Denmark in World War 2 | The Danish Resistance | Documentary Short | 1944
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This World War 2 era short film – originally titled as Denmark Fights for Freedom – documents the struggle of the Danish resistance movement against their German occupiers during the period 1943-1944. It was released in 1944.
According to the statement in the intro, the scenes were surreptitiously shot under the most dangerous conditions and smuggled out of the country during the German occupation. It is a dramatic story of how a spirited nation pulled together to fight oppression through acts of sabotage and mass civil disobedience. Inspirational!
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT
Denmark in World War 2: During most of World War 2, Denmark was first a protectorate, then an occupied territory under Germany. The decision to invade Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December 1939. On 9 April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark in Operation Weserübung and established a de facto protectorate over the country. On 29 August 1943 Germany placed Denmark under direct military occupation, which lasted until the Allied victory on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish institutions continued to function relatively normally until 1945. Both the Danish government and King Christian X remained in the country in an uneasy relationship between a democratic and a totalitarian system until the Danish government stepped down in a protest against the German demands to institute the death penalty for sabotage.
Danish resistance movement: The Danish resistance movement (Danish: Modstandsbevægelsen) was an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War 2. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the German 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.
By 1943, many Danes 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. Resistance agents eliminated an estimated 400 Danish collaborators and informers until 1944.
In the postwar period, the Resistance was supported by politicians within Denmark and there was little effort to closely examine the killings. Studies were made in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and people learned that there was sometimes improvised and contingent decision-making about the targets, with some morally ambiguous choices. Several important books and films have been produced on this topic.
Denmark in World War 2 | The Danish Resistance | Documentary Short | 1944
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NOTE: THE VIDEO DOCUMENTS HISTORICAL EVENTS. SINCE IT WAS PRODUCED DECADES AGO, IT HAS HISTORICAL VALUES AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED WITH EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ITS TOPIC IS REPRESENTED WITHIN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE VIDEO DOES NOT CONTAIN SENSITIVE SCENES AT ALL!