[Culturechat] A true story of extraordinary courage & leadership in Denmark in WWII

[Paul Nick]

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It's a shame that memories of courage and sacrifice during WWII fade=20
or, worse yet, never get told.  I spent a year abroad at the University=20=

of Copenhagen in college in the mid-80s, and lived with a Danish family=20=

on a farm outside of Copenhagen, in Ganloese.  My Danish father,=20
Ejvind, was active with the Danish resistance, and was my Danish=20
mother, Hanne.  Her family owned a B&B hotel in Helsingor, and used to=20=

ferry political and religious refugees to Sweden.  Ejvind was active=20
with the underground, performing myriad operations against the=20
occupying forces.  King Christian was certainly a role model and,=20
literally, emblematic of the Danes in general.

On Sunday, July 11, 2004, at 06:13  PM, WesTexas@aol.com wrote:

> A few months ago, I took my daughter and her friends to seen the=20
> Disney movie about a Danish prince and his American fiance.=A0=A0 I=20
> commented that the director should have noted the extraordinary=20
> courage that King Christian X--and the Danish people showed--while=20
> under Nazi occupation, but no one else was aware of the story.=A0 So,=20=

> following is a true story of extraordinary leadership and courage for=20=

> those who have forgotten or never knew about it (source:=A0 World War=20=

> II:=A0 4,139 Strange and Fascinating Facts).
>
> When the Germans ordered the Danish Jews to wear the Star of David,=20
> King Christian (obviously not Jewish) was the first to put one on=20
> himself, followed by the entire population of Denmark.=A0 He then =
began=20
> secretly sending the Danish Jews to Sweden, thus saving most of them.=A0=

>
> One day, while riding through Copenhagen, King Christian noticed a=20
> swastika flag flying from a public building in violation of the=20
> Danish-German agreement.=A0 When asked to take it down, a German =
officer=20
> said that the flag was there on orders from Berlin and would remain.=A0=A0=
=20
> King Christian replied that if the flag were not removed by noon, a=20
> soldier would be sent to remove it.=A0 The German officer stated that=20=

> the soldier would be shot if he removed the flag.=A0=A0 King Christian=20=

> replied that he, the King of Denmark, would be that soldier.=A0 The =
flag=20
> came down.=A0
>

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It's a shame that memories of courage and sacrifice during WWII fade
or, worse yet, never get told.  I spent a year abroad at the
University of Copenhagen in college in the mid-80s, and lived with a
Danish family on a farm outside of Copenhagen, in Ganloese.  My Danish
father, Ejvind, was active with the Danish resistance, and was my
Danish mother, Hanne.  Her family owned a B&B hotel in Helsingor, and
used to ferry political and religious refugees to Sweden.  Ejvind was
active with the underground, performing myriad operations against the
occupying forces.  King Christian was certainly a role model and,
literally, emblematic of the Danes in general. =20


On Sunday, July 11, 2004, at 06:13  PM, WesTexas@aol.com wrote:


=
<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Geneva</param><color><param>0000,0000,0000</pa=
ram><smaller>A
few months ago, I took my daughter and her friends to seen the Disney
movie about a Danish prince and his American fiance.=A0=A0 I commented
that the director should have noted the extraordinary courage that
King Christian X--and the Danish people showed--while under Nazi
occupation, but no one else was aware of the story.=A0 So, following is
a true story of extraordinary leadership and courage for those who
have forgotten or never knew about it (source:=A0 World War II:=A0 4,139
Strange and Fascinating Facts).


When the Germans ordered the Danish Jews to wear the Star of David,
King Christian (obviously not Jewish) was the first to put one on
himself, followed by the entire population of Denmark.=A0 He then began
secretly sending the Danish Jews to Sweden, thus saving most of them.=A0


One day, while riding through Copenhagen, King Christian noticed a
swastika flag flying from a public building in violation of the
Danish-German agreement.=A0 When asked to take it down, a German officer
said that the flag was there on orders from Berlin and would remain.=A0=A0=

King Christian replied that if the flag were not removed by noon, a
soldier would be sent to remove it.=A0 The German officer stated that
the soldier would be shot if he removed the flag.=A0=A0 King Christian
replied that he, the King of Denmark, would be that soldier.=A0 The flag
came down.=A0


</smaller></color></fontfamily></excerpt>=

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