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THE MEN IN DENMARK’S FREEDOM COUNCIL:
Halfdan Lefevre had from the start of World War II documented the genesis and evolution of the resistance movement and its struggle against Nazi occupation since April 1940. He was the recording scribe for the underground Freedom Council and author of illegal leaflets and news communiques distributed by the resistance. His scholarly account offers details of the German invasion, the government’s quick surrender, and then the emergence of the resistance movement, which led to the establishment of the crucial Freedom Council.
The German invasion came as a shock to the Danes, as they had a non-aggression pact with Germany and just want to live in peace.
Denmark’s government at the time was led by Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning of the dominant Social Democratic Party, but the invasion caused it to be replaced by a multiple-party national government, also led by Stauning, which chose to comply with most Nazis demands, so as to survive and minimize the loss of blood and treasure suffered by other countries over-run by the German war machine. This policy was initially accepted by many Danes, but far from all. The narrative relates how resistance cells were spawned across the country. However, they lacked coordination and cohesion which limited their impact and caused overlap and waste. It was the handful of leaders of a group that was to become the Freedom Council, who then initiated coordination and cohesion.
In the months after the occupation an embryonic sense of national unity soon emerged, bringing together all classes and political parties. Denmark coalesced as an evolving freemasonry. People cheered their king; gathered in communal singing of national songs, appreciating anew the patriotic lyrics; they took every opportunity to proclaim their Danishness. Shame over the puny military resistance to the invasion prompted the raising of monuments to those who fell during the limited confrontation. Behind broad national solidarity, a rejection of the government’s compromising policies emerged.
Nazi “emergency orders” enforcing a reign of tyranny, the formation of a volunteer corps of Nazi Danes, the government’s banning of the Communist Party and its 1941 endorsement of the pre-war Anti-Comintern Pact, all spurred the widening consensus of support for resistance, if not open warfare. The larger underground cells such as The Ring and Free Denmark linked up with the Danish Communist Party and a multi-party group, Danish Assembly, to organize disruptive initiatives, targeted sabotage, strikes, unrest, blockades in the streets and direct military actions on German forces, equipment and installations.
This was all background to the consolidation of Denmark’s coordinated resistance under the leadership of its Freedom Council (at first a smaller nucleus of top resistance operatives, evolving to a council of eleven members representing many facets of Denmark’s civic life and institutions), which then took centralized control. Lefevre faithfully describes the distinctive backgrounds, personalities and roles of these courageous patriots.
Escalating resistance, now supported by armaments, supplies and personnel parachuted in by the Allies or smuggled from neutral Sweden, culminated in the pivotal country-wide strike by Danes on August 29th, 1943. Copenhagen as a functioning city and much of Denmark came to a grinding halt. The Danish government had finally also had enough. So when the Nazis issued an ultimatum demanding a state of emergency, martial law, massive curfews, special courts to pursue “culprits” to be shot, parliament (Rigsdagen)—all political parties and the cabinet—finally said no!
The monarchy and Danish government ceased to function and were replaced by martial law under a Nazi tyranny.
The German invasion came as a shock to the Danes, as they had a non-aggression pact with Germany and just want to live in peace.
Denmark’s government at the time was led by Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning of the dominant Social Democratic Party, but the invasion caused it to be replaced by a multiple-party national government, also led by Stauning, which chose to comply with most Nazis demands, so as to survive and minimize the loss of blood and treasure suffered by other countries over-run by the German war machine. This policy was initially accepted by many Danes, but far from all. The narrative relates how resistance cells were spawned across the country. However, they lacked coordination and cohesion which limited their impact and caused overlap and waste. It was the handful of leaders of a group that was to become the Freedom Council, who then initiated coordination and cohesion.
In the months after the occupation an embryonic sense of national unity soon emerged, bringing together all classes and political parties. Denmark coalesced as an evolving freemasonry. People cheered their king; gathered in communal singing of national songs, appreciating anew the patriotic lyrics; they took every opportunity to proclaim their Danishness. Shame over the puny military resistance to the invasion prompted the raising of monuments to those who fell during the limited confrontation. Behind broad national solidarity, a rejection of the government’s compromising policies emerged.
Nazi “emergency orders” enforcing a reign of tyranny, the formation of a volunteer corps of Nazi Danes, the government’s banning of the Communist Party and its 1941 endorsement of the pre-war Anti-Comintern Pact, all spurred the widening consensus of support for resistance, if not open warfare. The larger underground cells such as The Ring and Free Denmark linked up with the Danish Communist Party and a multi-party group, Danish Assembly, to organize disruptive initiatives, targeted sabotage, strikes, unrest, blockades in the streets and direct military actions on German forces, equipment and installations.
This was all background to the consolidation of Denmark’s coordinated resistance under the leadership of its Freedom Council (at first a smaller nucleus of top resistance operatives, evolving to a council of eleven members representing many facets of Denmark’s civic life and institutions), which then took centralized control. Lefevre faithfully describes the distinctive backgrounds, personalities and roles of these courageous patriots.
Escalating resistance, now supported by armaments, supplies and personnel parachuted in by the Allies or smuggled from neutral Sweden, culminated in the pivotal country-wide strike by Danes on August 29th, 1943. Copenhagen as a functioning city and much of Denmark came to a grinding halt. The Danish government had finally also had enough. So when the Nazis issued an ultimatum demanding a state of emergency, martial law, massive curfews, special courts to pursue “culprits” to be shot, parliament (Rigsdagen)—all political parties and the cabinet—finally said no!
The monarchy and Danish government ceased to function and were replaced by martial law under a Nazi tyranny.
159 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 23, 2022
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