Timeline 1940-1945
The German occupation of Denmark on April 9, 1940, elicits strong feelings among Danish-Americans living in the United States. Sadness and anger are mixed with concern for the safety and comfort of relatives living in Denmark. The Danish-American communities quickly organize to raise funds to support Danes in Denmark and around the world and to make sure that Denmark is acknowledged as an occupied country and not perceived as a willing protectorate of Germany following an initially relatively uneventful occupation. The Danish Ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffmann, declares that he and many others will work for a free and independent Denmark. As America enters the war in December 1941, Denmark and America’s fight and victory become intertwined and Danish-Americans serve alongside Americans in the military forces. From 1943, Denmark’s resistance to the German forces becomes more active and Danish-Americans engage in many activities to support Denmark, Danes and the allied nations.
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1940:
April 9 Danish time: Denmark is occupied by German troops in the early morning hours. Feeling unable to mount an effective armed defense, the Danish government surrenders after a few skirmishes in order to spare civilian lives. Due to the time zone difference, the news reaches American radio in the evening of April 8. The next day, a headline covering all eight columns of the front page of The New York Times, tells the story of the invasion of Denmark and Norway: "GERMANS OCCUPY DENMARK, ATTACK OSLO; NORWAY THEN JOINS WAR AGAINST HITLER; CAPITAL IS REPORTED BOMBED FROM AIR." Named a “protectorate” by the Germans, the Danish King, government, parliament, police and courts continue their work trying to balance their desire for independence with cooperation with the German occupying forces. April 9: Danish Ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffmann, declares to the American press that he will work for the reestablishment of a free and independent Denmark and that many will work with him. April 13: The first letters and telegrams are sent out by “American Friends of Danish Freedom and Democracy,” a new American organization founded to carry out public relations to support Denmark. April 14: President Roosevelt states that the United States in regards to the occupation of Denmark and Norway “strongly expresses its disapprovement of such unlawful exercise of force.” Late April: The organization “California Denmark Fund” is founded. May 4: “The National America Denmark Association” is created to organize all Danish-American organizations, churches, societies and clubs into a united and efficient movement to aid and assist people in Denmark and the United States and support the freedom and independence of Denmark. May 25: Based on Danish-American fundraising and work, the Danish Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair opens, showcasing items lent to it by local suppliers of Copenhagen porcelain, Georg Jensen silver, Holmegaard glassware, and more. At the pavilion, a wall-mounted plaque reads: “American Friends of Denmark maintain this shrine to Danish freedom and democracy.” Throughout the summer, young Danish women in Danish national costumes hand out pamphlets and postcards on which visitors write their names and state their support for Denmark. June 22: The Danish exhibition at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco opens. Similar to the exhibition in New York, this exhibition becomes a gathering point for Danish-Americans and friends of Denmark and official ceremonies and speeches express support for Denmark. August 6-24: Denmark partakes in the WEVD New York radio station series “It Happened There” along with representatives from France, Poland, Norway, the Czech Republic and other countries. This radio program is followed by many other radio programs in which Denmark is featured along with other countries or by itself. 1941: April 9: The Danish Ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffmann, signs an agreement authorizing the U.S. military to operate on Greenland. He is charged with high treason by the Danish government and the cooperation between the official powers in Denmark and the representatives in the United States ends. April 9: The anniversary of the German occupation of Denmark becomes a yearly day of commemoration with meetings in Danish-American churches and other community gathering places to express the wish and hope for the future freedom of Denmark and to remember the fallen. Other Danish yearly gathering days are the King’s birthday and the Danish Constitution Day. Summer: Members of the Danish Council in London visit America and the National America Denmark Association begins to include Britain in its aid work. December 7: Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese and United States enters the war. Unknown date: Short-wave radio broadcasting aimed at Denmark begins. 1942: January 2: Danish ambassador Kauffmann states Denmark’s desire to sign the Declaration of United Nations, one of the foundations of the United Nations. May 14: First Danish-American public war bond drive takes place at a ball to celebrate the birthday of the Danish King. November-December: Chairman of the Danish Council in London, former Danish minister Christmas Møller, tours the United States and Canada speaking at public gatherings and meets with Danish and American leaders. Christmas: 4,000 Christmas packages are sent to Danish soldiers and sailors in England from the National America Denmark Association. 1943: August 29: Following general strikes, civil disturbances and the German threat of introducing the death penalty for sabotage, the Danish government resigns and for the rest of the war, Denmark is administered by its civil servants working with the occupying German forces. September: Danish resistance organizations in Denmark join together in the Danish Freedom Council to coordinate resistance and sabotage. September-October: The Danish Jews are tipped off about the upcoming deportation and almost all Danish Jews escape to neutral Sweden, aided by Danish resistance members and sailors ferrying them across the narrow straight between Denmark and Sweden. October 13: The Danish Refugee Fund begins collecting funds to support Danish refugees in Sweden and illegal ferry routes. Christmas: 1,500 care packages are distributed to Danish sailors arriving in American harbors. 1944: April: The National America Denmark Association is accepted as part of the nationwide umbrella organization for charitable organizations, The National War Fund, and changes its name to America Denmark Relief. June 6: D-Day. August: The number of Danes in Sweden having joined the Danish Brigade in Exile reaches 4,800. Fall: America Denmark Relief participates in the National War Fund Drive and raises an estimated $540,000. 1945: February 9: The Danish Seamen’s Reading Room at the New York Seamen’s Missions opens. March: Danish politician Robert Stærmose arrives from England and gives presentations about the Danish Resistance movement in a number of cities across the United States and Canada. May 4: Denmark is liberated. September: 220 tons of garments from America Denmark Relief are sent to Denmark. December 3: America Denmark Relief/National America Denmark Association is dissolved. |
Letter emblem for Daughters of Denmark's Daughters. The DDD was organized in the mid-1930s by a group of young teenage girls dedicated to the preservation of their Danish heritage. During WWII, the profits from the organization's plays were donated to the Dania Rear Squad in Chicago to benefit Dania members serving in the military. Image provided by the Museum of Danish America, Elk Horn, Iowa.
Pro Dania medal. The Danish King Christian X's Medal of Freedom was established in 1946 and was awarded to foreigners and Danes living abroad who made special contributions on behalf of Denmark during WWII. This medal was given to Delores Jespersen in Nebraska who was part of a group collecting clothes to send to Denmark. Image provided by the Museum of Danish America, Elk Horn, Iowa.
List of men in service. Printed on Rear Squad stationary and dated July 7th, 1943. The Rear Squad in Chicago supported Dania members who served in the armed forces. Image provided by the Museum of Danish America, Elk Horn, Iowa.
Framed fifteen-star flag representing members of the Clear Lake, Iowa, Danish Lodges who served in the armed forces during WWII. Image provided by the Museum of Danish America, Elk Horn, Iowa.
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Sources:
Axel Sporon-Fiedler, Den danske bevægelse i de forenede stater i besættelsesårene: en kort redegørelse af Axel Sporon-Fiedler [The Danish movement in the United States during the years of the occupation: A brief account of Axel Sponron-Fiedler] ([Publisher unknown], 1947).
Caspar H. W. Hasselriis, Danmark i USA under Besættelsen [Denmark in the USA during the Occupation] (Copenhagen, DK: Forlaget Sixtus, 1978).
Jean Hersholt, National America Denmark Association and America Denmark Relief, Inc: A Report Covering the Period from June 18, 1943 to December 3, 1945. (California, 1948).
Axel Sporon-Fiedler, Den danske bevægelse i de forenede stater i besættelsesårene: en kort redegørelse af Axel Sporon-Fiedler [The Danish movement in the United States during the years of the occupation: A brief account of Axel Sponron-Fiedler] ([Publisher unknown], 1947).
Caspar H. W. Hasselriis, Danmark i USA under Besættelsen [Denmark in the USA during the Occupation] (Copenhagen, DK: Forlaget Sixtus, 1978).
Jean Hersholt, National America Denmark Association and America Denmark Relief, Inc: A Report Covering the Period from June 18, 1943 to December 3, 1945. (California, 1948).