Denmark and the Holocaust

Carol Rittner

The story of the Danish Jews is sui generis, and the behavior of the Danish

people unique among all the countries of Europe – occupied, allied with the

Jews in Denmark

Jews had lived in Denmark since the 17th century. When they first

arrived in 1622, Jews were allowed to live only in certain towns, but by 1814,

The Invasion and Occupation of Denmark

When Nazi Germany invaded Denmark on April 9, 1940, the Royal Danish

Army put up scant resistance. The Royal Navy surrendered without firing a

shot. In the beginning, whatever negative attitudes the Danes had about the

Germans were expressed through passive resistance, or giving them the “cold

shoulder,” rather than by open defiance, armed resistance, or sabotage. The

Danes were given a degree of autonomy unheard of in any other German

occupied country in Europe.

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Shoah Resource Center, The International 2/5 School for Holocaust Studies

Throughout the occupation, the Danish Government insisted there was no

“Jewish problem” in Denmark. They were like all the other citizens of Denmark

and would be treated no differently. In practice, this meant that Jews were not

forced to wear the Yellow Star of David, were not segregated or isolated, and

were not barred from restaurants, public place, schools, cinemas, or theaters.

Their property was not confiscated, and they were never dismissed from their

jobs. Their movement was not restricted, by day or night. Jewish communal

activities remained undisturbed despite the presence of German troops. Still,

democratic Denmark had been defeated and occupied by a foreign country.

Danes began to ask themselves whether or not as a conquered people they

could maintain a democratic way of life. Can confidence, identity, and unity be

restored when national pride is shaken to its core?

The Public Significance of Ideas

It was not the first time Danes had been confronted by such

challenges. In 1864, after being defeated by the Prussians, Denmark was

swept by a profound malaise. It was Nikolai F. S. Grundtvig (1782-1873), a

remarkably talented and versatile poet, educator, historian, theologian, and

Christian humanist, who reinvigorated the Danish spirit of democracy and

humanity. Grundtvig was a man of deep biblical faith with a high level of

tolerance and respect for other cultures and religious traditions of the world.

His spirit was ecumenical. In all that he did and wrote, he emphasized the

biblical doctrine of creation: “First a human being, then a Christian: this alone

is life’s order. ”People”, he said, “are bound to one another with ties more

profound than any of the barriers of human history, including the history of

religion, may have constructed”. Through the Danish folk high schools, which

he founded for young people, his ecumenical spirit caught on among

“ordinary” people in Denmark. In the twentieth century, during the German

occupation when the Danes again needed help in restoring their national,

Grundtvig’s ideas proved their enduring significance.

Hal Koch (1904-1963), a theologian and professor of church history at

the University of Copenhagen, recognized that fascism and Nazism were

dangers to democracy. After the April 1940 invasion and occupation, Koch

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Shoah Resource Center, The International 3/5 School for Holocaust Studies

decided to give a series of lectures, open to the general public. He knew well

that Denmark was privileged compared to other conquered countries. He had

even supported the “policy of negotiation,” but he was becoming more aware

of the “high price” Denmark paid for its relative autonomy under German

occupation: “we have said many a Yes and many a No which have not come

from our hearts, and that our talk has taken on a fateful hypocrisy”

Like Grundtvig before him, Koch found in the language of biblical morality the

principles of civic virtue. These principles prompted certain questions: Am I

my brother’s/sister’s keeper? Who is my neighbor? What are the boundaries

of obligation? What is the connection between the actions of individuals and

the common good? What is the relationship between how we Danes act and

our self-understanding as citizens?

Examining the biblical tradition so familiar to Danes, Koch highlighted its

public significance. He helped people to find, embedded in their biblical roots,

universally accepted ideas. He illuminated and emphasized the selfunderstanding

Danes held about themselves and about democratic values

and ideals in their society.

From Apathy to Action

Between April 1940 and August 1943, Danish attitudes toward their German

occupiers underwent significant transformation. German demands kept

escalating until the Danes were no longer willing to compromise, to engage in

the “policy of negotiation,” to rely only on passive resistance and the “cold

shoulder” technique. By the Fall of 1942, the Danish resistance movement

began to gain support. In the Summer of 1943, sabotage activities, reprisals,

strikes and street unrest across Denmark mounted to a high pitch. In addition,

Danes were unhappy with the Germans because they were experiencing food

shortages.

On August 28, 1943, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Dr. Werner Best, informed the

Danish Government that it was declaring a “state of emergency.” Public

gatherings of more than five persons were prohibited, as were strikes and

financial support for strikers. An 8:30 p.m. curfew was imposed. Firearms and

explosives were confiscated, press censorship was imposed, and Danish

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Shoah Resource