels to the Jews in the camps, resulting in more than 99% of Denmark's Jewish population surviving the war.
32:25
During the war, Denmark served as Germany's pantry and the SS general in charge of the roundup of Jews in Denmark actually warned a Jewish tailor to go into hiding before the operation, and while he was sentenced to death by a Danish court, his sentence was reduced to 12 years on appeal and he later became the West German ambassador to Denmark and was named Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli government.
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History