"As the organizer and artist explains, the people of Denmark followed " Ten Commandments for Danes "-a set of moral instructions created by 17-year-old Arne Sejr. The guidance was simple and included such rules as "don't work for the Nazis or support their businesses," "work slowly or do a bad job when you must work for the Germans," and "protect anyone who is 'chased' by Nazis.""
"Following the commandments wasn't without risk. Some people had their electricity or water cut off; others were beaten, deported to camps, or killed. But their collective actions helped to change the mindsets of some of the Germans occupying Denmark, including one official who leaked a plan to deport the country's 8,000 Jews to concentration camps. Because of that leak, the Danes were able to protect 99 percent of Danish Jews, many of whom were ferried to and welcomed in Sweden."
When the Nazis occupied Denmark in 1940, Danes practiced everyday disobedience guided by a youth-created Ten Commandments for Danes. The rules urged refusal to work for or support Nazi businesses, intentional slow work for German employers, and protection of anyone pursued by Nazis. Reprisals included utility cutoffs, beatings, deportations, and killings, but broad collective actions shifted some German attitudes and produced a leaked deportation plan. The leak enabled rescuers to save about 99 percent of Danish Jews by ferrying them to Sweden. The resistance strengthened communal bonds and inspired modern organizers to promote commandments advocating protection of education, free speech, fair elections, unions, subversive art, and active obstruction of fascism.
#danish-resistance-wwii #nonviolent-civil-disobedience #rescue-of-danish-jews #contemporary-anti-fascist-organizing
Read at The Nation
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]