Danish resistance movement
The Danish resistance movements (Danish: Den danske modstandsbevægelse) were an underground insurgency to resist the 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.
| Danish Resistance | |||||||
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| Part of European theatre of World War II and Occupation of Denmark | |||||||
Danish resistance fighters battling German soldiers 5 May 1945. Flakhaven, Odense (left), Danish SS soldiers disarmed by resistance fighters in Copenhagen, 1945 (right) | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Denmark (from 1943) |
Occupation Government (until 1943) Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Povl Falk-Jensen Various Danish resistance leaders |
Leonhard Kaupisch | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Danish Brigade in Sweden |
Schalburg Corps
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| about 380 resistance fighters | |||||||
| 600 Danish civilians | |||||||
| Part of a series on |
| Anti-fascism |
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| Righteous Among the Nations |
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| By country |
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Members of the Danish resistance movement 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. Some small resistance groups such as the Samsing Group and the Churchill Club also contributed to the sabotage effort. Resistance agents killed an estimated 400 Danish Nazis, informers and collaborators until 1944. After that date, they also killed some German nationals.
In the postwar period, the Resistance was supported by politicians within Denmark and there was little effort to closely examine the killings. Studies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries revealed cases of improvised and contingent decision making about the targets, including morally ambiguous choices. Several important books and films have been produced on this topic.