OCCUPATION AND RESISTANCE

 

The exhibition OCCUPATION AND RESISTANCE is dark to illustrate the five dark years in Danish history and also to show that there were no street lights.
The exhibition is chronologically formed as a labyrinth to show that no one knew the future.

 

DENMARK IS OCCUPIED 

A little after 4 a.m. on April 9 1940 German troops crossed the border to Denmark. That was the start of the German occupation of Denmark.

In February 1940 a British destroyer succeeded in freeing 300 prisoners of war from a German prisoner transfer in Norwegian waters. This made it clear to Hitler that the English were present and were able to perform military operations in and around Norway. At the same time Hitler received information about English plans for a thrust against Norway. Norway was very important for the Germans in the transportation of Swedish ore for the German war production. It was therefore essential to protect the support lines.

 

At the end of February the first plans for the German invasion of Norway were ready. Denmark was not included here. In return the Danish government had to accept to give the Germans “access to airbases in North Jutland, rights to fly over the country and to dispose over certain ports”. The airbase mentioned was Aalborg Airport and the ports were the ports of Skagen and Frederikshavn which should function as transit ports between Denmark and Norway. The plans were changed, however, and already in the beginning of March Denmark was included.

The attack on April 9 1940 was a total surprise attack. The Germans focused on a speedy and total occupation of the Danish territory. The German troops were far superior to the Danish. The invasion was well coordinated and up to 40,000 German troops occupied Denmark in less than 3 to 4 hours. It was also the first time in world history that paratroopers were employed as part of an invasion. Only 30 minutes passed from Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning’s meetings with his ministers and the king before they accepted the German conditions and capitulated. Denmark was occupied.

 

The Germans were focused on four areas in Jutland which were imperative for the occupation of Denmark. Denmark’s largest industrial port, Esbjerg, the airport in Aalborg, the coast outside Hanstholm and last but not least the port of Frederikshavn.

Of course the German occupation of Denmark influenced all parts of the Danish society. Politically the government had to introduce and live with what today is referred to as the Cooperation policy. The country, the industry and the shops had to adjust to the terms of the German Wehrmacht. In Danish homes there were talks about both cooperating with as well as offering resistance against the occupiers.

In many ways people felt that the freedom they had been used to had been taken from them. This created a reluctance that turned into resistance. This was the base for the Danish resistance movement. They performed dangerous actions including espionage, parachute drops, printing and distributing propaganda and especially sabotage.

All this and much more you can experience in the Coastal Museum Bangsbo’s impressive and fascinating exhibition on the German occupation of Denmark. It provides a moving insight into everyday life and the dangerous work of the resistance movement during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945.