My great grandfather was part of the Danish resistance. Nobody in our family knew that he was part of it, to everyone's knowledge, the most illegal thing he was doing was keeping a pig hidden away, (Which in all honesty, still was pretty illegal.) After the war, when the government had announced over the radio that Hitler was dead, he simply took out a resistance arm band and to everyone's suprise put it on. Turns out, he happened to be an high-end information broker (Delivering information between England and the Danish resistance), for the resistance. Being too old for common combat, he thought that was his best shot at defending Denmark. Even funnier, the pig actually got killed a bit before the war ended, because a 16 year old German soldier was starving, and the soldiers didn't have enough food for him, my Great Grand dad then decided to offer to take him in and feed him, which he was allowed. The pigs life went to that boys health. He was forced to fight and die in a war he didn't want, my great grandfather understood that. (Remember, during the ending of the war, German supplies were almost non-existent) He did though end up not wanting to associate with the resistance after the war, because of the not-so-heroic way the resistance treated the German collaborators and people when we had won, which he didn't want to part of, because in his eyes there were only "trying to survive".

@bobtaylor170

2 жыл бұрын

Great anecdote. Thanks for telling it.

@carlorrman8769

2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou for sharing that amazing story. Good on you mate. Greetings from Australia.

@princeofpokemon2934

2 жыл бұрын

What exactly did the people of Denmark do to the German collaborators? It must have been something bad if your great grandfather wanted no part in it.

@sirkiwi7692

2 жыл бұрын

@@princeofpokemon2934 google german collaborators in Denmark. They did some shit. I can't say much of it. But it was bad as the things the French resistance did to collaborators if not worse. Just FYI some.of the images are kind of disturbing.

@jeffp7481

2 жыл бұрын

@@princeofpokemon2934 The women, the "Army Mattresses", were basically tarred and feathered, and I believe that had old mattresses tied to their backs. The pigs were treated much better, and their breed was not even allowed to be exported alive for breeding, I believe even to this day.

I respect the Danish decision. If you cannot win a conventional war, do not fight one. There is nothing to be gained from it. Honor and glory mean nothing to the dead, which is what they would have had instead of their sons. If you cannot beat your enemy in a conventional battle, you fight asymmetrically and by other means, as Danish government and intelligence services and Resistance did.

@indianheadlogan

2 жыл бұрын

Just like how Finland played it in the winter war

@arrow1414

2 жыл бұрын

When the time is right, the Ukrainians should do the same!

@jeffp7481

2 жыл бұрын

I'd not be here today if they'd chosen to fight a conventional. Three exes may disagree but I'm proud of, and glad for, what they did.

@godttagetknagtenboostertilpaas

Жыл бұрын

@@jeffp7481 Yes you would.. Germany already lost before they began and you could have made their plans smaller, pathetic really, ye had 20 casualties and surrendered and appeased the enemy your w m n married real German men untill they lost, brave and stunning country /joke..

@MadsenTheDane

Жыл бұрын

We also did not have any allies that was willing to help defend Denmark, which also weighed heavily into the decision of capitulation, sadly, imagine if allied troops had come before the invasion, Denmark is close to Berlin

Even after their conversion to Christianity, they are still viking at heart.

@Earthrush

2 жыл бұрын

We Will Allways be

@Mrwolfbex

2 жыл бұрын

Just like that time we held back a British army back in vikingage britain. That would say 1 viking held of hundreds of British troops until he was stabbed from under the brigde, and we didnt organise in time and lost britain.

@arnowisp6244

2 жыл бұрын

Who ever said they wouldn't be brave warriors afterwards?

@robertsummers3386

2 жыл бұрын

@@arnowisp6244 Christians

@phunkeehone

2 жыл бұрын

@@Mrwolfbex That was a Norwegian berserker, not a Danish guy. Wish it was, but not this time.

I can’t believe I haven’t heard this before. Truly amazing my Scandinavian brothers. 🇩🇰 🇸🇪

My grandfather did some sabotage during the war in the south of Jutland. The gestapo caught him mistaking him for another resistance fighter named Hans Andersen, but released him once they figured it out. He fled with my grandmother and my uncle into the woods for the rest of the war. They both hated Germans until they died of old age. They were born in the aftermath of the last war with Prussia and Austria in 1864, and were technically born German citizens until the southern part of Jutland was reunited with Denmark in 1920.

@wrightroenigk

2 жыл бұрын

That’s insane

@LotharTheFellhanded

2 жыл бұрын

Your grandfather was lucky man. Was his name Anders Hansen or something equally ridiculous? So many people survived by the skin of their teeth. Thank god for the corrupt incompetency of the fascists.

There was a short story in one of the Escape from WWII POW camps, about an RAF gunner, who got to Denmark, and was rescued by a Danish Resistance Group ( 1944). They had rescued several Browning .303 MGs from a downed Lancaster Bomber, along with a generous supply of Belted .303 Ammo forthe Guns. Unfamiliar with the Guns' mechanism, they asked the POW for help. He showed them how to operate, strip and reassemble the guns, and repair them with parts from Damaged guns ( a Lancaster had 8-12 Brownings) before he was sent on his way to Sweden and Freedom.

@LotharTheFellhanded

2 жыл бұрын

Like the Ukrainians stripping mounted heavy machineguns from destroyed Russian armor today. Little bit of work needed to make them man portable and usable (aircraft machine guns don't have triggers and such) but a helluva lot of firepower. It's terrifying to think of how many weapons are left behind as armies move over the land.

@scettybagle5552

Жыл бұрын

Thats one way to make sure you're downed pilot is legit

@jed-henrywitkowski6470

3 ай бұрын

I saw a documentary about an American bomber crew who were downed in Denmark. One of the crewmen was Jewish and the family that rescued him and his brothers (in arms) found out. They didn't tell the Germans and got them hooked up with a local resistance group.

as a dane i am so thankful for this video. the amount of times i have heard "oh denmark surrendered in only 6 hours" is staggering. and it pisses me off even more since my grandfather had been in the danish resistance (he ran messages) so thank you for showing that we weren't just some tiny speedbump in the path of the nazis.

@michellepeoplelikeyoumurde8373

2 жыл бұрын

It is still a historical fact ,Denmark surrendered in 6 hours

@nikolajsteffensen6578

2 жыл бұрын

@@michellepeoplelikeyoumurde8373 it is. i more meant when they bring it up as a way to mock us. i fully acknowledge it as a historical fact. i do not appreciate it being used in the contet of "you just rolled over you cowards"

@tyskbulle

2 жыл бұрын

@@nikolajsteffensen6578 I may have mentioned it once or twice When a Dane criticize Swedish collaboration The Nordic countries wanted nothing but to be left alone

@nikolajsteffensen6578

2 жыл бұрын

@@tyskbulle honestly i have huge respect for the actions of sweden during WW2 when put in context of danish WW2 history. for one? you guys took care of our gold reserves and actually gave them back to us afterwards. not to mention you accepted when we shipped like. 80 percent of our jews over to you so that the nazis wouldn't take them to be killed. it is as you say. we just wanted to be left alone.

The King also sent an insult to Hitler. The balls of the lad.

@godttagetknagtenboostertilpaas

Жыл бұрын

That's the average Dane.. arrogant and rude just not so brave anymore..

@reneblom2160

Жыл бұрын

@@godttagetknagtenboostertilpaas I'm glad you got that out of your system. Do you feel better now?

@lhpl

28 күн бұрын

No, wrong.The King definitely had balls, but he was not one to insult people, not even Hitler. The royal court sent a polite standard reply to the birthday congratulations telegram from Hitler to the King, as was normal. It was Hitler who perceived this reply ("Spreche meinen besten Dank aus. Chr. Rex") as an insult. This was for Christian X's 72. birthday 26. September 1942. This incident is now known as the "Telegram Crisis".

Why in the hell is this not talked about more often. What an incredible story. I pride myself on knowing a lot about WW2 and history in general and never heard of this story. Insane

@Valjean666dk

2 жыл бұрын

"Flammen & Citronen" was turned into a Danish movie not that long ago. "Flame & Citron" is the international name, I think. And has Mads Mikkelsen as one of the leads.

@turtle2720

2 жыл бұрын

The Danish movie "April 9th" portrait the invasion - Also worth a watch if you like good foreign movies.

@General_Rubenski

2 жыл бұрын

@@turtle2720 There’s also “Mineland” about the Danish nazis/Germans who stayed after the war ended to clean up mines they left all over the beaches and that new Netflix show about a British raid on Danish Gestapo HQ

@turtle2720

2 жыл бұрын

@@General_Rubenski I couldn't find "Land of Mine" on Netflix (it must have been removed). I didn't know that "The Bombardment" was about the Mosquito raid on the Danish Gestapo HQ... I'll watch that soon - thanks for the tip :)

@duedman-alleswasknallt5775

2 жыл бұрын

yeah, I also had never heard of that.

'Fun' fact: There is a collection of university dorms in Denmark that prioritize applications from descendants of resistance fighters, and I think that's pretty cool. Honoring the heroes who resisted the Nazi-occupation by making sure their descendants have a place to stay while getting their educations.

@MegaRocket00

2 жыл бұрын

I had no idea. Which university dorms are we talking about here, that sounds very interesting!

@Neko141212

2 жыл бұрын

@@MegaRocket00 They're called the 4th of May dorms. And they're not belonging to a specific university. College dorms in Denmark are mostly separate from the universities

the lemon made damn sure he punched his ticket to valhalla that day

I heard that the Danish king performed some pretty heroic acts of civil disobedience during the German occupation of his homeland.

@nikolajsteffensen6578

2 жыл бұрын

oh he did. originally they wanted to move him out of copenhagen with the rest of his government. he just went "no. no you won't." and they couldn't touch him because if they did the milk and coffee front would suddenly turn into an absolute bloodbath. so instead they tried to confine him to his palace. again? he said "nooo." and every day he would go out for a ride on his horse. no royal guard. no nothing. just a nice ride around copenhagen where the people could see their king and his civil disobedience. and again? the nazis couldn't really do anything because the royal family is like. really important to us danes.

@brokenbridge6316

2 жыл бұрын

@@nikolajsteffensen6578---I heard that he went out riding on his horse around the capital. I think he wanted to be one with his people. Probably annoyed the German's an awful lot.

@brokenbridge6316

2 жыл бұрын

@@nikolajsteffensen6578---Thanks for responding.

@indrajitgupta3280

2 жыл бұрын

@@nikolajsteffensen6578 Technically they will rule the United Kingdom from the next British monarch's reign.

@Neko141212

2 жыл бұрын

@@brokenbridge6316 Unfortunately, on one of his trips out into the city, he was thrown from his horse in '42. It wasn't due to any danger or attack, but the resulting injury made it impossible for him to keep up his daily routine - if I remember my history correctly - and he never really recovered. He died two years after the war ended.

Danes and Poles, never underestimate them.

Thank you for highlighting this story. It’s important to distinguish between what every member of the Danish military wanted and the politicians governing them did. The army did non cease fighting for lack of moral and will but because they were ordered to by politicians who had tried a decade of careful appeasement policies in order to not inflame the great neighbour to their south. When looking at the casualty rates of around 300 Germans to roughly 30 Danes on April 9th. 1940 it gives an indication of how ferociously the Danes, who had an opportunity to fight did with what few means they had available to them. My uncle was first a Danish volunteer in Finland before returning to Denmark where he was an officer in a cavalry regiment. After relaying the orders to lay down arms to his men, he broke his sabre and said he would not be a part of a surrendering army and joined the resistance. He was later captured and sent to Dachau concentration camp where he survived to return with the other Danish and Norwegian prisoners on the White Buses. Another incredible account of one man’s bravery against the odds was Svend Paludan Moller, the commander of the Danish Gendarme corp who, in 1944, upon the German’’s attempt to arrest him, barricaded himself in his house and fought to his death. The local priest managed to arrange a short cease fire in which Svend’s wife was allowed to come and kiss her husband farewell before being escorted away and the fighting continued.

@TommyGlint

2 жыл бұрын

There’s no way the casualty rate you give is correct. I would certainly like to see a source for it, preferably from an actual historian. The highest I’ve ever seen is from DISA (Dansk Industri Syndikat A/S), the firm who made Madsen LMGs, not exactly known for historical research, is 203 german casualties. This high number (203) is regarded by historians today as wildly exaggerated, and the true number is somewhere close to the Danish number of casualties. So 300 is a bit high I think :-)

My grandfather was a member of the danish resistance, he blew up one of the bridges in aalborg which stopped major supply trains from germany from reaching ports.

My grandfathers dad had a shop, then one day that my grandfather went to fix some floorboards he found guns upon guns upon guns and ammunition upon ammunition, my grandfather quickly called the police chief, it then turned out that the police chief was hiding all the firing pins to the guns.

The Dane's were certainly very clever when it came to dealing with the Nazi's. I wonder if others could've been successful at doing what Denmark did during WWII.

@TheFront

2 жыл бұрын

I think some other countries may have been able to pull it off but they wouldn’t be very effective and it would be rare for another country to do so.

@brokenbridge6316

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheFront---Okay. Thanks for responding..

@Tommysimonsen

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheFront Don`t forget us Danes were newer neutral, and the people joined both/all sides with free will. Danes were freedom fighters/resistance, others joined USSR, and a few was high rank SS. Danes still light candles in the window to mark the end of the war, we had to cover all windows 100% to not get bombed by UK, any light escaping would mark a target and possible city, during night bombings. Sure they tried to hit Germans the most, but we all had to get bombed. A video on the worst moment in Denmark during the war would be great, and sort of easy to figure out, since it was one specific booming of a Jewish school by mistake of course. from wiki Operation Carthage, on 21 March 1945, was a British air raid on Copenhagen, Denmark during the Second World War which caused significant collateral damage. The target of the raid was the Shellhus, used as Gestapo headquarters in the city centre. It was used for the storage of dossiers and the torture of Danish citizens during interrogations. The Danish Resistance had long asked the British to conduct a raid against the site. The building was destroyed, 18 prisoners were freed and Nazi anti-resistance activities were disrupted. One online documentary includes footage taken by the RAF and interviews with those involved [1] Part of the raid was mistakenly directed against a nearby school; the raid caused 125 civilian deaths (including 86 schoolchildren and 18 adults at the school). A similar raid against the Gestapo headquarters in Aarhus, on 31 October 1944, had succeeded.

@brokenbridge6316

2 жыл бұрын

@@Tommysimonsen---I think I might've heard about this before. And I think after the war some British officer came to Copenhagen to honor the dead from this raid.

@andreaslarsen7957

2 жыл бұрын

@@Tommysimonsen Det var en fransk Skole med katolske nonner som lærer

If your field army is outnumbered 10 to 1, with your enemy holding total air supremacy, then fighting becomes a useless gesture. The Danes did the right thing, saving large numbers of their people, and fighting the Germans in other ways, not least of which was supporting Allied intelligence operations.

@Briselance

2 жыл бұрын

Fighting is never a useless gesture. That is an "appeaser" stance, that is defeatism. You have to adapt your fighting to your means. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.

@LotharTheFellhanded

2 жыл бұрын

As poisonous as it is to morale and the esprit de corps of an army, there is no point in a noble last stand to your destruction, when the enemy will still win and then you'll be dead. Bury your arms, throw off your uniform, and continue the war by other means. A regular army wants to fight a regular army, and one should never give the enemy what he wants. Put on your suit, go home, and then show up at the bars around closing time and knife drunk Germans in alleyway. Honorable combat is for mythological characters.

@reneblom2160

Жыл бұрын

@@Briselance Denmark chose to fight the nazis in other ways, than just sacrificing its entire army on April 9th 1940. We managed to smuggle the majority of the Jews in Denmark across Öresund into safety in neutral Sweden. Right under their noses. Adolf Eichmann wasn't too happy about that.

Would it be possible for you guys to do a video on how the Danes helped to protect most of the country’s 8,000 Jewish residents with their King at the forefront?

@olesuhr727

2 жыл бұрын

The book "The Savage Canary" by David Lampe describes this chapter of the war extremely well, and is definately worth a read.

@EdaugEthanbYT

2 жыл бұрын

@@olesuhr727 I read a book similar to The Savage Canary so I’ll be sure to check that one out as well. Thanks for the recommendation!

@ebbhead20

Ай бұрын

Yeah, i found out that no jew living in Denmark at rhe time was killed, as theyd all left for Sweden and other places before the Germans could take them. They had a little birdie telling them of the germans plans. Wonder who did that.? 😊

@lhpl

27 күн бұрын

@@ebbhead20 That is not entirely correct. But it is true that after the policy of cooperation ended with the Danish government resigning in August 1943, the Germans intended to deport all Jews (as had been done in other countries). However, someone in the German administration in Denmark (possibly right from the top man - Werner Best) warned the leaders of the social democrats (iirc) who in turn warned the Jewish communities. A good account of these events should not be too difficult to find. Some 500 jews were deported, most went to Theresienstadt, and survived (52 died) and were eventually recovered by the White Buses and brought to Sweden in April 1945 just a month before the German capitulation.

@ebbhead20

27 күн бұрын

@@lhpl idk, its jist a statement that fet thrown out here all the time. That Denmark didnt lose anyone as they where warned and got out before the nazis knew what was going on.. I still see videos about it. I saw something about thise year so you just get... Oh well i guess we did do that then.

The Danish army did fight back. Several German armoured cars and light tanks were destroyed by Danish anti-tank guns. They gave up after German bombers dropped leaflets over Copenhagen pointing out that the next wave of German bombers would drop things more lethal than paper.

@kiankier7330

11 ай бұрын

and going by what was find in the Archives, the germans that was killed or wounded on that day was around 200

You could make a video about Major Anders Lassen who joined SBS and were the only non-Commonwealth recipient of the British Victoria Cross or the “Churchill gang”. Boys as young as 14, who were the first to start rebel and inspired the others after they were caught. A movie called “Drengene fra Sankt Petri” were made about them

@kiankier7330

11 ай бұрын

Dont forget Svend Paludan-Müller

@mace8873

8 ай бұрын

Nah, the first to take action was actually the communists, they had the network in place even before the war.

What most people forget is that at the time the Germans invaded Denmark and Norway, the French and the British had passively witnessed Germany and Russia decimate Poland. In other words, Denmark and Norway stood alone against the combined might of Germany and the Soviet Union.

@doctordetroit4339

2 жыл бұрын

@Jake B Both Nazi Germany and USSR attacked numerous nations, not just Germany. Both were equally evil. And why the US did not want to enter the war. USSR attacked Finland, Germany attacked Norway, etc.

@charlie8344

2 жыл бұрын

@@doctordetroit4339 but the commenter explicitly said Norway and Denmark

@supersonicgamer4568

2 жыл бұрын

Actually there were numerous British and French forces in Norway during the German invasion and I'm pretty sure they only pulled out during the Battle of France.

@carlorrman8769

2 жыл бұрын

Straight up fact.

@Tommysimonsen

2 жыл бұрын

Don`t forget us Danes were newer neutral, and the people joined both/all sides with free will. Danes were freedom fighters/resistance, others joined USSR, and a few was high rank SS. Real life is fucking complicated.

My grandfather was in the resistance, and specialized in blowing up railroads. He died while I was still just a small kid, so only got a few stories about it from my grandmother. But there seems to be a bit to go through in the national archives.

Britain stood for Freedom from 1939-1945, and supplied resistance groups all over Europe with training and arms. ...... Freedom is never free - it carries a price. ...... Europe has forgotten this, and Ukraine is showing us what Freedom really means. Many Danes served in British-trained units, and made a significant contribution. ...... Anders Lassen, VC, comes to mind.

I actually have a book about Danish resistance in World War II called, "Courage and Defiance: Stories of Spies, Saboteurs, and Survivors in World War II Denmark" by Deborah Hopkinson. I don't recall the exact stories, but I do know that there are great details on Danish resistance activity during the war.

@godttagetknagtenboostertilpaas

Жыл бұрын

Only because they where pressured enough, it was shiddy conditions, they lost their "luxuries" so brutal..

@godttagetknagtenboostertilpaas

Жыл бұрын

Couldn't get citrous cake for their coffee so they rebelled..

@aldosigmann419

Жыл бұрын

It's all made up or exaggerated to elevate their feeble egos like so many on the libby/left skippy...

Flame & Citron is a super underrated movie about those two guys. I was happy to see clips from it here since almost everyone I know has never even seen it. Mads Mikkelsen is fantastic in it!

Well the Danish army weren't actually that well equipped, they were extremely underfunded actually, not even in possession of armored vehicles and only got 20 extra rounds each.

@ebbhead20

Ай бұрын

They had stuff that wasnt even good for the first world war. Stone age basically. What are a few hundered guys at all the borders gonna do against 40.000 top trained and heavy equipped soldiers. Fuck all. That would be the case in all countries if the scale was that swayed..

I would suggest you looked into Anders Lassen as well then

Germans: We took Denmark in 8 hours Some guy: Let's extend that a "bit" longer

@TheFront

2 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha, he said: Not on my watch 😂

@captainsidog5531

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheFront The actual king surrendered in less than half a day, but the lemon (or however you spell his real name) fought on for Danish freedom. He deserves to be the real king. Also the name "The Lemon" is probably one of the simplest but best nicknames I've ever heard.

@GaiaCallisto

2 жыл бұрын

@@captainsidog5531 you can't really say who deserves to be king/queen as the royals has no right to speak politics.. They are there for the tradition but does not rule the countries anymore. If they speak out against the sitting Gov they can be removed/replaced.

@captainsidog5531

2 жыл бұрын

@@GaiaCallisto Did you think I was being serious?

@GaiaCallisto

2 жыл бұрын

@@captainsidog5531 well. I guess I did xD

THANK YOU! Too many people think Danes just ‘rolled over’ for the nazi’s but they fail to realise the very difficult position we where in as a easily invadable country with a small amry. Despite being the quickest to take, we also managed to be the nation where most Jews survived (95%!) Our governments really did try to avoid as much chaos as possible without giving away our integrity to our jewish countrymen. For anyone curious I HIGHLY recommend the danish movie “Hvidstensgruppen” for anyone curious about history. It tells the story of one of our most favourite resistance groups (essentially just a family and their friends, doing what they could to help resistance fighters while in many cases paying the ultimate price. I know alot of people who go through this movie with tears in their eyes

You forgot about the Churchill club the boys who fought hitler

@USS_Grey_Ghost

2 жыл бұрын

What about the over 100 year old fort and pre 1914 White Headtorps and sank that German CA in WW2

@mace8873

8 ай бұрын

He "forgot" _many_ of the resistance groups, but this video isn't about them.

Had a great, great uncle back then that stored weapons for the resistance, and he is in the danish resistance museum records, can't remember the name off the top of my head though

First 3 responses Nice, Dope, and F now to make a sentence from them Nice Dope last stand I give a big F in respect. In all seriousness much respect

So a small correction/specification/expansion on the statement made that Citronen´s hold out lasted longer than the entire Royal Danish Army had resisted the germans. Citroen fought at the house for about 3 hours The first shots of the invasion was fired about 4AM on the 9. of April, the government surrendered at 6AM but due to delays in communication, the Danish Army in southern Jutland didn't actually stop fighting till 8AM that morning. which means yes, the government held out for a shorter time than Citronen, but the Army actually kept fighting for longer.

@ebbhead20

Ай бұрын

The danish army was told by the goverment to surrender after 2 hours..

I have inherited a stamp collection. From my father and his father and his again. They admired England and collected only Stamps from the Brittish empire. There is not a single German Stamp among the 100.000 of Empire stamps. My father was focused on KGV1. That was during the war.

Speaking realistically, Denmark didn't give up in six hours. The actual conventional warfare part of Denmark's fight just lasted six hours and afterwards they shifted to a struggle against Nazi tyranny from within the shadows. Oftentimes we look so much at frontlines that it's easy to overlook what's actually going on in "occupied territories".

My grandfather got the danish knighthood for helping coordinate weapon deliveries from england

Thanks for putting us on the map, probably not many outside of this small country that know about what the resistance did. Cheers from Denmark

heroes.....all of the resistance fighters everywhere....

The Danes were brilliant!

The Danish government threw in the towel and surrendered in order to spare the population the devastation visited by the German army on other countries. Danes were allowed to maintain their government and social structure, although the government became a puppet regime of the Nazis. They were, however, successful in diplomatically pushing back on many German demands and Denmark was largely spared the destruction and immense loss of life experienced by other occupied countries. Resistance started at the grassroots level and was not officially supported by the Danish government. In the beginning resistance fighters were captured by Danish police and sentenced by Danish judges and court systems. As tensions grew between Denmark and Germany, the demands by the Germans became unpalatable for the government and a final break came in August of 1943 after serious riots and demonstrations in many Danish cities and formal resistance grew. My uncle was in the Navy at the time, he went underground. It’s important to note that the Danish Navy sank all their own ships so they would not fall into the hands of the Germans. The Danish king would everyday take his horse out and ride around the city of Copenhagen unescorted only protected by the citizens on the street. This was pretty jaw dropping for the Germans who had only ever seen their leader behind a wall of security guards. The Germans called Denmark the “whip cream battle front” because most of them stationed here saw little real military action. Denmark was considered a cushy, safe place to be a German soldier. The resistance focused on taking out anything that could aid the German war effort so they bombed factories, railroad lines etc. Killing Germans in great numbers was not high on their list. Assassinations were carefully planned and approved the the Danish resistance council to target Danes who had betrayed others to the Germans or Germans who had killed a number of Danes. Many resistance fighters were caught and executed by the Germans, some were sent to concentration camps and perished while others managed to get to neutral Sweden and live in safety. By the time of the war, the Danish Jewish population had become so integrated within the Danish population that they were not outwardly distinguishable from their fellow citizens. As the story goes a high ranking German tipped of a Danish government official to the planned German round up of all Jews in Denmark and word quickly spread to drop everything and head for Sweden. The Danes helped their neighbors out often risking their own lives in the process. They did not see them as Jews. They saw them as fellow innocent Danes that the evil Germans wanted to capture. While the bulk of the population in no way favored the Germans, there were never-the-less around six or eight thousand Danes who joined up with Hitlers forces. Most of them were sent off to do battle on the eastern front. A lot of them died there. They are even to this day considered traitors to Denmark. The work done by the Danish resistance was very important, because it showed the rest of the world that the Danish population wasn’t just another group of Germans supporting Hitler.

My Morfar(grandfather) was a radio operator on a Danish merchant ship when the Nazi invaded Danmark. Rather than work for the British merchant marine, he made his way back to Danmark thorough Portugal and Spain. Once home, he was reunited with my Mormor and my Mor(she was 5 years old). During the war he worked in a fire and rescue company and was a member of Holger Danske. He and others used the ambulances to move resistance fighters and downed Allied airmen around to escape the Germans. He helped the Danish Jews to get to Sweden when the Nazi started their operation to rounded them up.

Today's Danish armed forces ,although small, punch way above their weight.

Its better to fight with your head, than die straight away

My grandad was sailing Jews on to Sweden as well, i love how many people can say that their grandparents help, means that so many people were a part of it.. Please make a video about Hvidsten gruppen i found that really interesting as well

This one is brilliant..many thanks

When people ask about the tension between Denmark and Sweden I always mention this. All three of my mothers brothers died fighting for the Danish resistance. If you look beyond the cliff-notes of Denmark surrendering, considering their population and how immediate the Nazi occupation was, Denmark contributed an incredible amount to disturbing the Nazi ranks and saving Jews while Sweden played both sides for economic profit until finally fully embargoing Germany at the last moment.

My parents were Danes during the occupation. My father was too young to do anything but my Mother was an apprentice in a general store, maybe 13-14 years old. It wasn't much in the grand scheme of the occupation, but I'm still proud of her. The Germans had been very well behaved at the time, and she used to tell me of the soldiers marching to the bah house once a week while singing beautifully. That did stop her, and I presume her shop mates, from overcharging the German soldiers for everything they bought. They never caught wind of it, or at least said anything. In Aalborg they were at least mostly well behaved, but I'm still proud of her bravery.

@jeffp7481

2 жыл бұрын

No edit key, but it should read that did NOT stop her from overcharging the Germans.

I love innocuous nicknames for badasses. Like yeah this guy is called the lemon, he fought the SS longer than his government.

My Maternal grandfather was a member of the Danish Underground, he was the railroad station master in Roskilde Denmark during the Second World War. He specifically held up trains that were carrying German arms and munitions so that members of the Danish Underground could plant explosives on the railroad tracks.

@aldosigmann419

Жыл бұрын

lols nice story kid - very imaginative!

NEVER.... GO....... QUIETLY....... INTO ......THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! Outstanding job by an OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL!!!!!😁😁😁😁

There is alot of danish resistance movies and storys. I really respect the heros that fought back, and im proud to be a dane.

My granddad did make the illegal newspapir ,His cousins 1 was part og the resident and the other was part og the danish naziparty .the rumore in the familie is the other cousins did kill hus cousins after the war ( The resisten billede the nazi ) but IT has never reallyd come out ,as he did not want to talk about it

Enjoyed this War reflection. History I didn't know

The Holger Danske group was just one of many resistance groups. My grandfather was in the resistance too. He died when my father was a child so I don´t know that much but I know he was part of sailing jews to Sweden. We still have his resistance arm band and the nazi issued fishing permit.

@ebbhead20

Ай бұрын

Yup, den hvide sten var en anden...

my grandfarther was in the resistence, there was a lot of groups that was doing sarbotage

When visiting Denmark in 1987, I was amazed at the amount of Danish Flags from private residences. (More than the USA!)

@phunkeehone

2 жыл бұрын

It's a cosy tradition we have. An unlike the Us (no offense, but that just seem to be the case with your country), political views doesn't really come in to play here. Everyone does it, regardless of what they vote.

@lindahudson6685

2 жыл бұрын

They also put flags on their birthday cakes.

@jensstolt1656

2 жыл бұрын

@@lindahudson6685 And on the Christmas tree.

@ebbhead20

Ай бұрын

You must have been here during a sports win or something to do with the royals as ive yet to see a single flag anywhre in Denamrk if its not a special occasion. Last time was when the queen came to my town. And after that was the handball where we won a time or two, or the bike stuff that we won too. Thats when the flags come out otherwise not.

@DavidJones-pv8zu

Ай бұрын

@@ebbhead20 I was there in Dec 1987 - Jan 88. (My cousins live in Malmo, so just passing through.) Things change?

Non-violent civil disobedience was also incredibly effective. Copenhagen was paralysed by a general strike and almost the entire Jewish population was helped to escape to Sweden by a combined civilian effort (this is called The Miracle)

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up as a support

Denmark is Epic

The Viking blood flew through this Dane

nice.

Wow, true bravery that is. It'd be cool if we could get a video about the Danish boys who helped to kick-started the Danish resistance.

@jensstolt1656

2 жыл бұрын

There were actually boys who did that: "Churchill gruppen".

@dai-nippon_digger

2 жыл бұрын

@@jensstolt1656 yes those kids. I forgot what their name was. Thank you.

@vanefreja86

Жыл бұрын

Was just about to comment that.

@mace8873

8 ай бұрын

The Churchill boys didn't kickstart the resistance, whatever anyone may think of the communists, they were actually the first to go into action, fighting fascism had been going on in Denmark even before the Spanish Civil War.

That was akin to the 300 Spartans and allies at the Hot Gates.

The Danish decision to surrender was correct. They would have lost with many killed. But, their contributions to the Allies was very important. They were brave.

Then there was that time Hitler wrote a long-ass thoughtful birthday greating to the king of Denmark to which he simply wrote back "thanks."

My great grandfather was in the Danish resistance and he fled Denmark to Sweden in a small row boat with about 3 of his friends but unfortunately one of them got shot and died.

WHAT a GREAT video. I really LIKED this ONE.

just saying, that this was not the only Dane to fight a brutal last stand, remember the actions and deeds of Svend Paludan-Müller. A hero of Denmark, and someone I hope this channel will give a spotlight for

DAMN STRAIGHT ! The Crazed DANE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Silly names for a duo who shouldn't be dealt with easily... perfect! Just like Toffee from Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

@aramisortsbottcher8201

2 жыл бұрын

Silly? Flames are dangerous and have you ever bit into a lemon?

when my grandfather passed away we cleaned up his house in the basement there was found sten guns and some of the forbidden newspapers

@mace8873

8 ай бұрын

Funny, when _my_ grandfather on my mother's side died, we found a heap of stolen German ammunition at the bottom of a closet in the attic, guess we didn't _really_ know our grandfathers, huh? In the family, it's commonly known what my grandfather on my father's side was up to during the war - primarily bodyguarding another notable resistance fighter and setting ships ablaze, but I had no idea good 'ol Henry was storing 7,92 mm ammo in bulk, I wonder what they were meant for.

My great grandfather sailed jews across the baltic sea from denmark to sweden during this time.

I wish people would talk a little more about and how a certain part of denmark didnt get liberated along with everyone else all the other danes had forgotten about a island called bornholm for a couple of months and in that time we got taken over by the russians who kept us for a year before finally giving us back to denmark

Anders Frederik Emil Victor Schau Lassen, VC, MC & Two Bars was a highly decorated Danish soldier, who was the only non-Commonwealth recipient of the British Victoria Cross in the Second World War.

BAD ASS is an understatement!

My great grandpa was a Danish resistance fighter. His journey was short lived however, as he was doing tricks in his living room with a pistol and shot out a window. Needless to say he was kicked out of the resistance and he was quite lucky no one heard him.

They are the heroes of my homeland

Interestingly enough apparently a lot of people like to make a joke about the French surrendering immediately. But the truth is this country surrendered a lot faster yeah while it's true that people were defiant. The government surrendered so quickly. Now as for Francis government now it's still debating whether or not the government was really fully on board with surrendering because many did flee to England. Even Charles de Gaulle even stated that France never surrendered. Although not surprisingly there were still those within the government who were sympathetic to the fascist cause that did collaborate were willing to do what they wanted.

@lhpl

27 күн бұрын

France actually went into an arrangement much like the Danes had. Although north-western France was under German occupation and control (facing the UK), a large part of southern France remained unoccupied (but collaborating) until 1942.

Dope

Cache as in stash Cachet as in sachet Have been to Danmark. Met a man whose brother was killed in the German Invasion, he was in the Navy.

Brilliant story! Would love to hear more like this 👍

Starring Mads Mikkelsen as: A Lemon

Seems to me the Danes were some of the smarter involved during WWII a lot of stupid mistakes were done the Danes however went undercover brilliant if you ask me

My grandfather cooperated with the lemon in the resistance. The lemon was wanted, and they were talkingin the street, openly in front of germans guarding the royal palace. My grandfather noticed that the guards had recognized the lemon and asked him If he was nervous, the lemon laughed and showed some of the content of HIS pockets, lots of arms! The guards did not care!

Storstrømsbroen pronunciation was on point 👍

BUT the story is more complicated than "Flammen og Citronen" and Danish being clever. There was a collaboration of politicians and military that wanted Denmark to side with Germany. There was betrayal on the highest levels. Armies being send back to the barracks, and forts not being manned. The German occupation of Denmark was all about Ålborg airport, a stepstone to Norway. Strong forces wanted Denmark to side with Germany and avoid a meaningless bloodshed. Other strong forces wanted to resist, but as you see from history, the "appeasement forces" won. Maybe that is a good thing. In a short time after the occupation Frikorps Danmark was formed as a Waffen SS regiment (approved by regular Danish army high ranking officers) and sent to the Eastern Front. Volunteer Danes that fought against communism. The enrollment was for 2 years or "bis Kriegsende". My former neighbor was one of those. Elements of Frikorps Danmark, merged into Division Nordland and Division Viking and fought to the bitter end in the rubble of Berlin. So its not all so clean, brave and nice, but I agree that Denmark came out of ww2 more fortunate than others, though it was on a knives edge.

Hitler considered Denmark a canary with claws.

there is the book " 9 april" about the attac on Denmark. do not forget that thousands of danish sailors served in the atlantic convoys, many danish ships were lost.

Bad-ass. Balls of steel. Respect.

One thing that has been forgotten about the danish resistance is that there were twice as many collaborators than there were members of the resistance.

@TommyGlint

2 жыл бұрын

Though technically true, I don’t really know what you would use that fact for? It is alot easier as a Nazi sympathizer to go down to some office and volunteer for something, than it would be for a Dane opposed to the occupation to do something real about it. It’s not like there was a “Resistance Recruting Office” in the center of Copenhagen. You would probably agree had there been such an office, the numbers would be different. My point is, the numbers are obviously skewed due to possibilities. AND just as not all collaborators were SS/Free Corps volunteers, so were not all Danish resistance necessarillý blowing up railways etc, so if you insist on counting ALL types of collaboration in one column, then you should also count Danish merchant marines (~6000) and Danish Brigade volunteers in Sweden (~4800) on the anti-German side….

@mace8873

8 ай бұрын

@@TommyGlint ... And you can add to that, the number of people who in general just made life difficult for the Germans - mechanics doing shit jobs on German vehicles causing them to break down, firefighters stepping on the hoses when trying to put out fires in factories supplying the invaders, railway workers delaying trains, and so on and so forth... If we count _everyone_ who contributed, the "Danish Resistance" vastly outnumbered the collaborators.

there is a little funny story from a rather famous lighthouse in Denmark, rubjergknude lighthouse, where just before the occupation there should have been automation so that the lighthouse keeper didn't have to climb all the way up and light the lighthouse, he said no thanks as he knew that this light might have flew British planes over the North Sea and, because he did this, they had a point of light, and it was decisive in several missions in northern Germany and Denmark alone this one decision from a certain old lighthouse keeper who voluntarily chose to go up the stairs to turn off the light when was an air alert meant that you could bomb, for example, Hamburg safely for the planes, the lighthouse later became famous because you moved the lighthouse and it stands so beautifully on the dune, I grew up with the story as a child in the nearby fishing village of Lønstrup. my grandfather was a freedom fighter in the second world war, my mother slept on weapons, and a Gestarbo man came to my great-grandmother and asked where her son and son-in-law were, her son and my grandfather who was her son-in-law, he held a luger gun to my forehead mother who hated their huns, a German shepherd dog with lola who was a bit mad when the dog understood that my mother whom it was supposed to look after was threatened, and my great grandmother said you can shoot my grandson and me but I say staidg not where my son and say son is , and the dog lola bit the satan getabo man in the arm, but he did not resist and left, we resisted in Denmark actually quite intensely,

@TheGammelfjols

8 ай бұрын

my mom vas tre yers old at that time

l just looked up the movie and watched it....Awesome movie thanks🇺🇸

Rambo is a Boy Scout compared to the Flame 🔥 and Lemon 🍋

My great grandfather and his father was a part of the danish resistance. I'm proud to my bones of them. They where true patriots

@The Front: 1 like coming up from this Dane Some idea`s for your nxt video: - Name: Maj. Anders Lassen/SOE -VC & MC (a movie worth WW2-contribution), - Name Anton Ingersøn Jensen/TOLDSTRUP - Best in occupied Europa to plan arms drop at night by plane (said by CH/SOE-UK) - Name: Hvidsten Gruppen, there are now 2 movies on that group from Jylland (they where executed by the Germans). - Name: Danish RAF pilots: 4 Danish pilots, Kaj Birksted (1915-1996), Kjeld Rønhof (1920-1999), Thomas Sneum (1917-2007) and Palle Thomsen (1921-2007), during WW2. - HDMS Niels Juel unsuccesful escape during Operation Safari When you "dive into" this topic - - many many more is to be mentioned - good luck.

@Rex1987

Жыл бұрын

yes, there are some very interesting stories about indviduals and certain events that contributed to Denmark being seen as part of the Allies in the end. regards Another dane :)

My great uncle Peter, we call him Juse, was a member of the Danish navy at the time and was not jewish. however he was still sent to a holocaust camp, he survived though

Fascinating story. Thanks.

really good video❤

My great grandfather and great grandmother operated alongside with Ella von Cappeln, Flamen og Citronen, in the liquidation sector of Holger Danske.