Danish Reports

Jacob Halvas Bjerre

 

This is as a brief introduction to the knowledge of the persecution and murder of the Jews based on the written and preserved sources of the Danish Foreign Ministry from late 1938 to 1944. Denmark was occupied on 9 April1940 and it is important to consider the unique relationship between the occupied and the occupier there. This is a prerequisite for contextualizing the sources and to understand the structure and continuity of Danish diplomacy that was possible due to the cooperation between Denmark and Germany.

The Danish-German Relationship 1933-1945

The relationship between Denmark and Germany from 1933 to 1945 is well researched. There is an overwhelming agreement on the nature of this relationship before the occupation period, while the years after April 9, 1940 still cause public and academic discussions regarding Denmark’s position. These debates often revolve around portraying Denmark as being neutral or belligerent, while the agreement between Denmark and Germany is often judged as being cooperative or collaborative. In the following, Denmark’s position before the occupation period is briefly summarized before Denmark’s relationship with Germany is analyzed more closely.

It is generally accepted that Denmark followed a policy of neutrality in the period before the occupation on April 9, 1940. This was an attempt to duplicate the country’s successful strategy of neutrality during the First World War. From 1914 to 1918 Denmark had capitalized on trade by selling goods to both warring parties while steering clear of the armed conflict. Yet, in the 1930s the claims of the German dictatorship to incorporate German minorities was an ever-present concern for the Danish government due to the presence of a German minority in the border areas of Jutland. This issue started to dominate Danish foreign policy after Germany annexed Austria in the spring and the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, in the fall of 1938. Since Germany’s territorial claims were backed by a rising military force, the conservatives in Denmark wanted to counter this threat by strengthening the Danish military forces, while the government, led by social democrats, feared this would provoke a German attack. In 1937 Denmark was increasingly militarily isolated. Great Britain declined to assist the country while plans for a Nordic military alliance fell through that year. Without allies, and anxious about Germany’s ambitions, Denmark thought peace was secured as it signed a pact of non-aggression with Germany on May 31, 1939.[1]

The German military attack on Denmark and Norway was codenamed “Weserübung” and began in the early morning hours of 9 April 1940. The battle for Denmark only lasted hours, while the Norwegians capitulated on June 10. Denmark was now occupied and the historical term for the period remains besættelsestiden – the occupation period. Contrary to Norway, Denmark officially accepted the German diplomatic explanation for the attack which stated that the intention had not been to violate Danish neutrality or political independence, but instead had been to protect Denmark.[2]

International research still debates if Denmark’s diplomatic status during the war should be considered as neutral or belligerent.[3] However, most Danish historians argue that Denmark was not at war with Germany. Instead, Denmark is often described as neutral, occupied while remaining neutral or peacefully occupied.[4] These perceptions are referred to as follows in the historiography: the peaceful occupation, (fredsbesættelsen) or the fiction of neutrality/sovereignty (Neutralitets- og suverænitetsfiktionen). Even contemporaries during the war viewed Denmark as a ‘special case’ compared to the rest of occupied Europe.[5] It has recently been argued that the Danish political actors of the period presented Denmark’s status in a diplomatically flexible manner – ranging from neutral, non-belligerent, peacefully occupied to belligerent. The application of these terms depended on the developments of the war. For example, in the beginning of the war, Denmark’s status was often referred to as “neutral” while at the end of the war – with an increasing siting with the allied forces – it was characterized as “belligerent”.[6]

Contrary to most other occupied countries, Denmark dealt directly with the German Foreign Office in matters relating to the occupation. The cooperation broke down in August 1943, but until then Denmark maintained control over its government, the police, the courts and the Danish military. The line of communication with the occupiers was channeled through the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, though many minor and practical matters were solved without the involvement of the ministry.[7]

The Danish-German agreement does resemble other forms of relationships between Germany and different European countries during the Second World War. Several theoretical attempts have been made to define and categorize occupied, collaborationist, neutral or allied states in order to point to differences and similarities. However, Denmark often ends up in various categories depending on the theory applied.[8] Going beyond these categories, historian John T. Lauridsen has argued that from a German point of view the German occupation policy in Denmark was essentially consistent until December 1943. The overall German goal was to maintain as much stability as possible and avoid introducing a new German occupation policy.[9] Likewise, Philip Giltner points to a remarkable consistency in the German-Danish relationship in the economic sphere, which lasted throughout the war.[10]

In Danish historiography, the arrangement between Denmark and Germany has caused continued discussion about the term most suited to describe this relationship. The most dominant term remains cooperation, while collaboration has been applied by some historians. Recently, it seems the terms collaboration and cooperation have become equated in Danish research.[11] I adhere to the following definitions: collaboration is the support of the occupying forces for reasons of personal self-interest or ideological conviction. Cooperation in the Danish case is defined as the conscious choice of most political and socioeconomic elites to cooperate with representatives of Nazi Germany to various degrees. This was motivated by a wish to preserve as much political power as possible from challengers on both sides of the political spectrum while attempting to save Denmark’s political structures as well as maintaining material gains. These motives justified accepting an increasing number of German demands in a self-enforcing logic of cooperation, which created unforeseen results. This means that the limits for cooperation were continuously pushed further as the war progressed, and what had been deemed unacceptable in April 1940 later became acceptable.[12]

The arrangement between Denmark and Germany is thus a complicated and fluid construction that also allowed Denmark to maintain diplomatic representation. Two events during the occupation in Denmark also affected the structure of Danish diplomacy significantly:

  1. Denmark’s signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact on November 25, 1941.
  2. In August 1943, the Danish government formally stepped down due to public up-risings and German demands to e.g. forbid strikes and introduce the death penalty for acts of sabotage. However, the state administration remained in place and this included the staff of the Danish Foreign Ministry.[13]

The structure of Danish diplomacy from 1940 onwards

The cooperation secured the preservation of certain traits of a neutral country which allowed Denmark to maintain its diplomatic representations in many European states. At the same time, this period is also to be considered a period of disunity among the Danish diplomats, who normally exhibited a true esprit de corps. Let me first briefly recount the circumstances of this disunion as it will assist us in gaining an overview of Danish diplomatic representation from 1940 to 1945.

A major characteristic of the diplomats who did break ties with Copenhagen was that they largely resided in Allied or neutral countries. The first and most significant breach within the diplomatic corps originated from the Danish Envoy (Gesandter) in Washington, Henrik Kauffmann.[14] As Denmark surrendered, Kauffmann went to President Roosevelt to declare that he was to be considered the representative of a free and independent people, thus severing his ties to the Danish government. He was accompanied by some of the Danish diplomats located on South America, but Kauffmann’s move was largely ignored by the Americans. This changed a year later as the defense of Greenland was turned over to the Americans in an agreement brokered by Kauffmann, who would sign on behalf of Denmark. This caused great displeasure in the Danish Foreign Ministry, which immediately fired Kauffmann, but the Americans rejected a new Danish envoy. The next wave of diplomats who declared their independence came after the Danish signature of the Anti-Comintern Pact in late 1941. The Danish envoy in London, Count Eduard Reventlow, was the first and was soon followed by Danish diplomats in Canada, Australia, and South America. After August 1943, which signified the formal end of the cooperation as the Danish government stepped down, another cohort of diplomats formally declared their independence of Copenhagen.[15] These resided in:

  • Finland
  • Iceland
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey

The list below shows Danish diplomatic representation (ambassadorial and consular) in Europe throughout the Second World War:

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • France
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Italy
  • Luxembourg
  • Norway
  • Rumania
  • Slovakia
  • The Netherlands

 Denmark was not present in the Polish heartland of the Holocaust nor the areas of the so-called “Holocaust by bullets” – the Baltic States, Ukraine, Belarus or the USSR. The Danish legations were shut down in these areas through 1939 to 1941.[16]

In most German-occupied countries Denmark’s Gesandtschaften were turned into general consulates which maintained the same small staff levels as well as continuing almost as usual. The most important legation was in Berlin. It functioned as an information hub for exchanges and often forwarded messages from other diplomatic entities to the main office in Copenhagen.

These overall conditions created the diplomatic sources which make it possible to study how these professional observers and analysts of political affairs perceived events in one of Europe’s most turbulent periods. While these diplomats in occupied countries had to take into account both the Danish-German relationship as well as the demands of the local leadership, compared to other occupied countries Denmark had some of the best options to observe and sometimes even to intervene in the unfolding events on an individual level.

Denmark and the European Jews 1933-1945

Since 2000 research on Antisemitism, Denmark’s refugee policy, and knowledge of the persecution and murder of the Jews has provided us with many new insights. Antisemitism was present in several Danish organizations during this period, yet racial antisemitism was far from rampant, while more “modest” Antisemitic views were more prevalent in some of the organizations examined.[17] The government sponsored research report on Denmark’s refugee policy from 1933 to 1943 which was published as four separate volumes stands out as a major step forward.[18]

The volumes document a Danish refugee policy towards Jews that was continuously tightened and as Denmark was occupied only a little more than 1500 Jewish refugees were in Denmark.[19] Fears of a “Jewish question” coming into existence as well as high unemployment rates were the main factors behind this politically well supported refugee policy.[20] The authors also reveal that during the occupation Danish authorities handed over at least 155 individuals who were later persecuted in Germany. Most of these were Communists, but 20 were Jews and 18 of these later perished in the camp system.[21]

In early 1943 Germany requested that Jewish citizens of German allies, countries affiliated with Germany or neutral countries were to return to their country of citizenship. Generally, Jews had been barred from relocating since 1941 due to German travel restrictions, but now this ban was lifted. Denmark also received this request, because Denmark’s cooperation had secured that Danish Jews residing in Europe had been exempted from deportation. In the first five months of 1943 at least 45 Jews were relocated to Denmark.[22]

Danish knowledge of the persecution and murder of the Jews from 1933-1945

Danish knowledge of the persecution and murder of the Jews from 1933 to 1945 was only recently examined by different researchers whose publications differ in both length and focus.[23] It is worth noting that all those who have worked with the sources of the Danish foreign ministry agree that following National Socialism’s anti-Jewish policy was not a top priority. Rather, policies of the Nazi regime which could affect Denmark and the border-issue were of the highest concerns.

Within the framework of the volumes on Denmark’s refugee policy, three chapters deal explicitly with the topic of knowledge of anti-Jewish measures. The authors point to the fact that they are only able to provide a broad overview.[24] Nevertheless, this sketch is extremely well done. Research on the period from 1933 to 1939 has focused on Germany and shows that Danish knowledge of German anti-Jewish measures was extensive. From 1933 onwards, many incidents and most laws were registered by the Danish representatives. Most information came from the head of the legation in Berlin, Herluf Zahle, while several reports on events in Hamburg were filed by general consul Marinus Yde.[25] Taken together, very few events were missed as all the waves of violence and legal measures against the Jews were recorded.[26] Researchers have concluded that after 1937 the police, the bureaucrats and the politicians who were involved in establishing and enforcing Danish refugee policy “could be in no doubt that German Jews were living under horrible and inhumane conditions”.[27]

The existing research into the Foreign Ministry’s knowledge of events in Europe from 1940 to 1943 is similarly a broad but well-done overview. It examines the reports that made it to Copenhagen, while leaving the archives of the legations unexamined.[28] Still, this research can be considered pioneering as it uses new sources and applies a European perspective to the matter at hand. Researchers have concluded that the Danish authorities were informed of the stigmatization, the financial exploitation, and the exclusion of the Jews in most Western European countries. They were aware of deportations from Germany while knowledge of deportations from other countries only became known as late as spring 1943. The known ghetto destinations were found to be associated with illness as well as malnutrition.[29] The genocide itself, as it was presented through the BBC as well as in Swedish newspapers, was followed by the ministry as well. Researchers conclude that the Danes were aware that Jews were being murdered by September 1943.[30]

The knowledge of persecution and genocide in the Danish media has received scarce attention with the exception of the reception of Kristallnacht.[31] However, one volume has thoroughly examined the knowledge on the Holocaust in the illegal prints and books of the resistance movement. The articles on this subject are regarded as being drawn from international media. Through an editorial process they were often scaled down and framed to fit with events in Denmark.[32] A marked shift is noted in the articles from 1943 and onwards as the Jews are described as being marked for death. From 1944 words like gas chamber, gas truck or corpes factories were used consistently. In November 1944 pictures from the liberation of Majdanek (27 July 1944) showing Zyklon B cans, crematoria ovens, and piles of shoes were published in illegal papers.[33]

In addition, an article has examined the depeschen of the Danish head of legation in Berlin, Herluf Zahle. The aim of the article was to gain an insight into Zahle’s perception of National Socialism. Only in a few passages is the knowledge of the persecution against the Jews touched upon, but the findings do not add significant new insights compared to previous research. [34]

In 2015 the first collected work on the Danish Foreign Ministry’s knowledge of the persecution and murder of the Jews was published.[35] Compared to previous research it includes all the archives of the legations in most European countries. It follows events relating to persecution of Jews on a European level from 1938 onwards as the Danish diplomats registered political debates and anti-Jewish measures in several European countries at this point in time. For example, the Danish chargé d’affaires in Lithuania, Carl Gustav Worsaae wrote in February 1938: “In the past years a wave of Antisemitism passes over Europe with Nazism as its primus motor… Moreover, Lithuania’s approximately 200.000 Jews live quite for themselves and are treated as second class citizens”.[36]

The level of knowledge in the Danish Foreign ministry was shown to be higher than previously estimated. Especially the files regarding individuals, either Danish Jews trapped in occupied Europe or relatives filing a missing person’s report, carried new and important information. This knowledge is placed into a ten phased model labelled stages of persecution and shows Denmark was aware of almost all stages in most countries.[37]

In the following I will briefly summarize this information and relate it to the examples chosen for publication in the EHRI digital edition.

In Western Europe the diplomats reported on all levels of persecution including concentration in transit camps and deportations.[38] The earliest deportations were recorded in 1939 from the Protectorate to Buchenwald, while the report also included a variety of examples of anti-Jewish newly established in the Protectorate.

EHRI-DR-19391109-DK_EN

Due to the occupation of Denmark in April 1940 some events were downplayed in the official reports and took on a summary character. However, the references to official laws and specific local knowledge reveal how meticulously and thoroughly these were registered.

EHRI-DR-19410701_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19410701-DK
1941-07-01 | Holst-Weber, Sophus | The Hague
Rigsarkivet, 129.D 7, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

EHRI-DR-19420910_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19420910-DK
1942-09-10 | Steensen-Leth, Vincens | Berlin
Rigsarkivet, 17.E. Tys. 12/100, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

EHRI-DR-19430528_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19430528-DK
1943-05-28 | Biering, Erik Andreas Mathias | Bucharest
Rigsarkivet, 143.D.3, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

EHRI-DR-19431025_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19431025-DK
1943-10-25 | Schrøder, Hans Henning | Norway
Rigsarkivet Danish National Archives. Original in Dansk.

EHRI-DR-19431025_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19431111-DK
1943-11-01 | Copenhagen
Rigsarkivet, 140. N. 33a, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

Some of these summaries do carry brief hints of larger scale events such as the report on Serbia where the final sentence reads “It can be added that as far as known there were practically no Jews in Serbia at the end of the year 1942”.

EHRI-DR-19431002_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19431002-DK
1943-10-02 | Hansen, Hans Jakob | Copenhagen
Rigsarkivet, 135.D.10a, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

The missing persons’ reports show that Danish diplomats became aware of the destinations for deportation.

EHRI-DR-19420129_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19420129-DK
1942-01-29 | Broch, Vilhelm Voight | Vienna
Rigsarkivet, 37.H1, Gestandtskab Østrig 1967, aflevering 1. Original in Danish.

The fact that officials stated that they were unable to help deported persons is a prevalent characteristic in these files. These statements became increasingly adamant, possibly due to failed attempts at actually contacting the ghettoes or increasing knowledge of events.

Nazi-allied and -affiliated nations were reported on as well. Here all the phases of persecution were registered, and while the murder phase generally did not take place where Danish diplomats were located, they did report on pogroms in Romania.

EHRI-DR-19410127_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19410127-DK
1941-01-27 | Biering, Erik Andreas Mathias | Bucharest
Rigsarkivet, Depecher 1848-1972, Bukarest 1925-1945. Original in Danish.

The dispatches from these countries, and especially from Hungary contain more details on events.

EHRI-DR-19440419_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19440419-DK
1942-05-27 | Bolt-Jørgensen, Lauritz Bolt | Budapest
Rigsarkivet, 151. D. 2, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

This may be due to the fact that they were not occupied by Germany. A singular, but very interesting report from “Ostland” was also sent to the Danish Foreign Ministry, possibly because Danish businessmen had visited the area to seek out business opportunities.[39]

EHRI-DR-19420615_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19420615-DK
1942-06-15 | Mohr, Otto Carl | Berlin
Rigsarkivet, 140.J.11a, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

Revealing is also the document regarding Martha Hagen, a German-Jewish woman married to a Dane seeking to move to Denmark.

EHRI-DR-19420910_01.jpg
EHRI-DR-19420910-DK
1942-09-10 | Steensen-Leth, Vincens | Berlin
Rigsarkivet, 17.E. Tys. 12/100, Gruppeordnede sager. Original in Danish.

The document is a key document in understanding Danish refugee policy, but in relation to knowledge on the Holocaust attention should be drawn to the first paragraphs. These can be read as the clearest example of Danish knowledge of the murder of Jews. Clearly the sentence “Jews are considered enemies of the people and are to be removed, in the best of cases through isolation in ghettoes in the designated areas” makes one wonder  what the worst case is – if the best case is ghettoization. (In early 1943 the Germans asked Denmark to bring home Jews of Danish nationality. Martha Hagen was among them and came to Denmark.)

It is estimated that sometime between the fall of 1942 and the early summer of 1943 Danish diplomats knew that Jews were being murdered. The documents from Sweden, presented as part of the EHRI diplomatic reports project, indicate this kind of information may have been obtained even earlier, as the information sharing between Denmark and Sweden was frequent and occurred on a very high level.

 

Andersen, Palle. Dansk viden om Holocaust 1941-1945. Belyst ved den illegale presse. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2010.

Bak, Sofie Lene. Dansk antisemitisme 1930-1945. København: Aschehoug, 2004.

Banke, Cecilie Felicia Stokholm. Demokratiets skyggeside: flygtninge og menneskerettigheder i Danmark før Holocaust. Dansk flygtningepolitik 1933-1945, v. 304. Odense: Syddansk universitetsforlag, 2005.

Bjerre, Jacob Halvas. “Excluding the Jews. The Aryanization of Danish-German Trade and German Anti-Jewish Policy in Denmark 1937-1943.” Copenhagen Business School, 2018.

———. Udsigt til forfølgelse. Det danske udenrigsministerium og de europæiske jødeforfølgelser 1938-1945. University of Southern Denmark studies in history and social sciences, vol. 501. Odense: Syddansk universitetsforlag, 2015.

Christensen, Claus Bundgård, Joachim Lund, Jakob Sørensen, and Niels Wium Olesen. Danmark besat: krig og hverdag 1940-45. 4., reviderede udgave. København: Informations Forlag, 2015.

“Danmarks særlige forhold efter 1940.” Nationalmuseet. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://natmus.dk/historisk-viden/danmark/besaettelsestiden-1940-1945/de-hvide-busser/saerlige-forhold-i-danmark/.

Fischer, Paul, and Nils Svenningsen. Den danske udenrigstjeneste 1770-1970. København: J.H. Schultz Forlag, 1970.

Giltner, Philip. In the Friendliest Manner: German-Danish Economic Cooperation During the Nazi Occupation of 1940-1949. Studies in Modern European History, v. 27. New York: P. Lang, 1998.

Gram-Skjoldager, Karen. “The Law of the Jungle? Denmark’s International Legal Status during the Second World War.” The International History Review 33, no. 2 (June 2011): 235–56.

Kirchhoff, Hans. Et menneske uden pas er ikke noget menneske: Danmark i den internationale flygtningepolitik 1933-1939. Dansk flygtningepolitik 1933-1945. Odense: Syddansk universitetsforlag, 2005.

Kirchhoff, Hans, and Lone Rünitz. Udsendt til Tyskland: dansk flygtningepolitik under besættelsen. Dansk flygtningepolitik 1933 - 1945. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2007.

Kjølsen, Klaus. “Udenrigstjenesten.” In Dansk Forvaltningshistorie II. Folkestyret forvaltning fra 1901-1953, edited by Knudsen, Tim, Vol. 2. Jurist - og Økonomforbundet, 2000.

Lammers, Karl Christian. “>>[...] dass man einen festen Glauben daran hat, dass das jetzige System die Rettung sei.<< Die nationalsozialistische >>Volksgemeinschaft<< von außen betrachtet. Hitler und die Deutschen aus der Sicht eines dänischen Beobachters.” In Fremde Blicke auf das “Dritte Reich”: Berichte ausländischer Diplomaten über Herrschaft und Gesellschaft in Deutschland 1933-1945, edited by Frank Bajohr and Christoph Strupp, 218–41. Hamburger Beiträge zur Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte, Band 49. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2011.

Lauridsen, John T. Tysk besættelsespolitik i Danmark 1940-1945: en introduktion til kilder og litteratur. Danish humanist texts and studies, volume 46. Kbh.: Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 2013.

———. Werner Bests korrespondance med Auswärtiges Amt og andre tyske akter vedrørende besættelsen af Danmark 1942-1945. Indledning. Oktober - november 1942. Vol. 1. 10 vols. Kbh.: Det Kongelige Bibliotek : Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie : i kommission hos Museum Tusculanum, 2012.

Lidegaard, Bo. “Danmarks uafhængige udenrigstjeneste 1940-1945.” Historisk Tidsskrift 97, no. 1 (1997): 41–77.

———. Defiant Diplomacy: Henrik Kauffmann, Denmark, and the United States in World War II and the Cold War, 1939-1958. Translated by W. Glyn Jones. Studies in Modern European History, vol. 54. New York: P. Lang, 2003.

———. Overleveren, 1914-1945. 1 udg., 2. opl. Dansk udenrigspolitiks historie 4. København: Danmarks Nationalleksikon, 2003.

Longerich, Peter. Politik der Vernichtung: eine Gesamtdarstellung der nationalsozialistischen Judenverfolgung. München: Piper, 1998.

Lund, Joachim. “Building Hitler’s Europe: Forced Labor in the Danish Construction Business during World War II.” Business History Review 84, no. Autmn (2010): 479–99.

Lund, Joachim. “The Wages of Collaboration. The German Food Crisis 1939-1945 and the Supplies from Denmark.” Scandinavian Journal of History 38, no. 4 (2013): 480–501.

Lundtofte, Henrik. “Opdragelsesanstalter Og Dødslejre. Billedet Af Koncentrationslejre i Danske Medier 1933-1945.” In De Nazistiske Koncentrationslejre. Studier Og Bibliografi., edited by Therkel Stræde, 45–74. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2009.

Poulsen, Henning. “Danmark i krig? Besættelsens eftermæle.” In Bøger, samlinger, historie. En antologi, edited by Lotte Phillipson and John T. Lauridsen, 263–69. Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 1999.

Rünitz, Lone. Af hensyn til konsekvenserne: Danmark og flygtningespørgsmålet 1933-1940. University of Southern Denmark studies in history and social sciences, v. 303. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2005.

Thing, Morten, and Roskilde Universitetsbibliotek. Jyllands-Posten, diktaturet, krystalnatten og jøderne. Roskilde: Roskilde Universitetsbibliotek, 2013.

 

 

[1] Claus Bundgård Christensen et al., Danmark besat: krig og hverdag 1940-45, 4., reviderede udgave (København: Informations Forlag, 2015), 46, 54, 56–58.

[2] Bo Lidegaard, Overleveren, 1914-1945, 1 udg., 2. opl, Dansk udenrigspolitiks historie 4 (København: Danmarks Nationalleksikon, 2003), 397–98.

[3] For an extensive overview of international research’s categorizations of Denmark please see John T. Lauridsen, Tysk besættelsespolitik i Danmark 1940-1945: en introduktion til kilder og litteratur, Danish humanist texts and studies, volume 46 (Kbh.: Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 2013), 151–65.

[4] Henning Poulsen, “Danmark i krig? Besættelsens eftermæle.,” in Bøger, samlinger, historie. En antologi, ed. Lotte Phillipson and John T. Lauridsen (Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 1999), 263–69; Joachim Lund, “The Wages of Collaboration. The German Food Crisis 1939-1945 and the Supplies from Denmark.,” Scandinavian Journal of History 38, no. 4 (2013): 481; “Danmarks særlige forhold efter 1940,” Nationalmuseet, accessed March 27, 2018, https://natmus.dk/historisk-viden/danmark/besaettelsestiden-1940-1945/de-hvide-busser/saerlige-forhold-i-danmark/.

[5] Lauridsen, Tysk besættelsespolitik i Danmark 1940-1945: en introduktion til kilder og litteratur, 151, 164.

[6] Karen Gram-Skjoldager, “The Law of the Jungle? Denmark’s International Legal Status during the Second World War,” The International History Review 33, no. 2 (June 2011): 243–47.

[7] Klaus Kjølsen, “Udenrigstjenesten,” in Dansk Forvaltningshistorie II. Folkestyret forvaltning fra 1901-1953, ed. Knudsen, Tim, vol. 2 (Jurist - og Økonomforbundet, 2000), 402; Christensen et al., Danmark besat: krig og hverdag 1940-45, 128–29.

[8] For an extensive overview see e.g. the German language part of the introduction to John T. Lauridsen, Werner Bests korrespondance med Auswärtiges Amt og andre tyske akter vedrørende besættelsen af Danmark 1942-1945. Indledning. Oktober - november 1942, vol. 1 (Kbh.: Det Kongelige Bibliotek: Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie : i kommission hos Museum Tusculanum, 2012), 151–65.

[9] Lauridsen, Tysk besættelsespolitik i Danmark 1940-1945 : en introduktion til kilder og litteratur, 65–66.

[10] Philip Giltner, In the Friendliest Manner: German-Danish Economic Cooperation During the Nazi Occupation of 1940-1949, Studies in Modern European History, v. 27 (New York: P. Lang, 1998), 168.

[11] Jacob Halvas Bjerre, “Excluding the Jews. The Aryanization of Danish-German Trade and German Anti-Jewish Policy in Denmark 1937-1943” (Copenhagen Business School, 2018), 39.

[12] For full discussion on this see ibid., 34–41 One such example is the law that outlawed the Communist party in Denmark in July 1941.

[13] Please see part VI, chapter seven, in Christensen et al., Danmark besat: krig og hverdag 1940-45, 454–75 for a full acount of these events.

[14] For a full account of Henrik Kauffmann and his independant diplomacy see Bo Lidegaard, Defiant Diplomacy: Henrik Kauffmann, Denmark, and the United States in World War II and the Cold War, 1939-1958, trans. W. Glyn Jones, Studies in Modern European History, vol. 54 (New York: P. Lang, 2003).

[15] Bo Lidegaard, “Danmarks uafhængige udenrigstjeneste 1940-1945,” Historisk Tidsskrift 97, no. 1 (1997): 42–56.

[16] Paul Fischer and Nils Svenningsen, Den danske udenrigstjeneste 1770-1970 (København: J.H. Schultz Forlag, 1970), 182–92; Lidegaard, “Danmarks uafhængige udenrigstjeneste 1940-1945,” 56–57, 61.

[17] Sofie Lene Bak, Dansk antisemitisme 1930-1945 (København: Aschehoug, 2004).

[18] Hans Kirchhoff, Et menneske uden pas er ikke noget menneske: Danmark i den internationale flygtningepolitik 1933-1939, Dansk flygtningepolitik 1933-1945 (Odense: Syddansk universitetsforlag, 2005); Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke, Demokratiets skyggeside: flygtninge og menneskerettigheder i Danmark før Holocaust, Dansk flygtningepolitik 1933-1945, v. 304 (Odense: Syddansk universitetsforlag, 2005); Lone Rünitz, Af hensyn til konsekvenserne: Danmark og flygtningespørgsmålet 1933-1940, University of Southern Denmark studies in history and social sciences, v. 303 (Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2005); Hans Kirchhoff and Lone Rünitz, Udsendt til Tyskland: dansk flygtningepolitik under besættelsen, Dansk flygtningepolitik 1933 - 1945 (Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2007).

[19] Kirchhoff and Rünitz, Udsendt til Tyskland, 429.

[20] Rünitz, Af hensyn til konsekvenserne: Danmark og flygtningespørgsmålet 1933-1940, 488–96.

[21] Kirchhoff and Rünitz, Udsendt til Tyskland, 476, 479.

[22] Jacob Halvas Bjerre, Udsigt til forfølgelse. Det danske udenrigsministerium og de europæiske jødeforfølgelser 1938-1945, University of Southern Denmark studies in history and social sciences, vol. 501 (Odense: Syddansk universitetsforlag, 2015), 175–83; Kirchhoff and Rünitz, Udsendt til Tyskland, 420–25.

[23] The pre-war years in Kirchhoff, Et menneske uden pas er ikke noget menneske: Danmark i den internationale flygtningepolitik 1933-1939, 205–31; The war years in Kirchhoff and Rünitz, Udsendt til Tyskland, 333–49; Henrik Lundtofte, “Opdragelsesanstalter Og Dødslejre. Billedet Af Koncentrationslejre i Danske Medier 1933-1945,” in De Nazistiske Koncentrationslejre. Studier Og Bibliografi., ed. Therkel Stræde (Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2009), 45–74; Karl Christian Lammers, “>>[...] dass man eienen festen Glauben daran hat, dass das jetzige System die Rettung sei.<< Die nationalsozialistische >>Volksgemeinschaft<< von außen betrachtet. Hitler und die Deutschen aus der Sicht eines dänischen Beobachters,” in Fremde Blicke auf das “Dritte Reich”: Berichte ausländischer Diplomaten über Herrschaft und Gesellschaft in Deutschland 1933-1945, ed. Frank Bajohr and Christoph Strupp, Hamburger Beiträge zur Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte, Band 49 (Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2011), 218–41; Bjerre, Udsigt til forfølgelse. Det danske udenrigsministerium og de europæiske jødeforfølgelser 1938-1945.

[24] Kirchhoff, Et menneske uden pas er ikke noget menneske: Danmark i den internationale flygtningepolitik 1933-1939, 206.

[25] For full biograhical account of Herluf Zahle see Lammers, “>>[...] dass man einen festen Glauben daran hat, dass das jetzige System die Rettung sei.<< Die nationalsozialistische >>Volksgemeinschaft<< von außen betrachtet. Hitler und die Deutschen aus der Sicht eines dänischen Beobachters,” 221–24.

[26] Kirchhoff, Et menneske uden pas er ikke noget menneske: Danmark i den internationale flygtningepolitik 1933-1939, 209–29; The stages referred to are the ones identified by Peter Longerich in Peter Longerich, Politik der Vernichtung: eine Gesamtdarstellung der nationalsozialistischen Judenverfolgung (München: Piper, 1998).

[27] “...være i det mindste tvivl om at de tyske jøder levede under forfærdelige og ummenneskelige forhold.” Kirchhoff, Et menneske uden pas er ikke noget menneske: Danmark i den internationale flygtningepolitik 1933-1939, 229.

[28] Kirchhoff and Rünitz, Udsendt til Tyskland, 12, 340.

[29] Ibid., 348–49, 424.

[30] Ibid., 339, 425.

[31] For one example see Morten Thing and Roskilde Universitetsbibliotek, Jyllands-Posten, diktaturet, krystalnatten og jøderne (Roskilde: Roskilde Universitetsbibliotek, 2013).

[32] Palle Andersen, Dansk viden om Holocaust 1941-1945. Belyst ved den illegale presse (Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2010), 182–83, 188.

[33] Ibid., 143–44, 180 Pictures also published in Life Magazine and London Illustrated. Also mentioned in ; Lundtofte, “Opdragelsesanstalter Og Dødslejre. Billedet Af Koncentrationslejre i Danske Medier 1933-1945,” 66.

[34] Lammers, “>>[...] dass man einen festen Glauben daran hat, dass das jetzige System die Rettung sei.<< Die nationalsozialistische >>Volksgemeinschaft<< von außen betrachtet. Hitler und die Deutschen aus der Sicht eines dänischen Beobachters” For some reason the article does not adopt the conclusions of previous works on this issue.

[35] Bjerre, Udsigt til forfølgelse. Det danske udenrigsministerium og de europæiske jødeforfølgelser 1938-1945.

[36] "En bølge af antisemitisme går i disse år hen over Europa med nazismen som primus motor…I øvrigt lever Litauens ca. 200.000 jøder ganske for sig selv og behandles som 2. klasses borgere” ibid., 51–52 Quote from Rigsarkivet, Gruppeordnede sager 148.N.2 .

[37] Ibid., 35–39; Bjerre, “Excluding the Jews,” 48–55 The stages are 1) Informal persecution 2) Formal persecution 3) Definition 4) Identification and registration 5) Exclusion 6) Confiscation and robbery 7) Public stigmatization 8) Forced relocation 9) Deportation and 10) Murder.

[38] For this and the following conclusions I draw on Bjerre, Udsigt til forfølgelse. Det danske udenrigsministerium og de europæiske jødeforfølgelser 1938-1945.

[39] Lund, Joachim, “Building Hitler’s Europe: Forced Labor in the Danish Construction Business during World War II,” Business History Review 84, no. Autmn (2010): 494–95.