Hitler's Savage Canary: a History of the Danish Resistance i - Hardcover

Lampe-david

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848325746 ISBN 13: 9781848325746

Publisher: Frontline Books, 2010

Synopsis

Adolf Hitler stated that after occupation Denmark would turn into a model protectorate . Winston Churchill meanwhile maintained that the small country of (then) four million people would become the sadistic murderer s canary . In the end, neither was right. With no help initially from the Allies, the Danes set up a resistance movement that proved to be a constant irritation to the occupation forces not a meek canary, but a dangerous and courageous bird of prey that refused to be caged. The scale of the resistance to the Nazis in Denmark is without twenty-six million issues of illegal newspapers had been published by 1945; radio guides for Allied aircraft had been set up on the coasts; regular boat services ran between Sweden, Denmark and Britain; a news bureau provided a stream of inside information to the Allies; German ships were unable to move out of the ports; and troops were constantly frustrated by the sabotage of railways and air bases. Incredibly, almost the entire Jewish population some 7,000 people was shipped to safety in Sweden before being rounded up. The selfless courage shown by the Danes, when collaboration would have been an easy option, is astonishing. This story of foolhardy heroism and daring by a small country is a thrilling read, and provides a real insight to the mindset of a people under occupation.

About this title

About the Author

David Lampe was born in Maryland in 1923. He served with the United States Army Air Corps in Europe during World War II until his discharge in 1952. After the war he lived in Britain, working as a freelance writer. This was his first book, originally titled The Savage Canary, and published in 1957 in England. Lampe died in 2003 after suffering from a long-term illness.

Birger Riis-Jørgensen holds a master’s degree from the University of Copenhagen. He joined the Foreign Service in 1976 and now serves as the Danish ambassador to London.

From Publishers Weekly

In a new foreword (the book originally appeared in the U.K. in 1957), Riis-Jorgensen, the Danish ambassador to England, writes that the story of the Danish occupation "carries within it many tales of humiliation, human strength, courage and compassion, of collective and individual acts of bravery." Within four hours of Germany's invasion, notes freelance writer Lampe (who died in 2003), the Resistance began with a 17-year-old's distribution of illegal leaflets. Not all resistance was organized; Danish laborers dumped sugar into cement they mixed for German gun emplacements, making them crumble. The Resistance set up radio guides for Allied aircraft on the coasts; Danish saboteurs attacked German army installations; and entire cities went on strike against occupation rule. If caught or even suspected of working for the Resistance, prisoners were interrogated, threatened, and tortured. Lampe also highlights the Danes' heroic efforts to protect its small Jewish community from Nazi concentration camps. By war's end, thanks to the role (and sacrifice) of Danes in the Resistance, Denmark was credited with helping to win Europe's freedom. (Apr.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Frontline Books
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1848325746
• ISBN 13: 9781848325746
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 237