Holger Danske (resistance group)

Holger Danske
Holger Danske
Dates of operation	1943-1945
Group(s)	HD I, II, III, IV and V.
Size	350
Part of	Danish resistance movement
Opponents	Nazi Germany

Holger Danske (Danish pronunciation: [ˈhʌlˀkɐ ˈtænskə]) was a Danish resistance group during World War II. It was among the largest Danish resistance groups and consisted of around 350 volunteers towards the end of the war. The group carried out sabotage operations, including blowing up railway lines strategically important to the Germans. Among their largest sabotage actions was the blowing up of the Forum Copenhagen in 1943. Holger Danske was responsible for around 200 killings of informers who had revealed the identity and/or the whereabouts of members of the resistance. The group was named after the legendary Danish hero Holger Danske (Ogier the Dane).

Organization

The resistance group Holger Danske was founded in Denmark during World War II. It was named for Holger Danske, a heroic figure who "sleeps until Denmark is in danger".^[1] Established in April 1943, its leaders included Josef Søndergaard, its "central figure",^[2] Jens Lillelund, and brothers Jorgen and Mogens Staffeldt.^[3] It was headquartered on Kongens Nytorv at the Nordisk Bookshop.^[3] The group, which had 350^[4] or 400 members by the war's end, carried out sabotage attacks against the Germans.^[1]

For the initial several months, Holger Danske obtained explosives and training from the Danish resistance movement group Borgerlige Partisaner (BOPA), a Socialist organization. Between the two groups, BOPA was smaller and more disciplined. Holger Danske was more democratic.^[2] The organization was then associated with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Freedom Council that coordinated efforts with Holger Danske and the Danish resistance movement group Borgerlige Partisaner (BOPA).^[5]

Activities in 1943

After April 1943, Holger Danske and BOPA had become well-trained groups of saboteurs who made Germans less effective by bombing shipyards and factories that supplied the German military. By that time, most Danish citizens realized the effectiveness of sabotage in thwarting Germany's efforts.^[6]

Holger Danske bombed the Forum Copenhagen on 24 August 1943 by delivering bottles of Tuborg lager packed on top of plastic explosives.^[7] The Germans had planned to use the exhibition hall for barracks.^[8] Søndergaard was badly injured and most of the men involved in bombing the forum fled to Sweden for safety.^[2]

Two new groups of resistance fighters were formed after August 1943. One was a lieutenants group of about 20 men, including Bob Ramsing, cadet officer at the Danish Lietenants School. Another was a group of medical students and naval cadets that included Flemming and Jørgen Kieler.^[9]

As resistance groups became more effective, Joachim von Ribbentrop (Nazi Minister for Foreign Affairs during World War II), ordered a state of emergency in Denmark. He wanted to declare martial law, outlaw strikes, and impose a death penalty for sabotage but was unsuccessful. The Danes maintained some control when Nils Svenningsen led Danish civil servants in running the country under the direction of the Germans.^[5]

Nazi's deportation plan

Most of the Danish Jews were rescued and transported to Sweden in October 1943.^[5] Danes implemented a general strike in June 1944, after which resistance significantly increased.^[5]

Executions and arrests

Ten Holger Danske and BOPA resistance fighters traveled on Roskildevej on 9 August 1944 when they were murdered.^[10]

The Gestapo "conducted a long series of arrests" of Holger Danske fighters, including Nordisk Boghandel and brothers Morgens and Jørgen Staffeldt.^[11] A total of 64 members were executed during the occupation.^[4] Holger Danske killed about 200 informers or people that were otherwise a risk.^[1]^[4]^[12]

Reorganization

Egil Barfod, assisted by Lieutenant Knud Gamst-Pedersen, recruited more members and ran the group.^[13] In the spring of 1944, one of the members of BOPA left the organization. He and two BOPA groups joined Holger Danske.^[14] Hans Edvard Teglers and Spraeng Schmidt, both of whom had been with BOPA, became members of the resistance group.^[13]

Lillelund returned from Sweden in June 1944 to run Holger Danske and conduct sabotage attacks in Jutland. Other leaders were Christian Kisling, Police Sergeant O. B. Bertelsen, and Knud Larsen, as head of the salvage corps station, administration, and logistics. Holger Danske began to work with Frode Jakobsen's Ringen while discontinuing their association with Dansk Samling,^[15] which gave them more clout with the Freedom Council.^[14] Lillelund met with leaders of the Freedom Council and BOPA to develop a plan to use flying squads to leave a site after sabotage quickly. They also created a plan for the use of safe houses. Lillelund joined a Parachute Regiment as a lieutenant in England.^[16]

Activities in 1944

After a general strike in the summer of 1944, there was a lull in sabotage activities while members began to train for military action against the Germans.^[4] With about 300 fighters, Holger Danske was organized into a military structure of sections, companies, and divisions. It was run by a council of five men, with Police Sergeant Harald Petersen leading the group. Holger Danske became very active in military and sabotage efforts and was then the country's largest sabotage group.^[16]

Its efforts became more consequential following the Normandy landings (Operation Overlord) in June 1944.^[17] In Jutland and the provinces, Holger Danske sabotaged railroad lines that had been used to transport people and equipment from Germany to Denmark and Norway. As the Germans planned their activities, they coordinated their efforts with the Danish State Railways (DSB), which informed the resistance organization. The attacks by Holger Danske were targeted to thwart Germany's military movements.^[4] Holger Danske's sabotage became more targeted and effective through coordination with the British, including Lieutenant Colonel Vagn Bennike's plan that relayed strategic information through coded messages on Danish broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).^[17]

More men from the group were killed or arrested, which made them subject to torture and being sent to Nazi concentration camps.^[16]

Members

Jens Lillelund was an organizer of the group, carrying out 50 sabotage attacks in Jutland. He escaped to Sweden during dangerous periods and returned to Denmark to coordinate resistance activities. He became a liaison officer to British General Dewing on 7 May 1945 after receiving military training in England beginning in November 1944.^[18]

Two of the members of Holger Danske were Jørgen Haagen Schmith and Bent Faurschou Hviid,^[1] who became famous under their aliases, Citronen (the Lemon) and Flammen (the Flame). Both led numerous sabotage operations in 1943 and 1944. They were portrayed in the 2008 movie Flammen og Citronen by Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelsen. One member of the group, Lis Mellemgaard, survived the war as she remained at home with a sore throat when her colleagues were rounded up and executed in March 1945.^[19] The author Arne Sørensen was a member of the group. After the war, he was involved in the nation's reconstruction as a politician.^[20]

Jørgen Kieler was arrested and was sent to a concentration camp. He survived the war, became a cancer researcher, and a public speaker about Danish resistance during World War II.^[21]

A woman named Klinting had worked for German employers and was a saboteur who obtained and destroyed plans for new Luftwaffe aircraft. She was arrested and imprisoned at Vestre Fængsel. Klinting was transferred to a hospital after feigning madness. Jorgen Staffeldt tried to have her released through a group of doctors. The day before she was to be deported to Germany, she was rescued by resistance fighters.^[3]

Gunnar Dyrberg joined Holger Danske, with the code name Bob Herman. His activities as a liquidator are described in his autobiographical book De ensomme Ulve (The Lonely Wolves).^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Thomas 1998, p. 220.
^ ^a ^b ^c Holbraad 2017, p. 104.
^ ^a ^b ^c Thomas 1976, p. 115.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Holbraad 2017, p. 105.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Thomas 1998, p. 436.
^ Thomas 1976, p. 19.
^ Thomas 1976, p. 21, 194.
^ "Danish Heroes of Resistance Back to Normal". The Boston Globe. 1953-03-29. p. 30. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
^ Thomas 1976, p. 197.
^ Thomas 1976, p. 158.
^ Thomas 1976, p. 209.
^ Thomas 1976, pp. 147, 187, 209.
^ ^a ^b Thomas 1976, p. 210, 213.
^ ^a ^b Holbraad 2017, pp. 104–105.
^ Thomas 1976, p. 211.
^ ^a ^b ^c Thomas 1976, p. 212.
^ ^a ^b Holbraad 2017, p. 106.
^ Thomas 1998, p. 268.
^ "Lis Mellemgaard" (in Danish). Kvindernes Blå Bog. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
^ Arne Sørensen Archived October 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine from Nomos website. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
^ Holbraad 2017, pp. 211–212.
^ Dyrberg, Gunnar (2017-07-10). De ensomme ulve [The Lonely Wolves] (in Danish). Gyldendal A/S. ISBN 978-87-02-24984-2.

Bibliography

Holbraad, Carsten (2017). Danish Reactions to German Occupation. UCL Press.
Thomas, John (1976). The giant-killers : the story of the Danish resistance movement, 1940-1945. New York : Taplinger Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-8008-3258-2.
Thomas, Alastair H. (1998). Historical dictionary of Denmark. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-8108-3544-3.