Conquered, Not Defeated: Growing up in Denmark During the German Occupation of World War II

On the morning of April 9, 1940, Peter Tveskov awoke to the roar of airplanes flying low overhead—more airplanes than he’d ever heard or seen before. The invasion leading to the five-year German occupation of Denmark had begun. The Occupation was a dark and difficult time for the Danish people, but for five-year-old Peter, it was an exciting adventure that would in many ways shape both his future and that of his beloved country.

In Conquered, Not Defeated, Peter Tveskov blends vivid childhood memories with historical fact to tell the story of how the occupying army of the Third Reich tried—and ultimately failed—to crush the customs, will, and spirit of the Danish people. It is a story not often told nor easily forgotten. Includes 12 pages of rare photographs.

Peter Tveskov was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and lived there until three days after his fourteenth birthday in 1948, when he and his mother moved to Venezuela where he completed his secondary education. After returning to the States, he studied Mechanical Engineering at Yale University and earned the degree of Bachelor of Engineering in 1956. Following ten years working in the oil fields of West Texas, Venezuela, and Brazil, he became the physical plant manager first at Yale University and later at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Later in his career, he served as a consultant in facilities operations that took him to assignments at Brown University, Connecticut College, and elsewhere. He retired in 1997 and currently lives in Connecticut.