Denmark receives almost no attention today from countries that do not border it – except, perhaps, when a masterpiece series such as the Danish-Swedish co-production "The Bridge" or the political drama "The Government" emerges. But in the past it was a superpower that, even after its decline, displayed extraordinary greatness – especially during World War II, and radically in the events that began exactly 80 years ago, on August 29, 1943. We used Perplexity to bring one of the most amazing stories of heroism of the Holocaust era:
In contrast to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish institutions continued to function relatively normally even after the German invasion of the country in 1940. Both the Danish government and the king operated relatively normally as a de facto protectorate. However, after the German invasion, a resistance movement against the Germans developed in the country, and in the summer of 1943 it increased, in the form of sabotage and strikes, causing tension between the occupying German forces and the Danish government.
In August 1943, the Germans presented the Danish government with new demands to stop the resistance activity. The Danish government refused to accede to these demands, and in response the Germans declared martial law and the dissolution of the government, although in practice it continued to function until the end of the war. At the same time, the Germans launched Operation Safari, the purpose of which was to disarm the Danish army.
Although the Danes were surprised by the direct German attack against them, they did not intend to give up. Danish military commanders made it clear to the captains of the ships of the huge Danish fleet that they had to resist any German attempt to seize their vessels. The orders included smuggling the ships into ports in countries not controlled by the Nazis, such as neutral Sweden and Allied-controlled Greenland – and, if it couldn't get that far, sinking the ships.
Between 6 and 13 Danish ships managed to reach Sweden and Greenland, but 32 ships were sunk by their men. The Danish army suffered between 20 and 30 casualties, and all the remaining soldiers – about 4,600 – were taken prisoner. The Germans also managed to capture 14 of the Danish ships.
Even after the disbandment of the fleet, the Danes did not cease to resist the Nazis. Following their policy throughout the war to refuse to cooperate with the persecution of Jews, which was expressed in the delay in providing information about the number and location of Danish Jews, the Danes decided after Operation Safari to smuggle the 7,200 Jews out of the country to neutral Sweden. Since the Danish fleet had already been lost, the Jews were smuggled out in fishing boats – an activity that began sporadically even before Operation Safari, but turned into a huge emergency operation on September 28, a month after the disbandment of the German army, when one of its former commanders leaked a German plan to implement the "Final Solution" on the country's Jews. Almost all Danish Jews were smuggled out and survived the war to the end.
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