Deportation of the Danish police
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[edit] The Danish police April 1940–September 1944
- See also: Occupation of Denmark
Nazi Germany occupied Denmark on 9 April 1940, and the Danish cabinet decided to stop fighting and begin a policy of collaborating with the German occupation forces. This applied to all civil servants, and the Danish police began cooperations with its German counterparts.[1]
On 12 May 1944, Dr. Werner Best demanded that the Danish police take over the task of protecting 57 specific enterprises against sabotage from the Danish resistance movement, which was growing in strength. Should the Danish civil service[2] not accept this, the Danish police force would be reduced to 3,000 men. The head of the Danish administration, Nils Svenningsen, was inclined to accept this demand, but the organizations of the Danish police were opposed to the idea. The German request was ultimately turned down, and this was reported to Werner Best on 6 June 1944. This reduced the Gestapo's already limited trust in the Danish police even further.
[edit] Arrest and deportation, 19 September 1944
The German army began arresting members of the Danish police in Denmark's main cities on 19 September 1944. In 1944, the Danish police force had a total of 10,000 men.[3] 1,960 of these were arrested and later deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp.[4] The policemen were deported to Buchenwald in two groups. One of the groups went September 29, the other group got transferred October 5, 1944. On December 16, 1604 of the Danish policemen were transferred from Buchenwald to Mühlberg (Stammlager or Stalag IV-B), a camp for prisoners of war, because of pressure from the Danish administration. That meant an improvement of the situation for the Danish policemen. The difference between concentration camps and camps for prisoners of war was, that in concentration camps the inmates were without legal rights.[5] But if an inmate was recognized as prisoner of war, that could imply some kind of protection due to the international conventions for prisoners of war.[6]
After that the policemen were scattered somewhat on various work commands.
[edit] Negotiations between the Danish administration and the German occupation forces
The ministry of foreign affairs headed by Nils Svenningsen negotiated with the German authorities in Denmark about rescue of Danish concentration camp captives.[7] From late September 1944, transports were organized with Red Cross packs. An agreement was reached about transport to Denmark of 200 policemen, who were ill the 8. December 1944.
Simultaneously with the Danish negotiations the Swedish count Folke Bernadotte was underway with his action, where he intended to get all Scandinavian concentration camp prisoners to Sweden. The efforts to get prisoners from Scandinavia out of the German camps continued the following months. In March and April 1945, 10,000 Danish and Norwegian captives were brought home from Germany in white busses. The major part of the deported Danish policemen came with these transports. Some of the returning policemen came to Frøslev Prison Camp just north of the border between Germany and Denmark.
[edit] Number of deaths of the deported Danish policemen
The number of Danish policemen who died during the stay in the German camps varies between 81 and 90 depending on the source. [8] One source from 1968 says that 81 deported policemen died in Germany. This number is excluding persons, who died after the stay in the German camps, but because of illness following the stay [9]
The mortality rate among the Danish policemen was reduced after the Danish policemen left Buchenwald and were transferred to Mühlberg in December 1944. Of the Danish policemen 62 died in Buchenwald.
Several died afterwards because of illness caused by the stay in the German camps. This group is a little more difficult to delimit. According to a calculation from 1968 131 policemen died later.[9]
[edit] References
- "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002.
- ^ "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002. Page 367
- ^ Denmark did not have a functioning government at the time.
- ^ "19. September" by Carl Aage Redlich, published 1945, page 11.
- ^ The arrest and deportation of the 1960 policemen is described among others on page 122 of "Helvede har mange navne." by Jørgen Barfod and "Fange—dog fri / en dansk politimands oplevelser i tysk fangenskab 19. September 1944 til 4. maj 1945." by Aage Nielsen. Published 1970. From page 94 and the following pages.
- ^ In 1933 Hitler issued a decree which warranted imprisonment of people indefinitely according to page 277 in "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940–1945." Published 2002.
- ^ Page 280 in "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002.
- ^ Page 378 in "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002.
- ^ According to page 79 in Walter Bartels book "Buchenwald : Mahnung und Verpflichtung : Dokumente und Berichte", published 1960, 90 Danish policemen died during the stay in the German camps.
- ^ a b The source from 1968 is quoted page 280 in "Fange—dog fri / en dansk politimands oplevelser i tysk fangenskab 19. September 1944 til 4. maj 1945." written by Aage Nielsen. Published 1970.
