"Besides we are men, and after all it is our business to risk our lives."
(Alexander Dumas, The Three Musketeers)
I don't know how your morning looked today, but I couldn't help thinking of another April 9th eighty-one years ago. Those who know a little of my writing history will be aware that deep in the vault of my files, there is a graphic novel which tells the story of Danish heroism throughout the Second World War through the lens of a superhero. As a result, April 9th doesn't pass without my awareness of this anniversary of the Six Hour War when Nazi Germany invaded Denmark on April 9th, 1940.
Despite being ridiculously outmatched, the Danes scrambled to defend their country against an attack that began at four o'clock in the morning. Their airfields were bombed. Their cities were littered with occupation pamphlets and sporadic skirmishes took place as the Germans sought to take control of the small maritime nation. The Royal Guard at Amalienborg Palace fought bravely to protect King Christian X but within hours, the government capitulated in the face of overwhelming power, hoping to spare their cities from the bombing that had afflicted other targets of German interest. From that day forward Denmark was occupied by the Third Reich until its defeat at the hands of the Allies five years later.
It is a strange thing to contemplate that nearly four million Danes went to bed as citizens of a sovereign nation, but awakened the following morning to find their country already overrun. Before the church bells tolled noon, they were all the imprisoned supplicants of a powerful enemy. No more defence would be mounted in any official capacity from the Danish government.
But, as is so often the case, it is not the actions of the government that shapes the outcomes of the future, but rather the beliefs and subsequent actions of individuals that determine the type of world that we live in. Of course, Denmark had its share of quislings and collaborators hidden amongst the populace of the unwillingly occupied--those who make us despair for the fallen nature of humanity--but its people also exhibited a far greater share of heroism than one might expect from a country without the military might, resources or influence of many of its more powerful neighbours. And surely, the social fabric of Danish society was torn between those who felt a resigning ambivalence about the occupation and those who sought to resist it. Five years is a long time to live under siege. Of course, that wasn't how the German occupiers framed it. They were there to 'help'. To 'protect'. To keep the Danes 'safe' from the predations of the British. Funny how that kind of help always comes at a steep, steep cost. The Danes lost their sovereignty and freedoms, their food was rationed, their government neutered, and they lived under ever watchful eyes.
Nevertheless, shining brightly like a jewel in the midst of the ashes is the story of the Danish Resistance and its crowning achievement of facilitating the rescue of Denmark's Jews in 1943. Tipped off to an impending Nazi crackdown roundup of Danish Jewry, ordinary Danes sought to protect their Jewish neighbours. Within a week, nearly 7200 Danish Jews were being smuggled to neutral Sweden on fishing boats after being hidden in homes and churches. The vast majority of Denmark's Jews escaped the Holocaust and survived the war because the Danes refused to turn them in, or turn them away in their hour of need.
I've been thinking about this story a lot of late. It seems relevant these days when we hear of yet more lockdowns and restrictions; of a pastor thrown in jail and his church property seized for refusing to enforce the policies of unaccountable bureaucrats that claim to 'protect', 'help' and keep us all 'safe'. Danish Jews survived the Holocaust because individual Danes refused to snitch on them and turn them over to a hostile government intent on harm while calling it something else. Instead, they hid them and helped them escape to a safe haven.
It isn't the actions of our governments that will determine what kind of people we are, but rather the individual actions we all choose to make.
Just something to think about as you go about your day.
