Denmark in World War II
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Location: Denmark
Surnames/tags: World War II Denmark
The German Occupation of Denmark (1940-1945)
A comprehensive source for reading about the Occupation of Denmark during World War II is Den Store Danske: Denmark's history 1940-1945 [1] This space provides an overview of the events from 1940-1945.
Denmark is Occupied by the German Reich
"German troops invaded Denmark and Norway on 9.4.1940 under the pretense of wanting to prevent a British occupation of Norway."[2]"Weserübung was the German code name for the attack on 9 April 1940 on Denmark (Weserübung Süd) and Norway (Weserübung Nord). The attack was carried out with great daring and surprised by its use of all types of ships for landing from the lake, parachute forces and landing by transport aircraft under enemy fire. Denmark was conquered on the same day, while 12,000 men were landed in Norway on the same day; the country was conquered on 9 May."[3]
"On the morning of 9 April 1940 Denmark was attacked by Germany. There was sporadic fighting between the Danish and German armies. However, the government in Copenhagen decided that the German military superiority was too great to justify further resistance. At the same time heavy bombardment of the Danish cities and towns was feared. Therefore after only a few hours it was decided to surrender. Denmark thus became an occupied country controlled by Nazi Germany."[4]
Cooperation with the German Reich
"The Danish government then began to cooperate with the German occupiers. The political leaders’ strategy was to preserve as much self-determination as possible for Denmark whilst still accommodating the wishes of the Germans. In pursuing this course the large Danish political parties also sought to protect Danish society from harsh measures which might be introduced by the occupiers and from the Danish Nazis (the National Socialist Workers’ Party of Denmark)."[5]
"Denmark quickly capitulated and retained its formal sovereignty until liberation in May 1945. The government supported by all democratic parties (after 29 August 1943 the Department Head Government ) cooperated economically and politically with the occupying power ( the negotiation policy ), but avoided Danish war participation, i.a. by tolerating the recruitment of Danish volunteers for the SS, while the resistance movement's illegal work came to increasingly shape the public's and foreign perceptions of the conditions."[6]
Daily Life Continues
"One consequence of the policy of cooperation was that most Danes could continue their daily lives much as before the German occupation. Eventually, however, the war meant shortages of goods, rationing, air-raid warnings, blackouts and closed national borders. However, although there were shortages of certain goods in Denmark, the Danes had one of the highest standards of living in Europe during the war years."[7]
Resistance
"Even if most Danes supported the strategy of their political leaders, active resistance against the Germans and the policy of collaboration emerged, and became increasingly popular. The resistance movement was involved in an illegal press and carrying out sabotage operations. Such operations involved the destruction of German property, railways and companies that cooperated with the Germans."[8]
The Mood Changes
"During the course of 1943, however, the mood began to change amongst Danish population. Over the summer, as people heard about various German military defeats, numerous fights erupted between young Danes and German soldiers. Meanwhile, the resistance movement added to the turbulence with sabotage activities. In August the situation exploded with strikes taking place in Odense and Esbjerg, which then spread to many other towns. The workers at large workplaces lead the way, and soon there was large-scale unrest involving demonstrations and street battles with the Germans and Danish authorities."[9]
The End of the Danish Government
"To stop the August unrest the Germans demanded that the Danish government should impose the death penalty for sabotage. The government refused to agree to this. Therefore, the German occupiers imposed a state of emergency and on 29 August 1943 the government ceased to function. Meanwhile the Germans disarmed the Danish army and also tried to take over the navy. This led to fighting between Danish and German soldiers and the Danish navy sinking several vessels to prevent them falling into German hands."[10]
Increased Resistance and German Repression
"After the August unrest the situation in Denmark was characterised by increased German repression. Arrests and executions became more common. The German occupiers used such repression in order to maintain control in Denmark and to respond to the sabotage activities of the resistance movement."[11]
"On 29 August 1943, Vice-Admiral Aage Helgesen Vedel (1894-1981) ordered that the fleet's ships should be sunk to prevent them from falling into German hands in serviceable condition. A total of 29 ships were sunk on Holmen, including the armored ship Peder Skram. Thirteen vessels managed to escape to Sweden, where they were interned."[12]
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| Sinking the Fleet on Holmen |
Rescue of the Danish Jews
"The Danish government did not require Jews to register their property and assets, to identify themselves, to give up apartments, homes, and businesses, or to wear the Jewish star."[13]
"Another consequence of the increase in German repression was the persecution of the Danish Jews. In October 1943 the German police were deployed to arrest the Jews, so that they could be sent to concentration camps. However, in a unique rescue operation more than 7000 Danish Jews were helped to neutral Sweden, where they could live in safety for the rest of the war. 485 Danish Jews were arrested though, and then sent to the concentration camp at Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia."[14]
"On September 8, 1943, SS General Karl Rudolf Werner Best (1903-1989), the German civilian administrator in Denmark, sent a telegram to Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) to propose that the Germans make use of the martial law provisions to deport the Danish Jews. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)approved the measure nine days later. As preparations proceeded, Karl Rudolf Werner Best (1903-1989), who had second thoughts about the political consequences of the deportations, informed Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz (1904-1973), a German naval attaché, of the impending deportation operation. Before the final order for deportation came to Copenhagen on September 28, Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz (1904-1973), along with other German officials, warned non-Jewish Danes of the plan. In turn, these Danes alerted the local Jewish community."[15]
"As word spread of the impending deportation of Denmark’s Jews, non-Jewish Danes hid Jews and later transported them to safety in Sweden. German authorities deported about 470 Jews to Theresienstadt."[16]
"Denmark was the only occupied country that actively resisted the Nazi regime's attempts to deport its Jewish citizens... Warned of the German plans, Jews began to leave Copenhagen, where most of the almost 8,000 Jews in Denmark lived, and other cities, by train, car, and on foot. With the help of the Danish people, they found hiding places in homes, hospitals, and churches. Within a few weeks, fishermen helped ferry some 7,200 Danish Jews and 680 non-Jewish family members to safety across the narrow body of water separating Denmark from Sweden."[17]
The Final Phase of the German Occupation
"In the summer of 1944 sabotage operations were carried out in the Copenhagen area, and strikes and civil unrest broke out in Denmark. On 19 September 1944 the Germans dissolved the Danish police, which was seen as a potential military threat. By 1945 Denmark was a run-down country characterised by shortages of goods, fear and conflict." [18]
Danish police officers Sent to Concentration Camps in Germany
"End of September / beginning of October: 1,953 Danish police officers are brought to Buchenwald. 60 of them die in the Little Camp."[19] Chief of Police Hans Falle Bruhn Cramer (1894-1944) was one of the Danish police officers who died in Buchenwald. [20]
"The German army began arresting members of the Danish police in Denmark's main cities on 19 September 1944. The force numbered 10,000 men in that year."[21]
"Policemen deported to Buchenwald were in two groups, the first group was sent on 29 September, the second was transferred on 5 October, 1944. On 16 December, following pressure from the Danish administration, 1604 men were transferred from Buchenwald to Mühlberg (Stammlager or Stalag IV-B), a camp for prisoners of war (POW)s. That meant an improvement in the situation for the Danish policemen; POWs had some kind of protection due to international conventions, while inmates in concentration camps did not."[22]
"The number of Danish policemen who died during their incarceration in the German camps varies between 81 and 90, depending on the source."[23]." Several died afterwards due to camp-related illnesses. This group is a little more difficult to delimit. According to a calculation in 1968, 131 policemen died."[24]
"The mortality rate among the Danish policemen was reduced after they left Buchenwald and were transferred to Mühlberg in December 1944. 62 men died in Buchenwald."[25]
"In the southwestern corner of [Bispebjerg] cemetery is a section dedicated to Danish soldiers, police officers and resistance fighters who died in World War II. The complex was designed by city architect Poul Holsøe and features a monument created by the sculptor Povl Søndergaard. Another monument commemorates the resistance fighters who died at two incidents on 29 August 1943 and 19 September 1944. It was designed by Povl Søndergaard in 1947.[26]
Liberation
"On 4 May 1945 at 20.35 it was announced on British radio that the German troops in Holland, North-West Germany and Denmark had surrendered. This was without a single English, American or Russian soldier setting foot on Danish soil [with the exception of Bornhom]. The period of occupation thus ended reasonably peacefully, and in most places people could take to the streets and celebrate the new freedom.
USSR Bombardment and Occupation of Bornholm
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| Bornholm Bombardment by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) under Stalin, May 1945 |
"While the rest of the country celebrated the liberation on 4 May 1945, a few days later bombs fell on Bornholm... On the morning of 7 May, a German anti-aircraft battery fired at Soviet airmen. Later that morning, Soviet warplanes with red stars appeared on the horizon off Nexø. Soon after, the first bangs were heard. Not long after, the warplanes reached Rønne. The bombs fell like rain. And it did not end with the first wave. The attackers came back in the evening and bombed again. Along with the bombs, leaflets were sprinkled across the island. They urged the German commander, Gerhard Von Kamptz (1902-1998), to surrender to the Soviets. If he did not, then the Soviet Union would continue the bombing."[27]
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| Houses in ruins in Rønne 1945 |
"Gerhard Von Kamptz (1902-1998) refused to surrender. With its location in the Baltic Sea, Bornholm was strategically important for the Germans, who transported German refugees and soldiers across the Baltic Sea and to the west. He had been given strict orders to defend the island against Soviet troops and surrender only to British or American troops. Therefore, the Soviet Union continued the relentless bombing again the next day, leaving both Nexø and Rønne in ruins. 10 Bornholmers and many Germans lost their lives during the bombings."[28]
"126 bombs fell in Nexø... Rønne was laid in ruins. Later it was announced that 70% of the houses were more or less damaged, 30% of the houses were completely destroyed. And then in the evening – 8 May, came attack no. 3 on Nexø. It was the fiercest and biggest of them all. - We saw the planes coming from the north, they dived, bombed and waited, and after a while it happened again. Nexø was laid in ruins. 4/5 of the city was completely destroyed. And I believe that there was not a house in the whole city that was untouched."[29]
"A new occupying power: On the night between 8 and 9 May, the Germans finally capitulated in Europe. This meant that the Soviet troops peacefully arrived on Bornholm the following morning. The island passed from one occupying power to another. Now the people of Bornholm had to replace the German words with Russian ones. They had to roll up their sleeves and start the huge reconstruction work of Nexø and Rønne, which lay in ruins."[30]
"The Soviet soldiers came straight from the hell of the Eastern Front and alcohol problems were widespread among them. Several of them died of alcohol poisoning during Bornholm's occupation. The Russians stayed in military camps outside the cities, but 20 rapes, several assaults and robberies were committed by soldiers during the occupation."[31]
"The final liberation: It was not until the beginning of 1946 that the negotiations between the Danish government and the Soviet Union began. The Russians proved willing to negotiate, however they demanded that the Danish military forces on Bornholm must not exceed a certain size and that foreign powers must not have influence on the island's administration."[32]
"On 5 April 1946 – almost a full year after the liberation of the rest of Denmark - the agreement was concluded. The Soviet fleet left Bornholm."[33]
"The island of Bornholm... was subjected to heavy Soviet bombardment at the time of Denmark’s liberation."[34] The Soviets occupied Bornholm until 1946. There were deaths of Danish citizens from the bombardment of Bornholm, with many others who were injured. These victims lived in Rønne:
- Janus Peter Holm (1893-1945) [35]
- Aage Munch Holm (1925-1945)[36]
- Villy Andreas Jørgensen (1904-1945)[37]
- Niels Andreas Nielsen (1894-1945)[38]
"Today [16 May] the burial of the victims from the bombing took place in Rønne. It was a solemn event, the church was beautifully decorated. The 7 coffins stood up in the choir. Provost Mathisen began the ceremony. Viggo Nielsen gave the speech. Much beautiful singing added to the solemnity. the county mayor, mayor Aagesen (shown) and chief physician Olesen spoke. There was a flag guard at the stretchers. Outside the grave stood the Freedom Fighters, who also carried the coffins, and the soldiers stood guard of honour. Captain Jensen and Lieutenant Povlsen walked in front of the hearse. Next came the Russian horn orchestra, which played the Mourning March along the way. Next followed the 7 rust wagons and the entourage."[39]
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| LIberation, 1945: Large crowd in the Town Hall Square |
Greenland
"During Denmark's occupation in 1940, the connection to Greenland was severed, and the two county bailiffs, Eske Brun (1904-1987) and Aksel Svane (1898-1991), took over government power with a view to preserving Greenland as Danish and avoiding that distress arose among the population. The bailiffs sought contact with the neutral USA to avoid a German, alternatively a British or Canadian preventive occupation. This led in April 1941 to the conclusion of the Greenland Treaty of 1941with the United States and later establishment of American airfields and military bases. The war period was a period of prosperity for Greenland, and the population wanted many of its conditions to continue after the war; not least the coastal route that had been established, and the greater decision-making authority that had now been placed in Godthåb. Actual hostilities did not take place on the West Coast, while some individual skirmishes between German military weather observation personnel and the Danish sledge patrol formed from 1942 (see Sirius ) on the East Coast took place far from inhabited places. However, the cargo ship Hans Egede on its way to the USA was sunk in 1942 by a German submarine."[40]
1945-79 On 9 April 1941 the Agreement Relating to the Defense of Greenland was signed in Washington, DC, by "Cordell Hull (1871-1955), Secretary of State of the United States of America, acting on behalf of the Government of the United States of America, and Henrik de Kaffmann, Envoy Extrordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of Denmark at Washington, acting on behalf of The King of Denmark in his capacity as Sovereign of Greenland."[41]
"In the years 1942-44, the Danish Sledge Patrol detected two secret German weather stations on the uninhabited Northeast coast... Meteorological expeditions sent out by the German Wehrmacht, regularly attempted to establish secret weather stations on the long, uninhabited coast... [the] Northeast Greenland Sledge Patrol, [was] a small defence unit of 10-12 men under Danish leadership, the predecessor of the Sirius Patrol, which still today secures Denmark's sovereignty in those remote areas."[42]
The end of German occupation of Denmark on 5 May 1945 was celebrated in Nuuk. During the occupation, Greenland had increased self-determination. "One of the two county bailiffs... Eske Brun (1904-1987) was convinced that Denmark could only hold on to Greenland if the Greenlanders were given more freedom and helped create industry on the island..."[43]
"In consultation with the Danish Prime Minister, Hans Hedtoft, Eske Brun (1904-1987) established that the Greenlanders should have more self-determination and that a fishing industry should be created in Greenland," says Jens Heinrich, PhD, who has investigated how Greenland began to become a modern society in the years around the Second World War.[44]
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands was a county of Denmark in 1940.
"England reacted [to the German Reich's occupation of Denmark] by occupying the Faroe Islands itself on 12 April, just as England sought to seize the merchant fleet; 2/3 of it thus gradually came to sail in allied service. The envoy in London, E. Reventlow, retained diplomatic status. Henrik Louis Hans von Kauffmann (1888-1963) in Washington, on the other hand, took reservations and concluded an agreement in April 1941 on the establishment of American bases in Greenland, which had been under the protection of the United States from the beginning of the war."[45]
"In 1940, during World War II, British forces occupied the Faroes while Denmark was under German occupation. The Faroese flag was recognised by the British Government."[46]
"We are also at this moment occupying the Faroe Islands, which belong to Denmark and which are a strategic point of high importance, and whose people showed every disposition to receive us with warm regard. We shall shield the Faroe Islands from all the severities of war and establish ourselves there conveniently by sea and air until the moment comes when they will be handed back to Denmark liberated from the foul thraldom into which they have been plunged by German aggression"[47]
Sources
- ↑ Occupation of Denmark Den Store Danske, Denmark's national encyclopedia, by Aage Drums, PhD.
- ↑ German troops invade Denmark and Norway Den Store Danske, 2. Verdenskrig, Krigen i Europa 1939-41, af Lektor Emeritus Karl Christian Lammers
- ↑ Weserübung Den Store Danske, written by Kjeld Hillingsø, last modified 5 May 2021
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ Occupation Den Store Danske, Verdenskrig 2., Krigen i Europa 1939-41, af Lektor Emeritus Karl Christian Lammers
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ Sinking the Fleet on Holmen Den Store Danske, Danmarks historie 1940-1945
- ↑ United States Holocaust Museum Holocaust Encyclopedia, Denmark,
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ Nazi plan to deport Danish Jews United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
- ↑ United States Holocaust Museum Holocaust Encyclopedia, Denmark
- ↑ Rescue in Denmark United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København
- ↑ Buchenwald and Mittelbau Dora Memorials Foundation
- ↑ Policeman who died in Germany and later buried at Grundtvig's Church on 19 September 1945 Research by Ole Damgaard
- ↑ wikipedia.com citing 19 September: 12 Policemen's Report on the Stay in the German Concentration Camps. Edited by Carl Aage Redlich, page 11. With the participation of Carlo Snorgaard, Börgé Anthony, With Illustrations by Axel Munk-Andersen, Published in 1945
- ↑ wikipedia.com In 1933 Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) issued a decree which warranted imprisonment of people indefinitely according to page 277 in "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940–1945." Published 2002.
- ↑ wikipedia.com According to page 79 in Walter Bartels book "Buchenwald : Mahnung und Verpflichtung : Dokumente und Berichte", published in 1960, 90 Danish policemen died in the camps
- ↑ wikipedia.com 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.
- ↑ Deportation of the Danish police wikipedia.com
- ↑ Bispebjerg Cemetery Monuments Wikipedia, citing "Kunst og bygninger på Bispebjerg Kirkegård" (in Danish). Copenhagen Municipality. Archived from the original on 2014-07-29. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
- ↑ Soviets in Bornholm Det Kgl. Bibliotek, The final liberation of Bornholm
- ↑ Soviets in Bornholm Det Kgl. Bibliotek, The final liberation of Bornholm
- ↑ Bornholm Bombardment Report on the Bombardment over Nexø, from Arne Madsen's diary, rewritten by Ernst A. Grunwald in 1995. Nexø Museum's digital archive
- ↑ Soviets in Bornholm Det Kgl. Bibliotek, The final liberation of Bornholm
- ↑ Soviets in Bornholm Det Kgl. Bibliotek, The final liberation of Bornholm
- ↑ Soviets in Bornholm Det Kgl. Bibliotek, The final liberation of Bornholm
- ↑ Soviets in Bornholm Det Kgl. Bibliotek, The final liberation of Bornholm
- ↑ National Museum in Copenhagen Nationalmuseet i København, German occupation (1940-1945),
- ↑ Burials Rigsarkivet Arkivalieronline, Ronne Sogn Kontraministerialbog
- ↑ Burials Rigsarkivet Arkivalieronline, Ronne Sogn Kontraministerialbog
- ↑ Burials Rigsarkivet Arkivalieronline, Ronne Sogn Kontraministerialbog
- ↑ Burials Rigsarkivet Arkivalieronline, Ronne Sogn Kontraministerialbog
- ↑ Bornholm Bombardment Report on the Bombardment over Nexø, from Arne Madsen's diary, rewritten by Ernst A. Grunwald in 1995. Nexø Museum's digital archive
- ↑ Greenland 1940-1945 Den Store Danske, Grønland - historie (1500-1979), written by Axel Kjær Sørensen
- ↑ United States Department of State, Washington, DC
- ↑ The Weather War in Greenland 1942-44 Lecture by Tilo, Guideservice·Danmark
- ↑ Policy regarding Greenland Videnskab DK, Vibeke Hjortlund, Editor in Chief
- ↑ Policy regarding Greenland Videnskab DK, Vibeke Hjortlund, Editor in Chief
- ↑ England occupies the Faroe Islands Den Store Danske, Denmark's history 1940-1945, The occupation, by Aage Drums, PhD
- ↑ Faroe Islands Occupation Faroe Islands, The Official Gateway to the Faroe Islands, History
- ↑ Niels Juel Arge, Stríðsárini VI (The Years of War VI), Faroe Stamps
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A TRIBUTE TO PREBEN MUNCH NIELSEN Honorable Tom Lantos of California in the United States House of Representatives, Wednesday, 4 April 2001
Mr. LANTOS: Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me today in paying tribute to one of the great heroes of World War II--Preben Munch Nielsen, a Dane who has received little recognition for his heroism. In many ways, he is a symbol of the gallantry and heroism of the Danish people during the tragedy of that war.
Mr. Speaker, as the only survivor of the Holocaust ever elected to the Congress, I want to pay special tribute to Mr. Munch Nielsen and also to the courage and strong commitment to basic human decency of the Danish people, who saved virtually the entire Jewish community of Denmark from the horrifying fate that befell six million Jews in the rest of Nazi-occupied Europe. The Danish people took spontaneous action--at great risk to their own lives to save the lives of Denmark's Jews. That selfless action established that a people deeply committed to basic human decency can prevail against an overwhelmingly powerful evil force.
In many regards, Preben Munch Nielsen's participation in the saving of Danish Jews is typical of what other Danish citizens did during the horriffic period of the Nazi occupation of Denmark. Munch Nielsen was born on June 13, 1926, and was raised in Snekkersten, Denmark, a small fishing village some 25 miles north of Copenhagen. Every day he commuted to Copenhagen, where he attended school with a few Jewish students. Munch Nielsen, however, did not think of them as Jews. As he explained, the Jews in Denmark ``were considered neighbors, friends, schoolmates and nothing else.
The Nazi-invasion of Denmark on April 9, 1940, initially brought little change to the lives of Danish Jews. The Danish government and the Danish laws remained in effect ensuring, among other things, that no Jew in Denmark ever had to wear the yellow star. Munch Nielsen joined the resistance movement, helping with the distribution of illegal papers.
On August 29, 1943, the Danish Government resigned under strong pressure from the active Danish anti-Nazi resistance. The Nazi's took over the government and declared Martial Law that very same day. Under the military government, the night of October 1, 1943, was set as the date on which all Jews and communists were to be deported and transferred to concentration camps. On September 28, G.F. Duckwitz, a German diplomat with contacts among the Danish Social Democrats, learned about the deportations that were planned for two days later. He informed the leading Danish Social Democrat, Hans Hedtoft, who quickly passed on the warning to the Jewish community.
Mr. Speaker, the actions of Preben Munch Nielsen were typical of the response of Danes to this effort to exterminate the Jews of Denmark. As Mr. Munch Nielsen said, participating in this effort to save the Jews was ``the only way to retain self-respect. He helped guide Jews to hiding places while they were waiting to be taken by boat from harbors and beaches along the Danish coast. He also helped transport Jews on the ``illegal boats and fishing vessels which crossed the straights to the freedom and safety of Sweden, and he aided the fishermen by calming frightened passengers during the crossing.
The results of this heroic effort, Mr. Speaker, were remarkable. Of Denmark's 8,000 Jews, only 475 were caught and deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. What began as a spontaneous reaction to human injustice turned into a well-organized underground movement.
Upon their return to Denmark, the Jews found their homes and assets in excellent condition. Neighbors and friends cared for their assets and sublet their properties.
As a participant in this remarkable rescue, Preben Munch Nielsen personally was involved in helping to transport nearly 1,400 refugees to Sweden. On a courier mission to Sweden in November 1943 Munch Nielsen was urged by friends of the resistance movement to remain in Sweden because returning to Denmark was too dangerous. In Sweden, he joined the Danish voluntary forces in Sweden (``Den Danske Brigade) and only returned to Denmark in May 1945, when Denmark was liberated from Nazi occupation forces.
After returning to Denmark, Munch Nielsen began working in the import-export business. Only at the age of 59 did he consider a role as a public speaker and educator. After sharing his story with some Jewish travelers to Denmark, he was encouraged by friends to continue to share his personal experience and educate people about the rescue of the Danish Jews in 1943. Now a successful businessman, the head of his own company and the father of three sons, Munch Nielsen tours the world with his wife Sonja, sharing the magnificent story of the rescue of the Danish Jews.
Mr. Speaker, I have the greatest admiration for Preben Munch Nielsen for his courageous participation in helping to save his fellow countrymen at the risk of his own life. I join Munch Nielsen when he says: ``That your fellow citizens should be doomed because their human value was considered nothing because of their race is an impossible thought. Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 4, Extensions of Remarks, Pages 5803-5804, From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2001-pt4/html/CRECB-2001-pt4-Pg5803-3.htm