Denmark

Denmark

Der Brockhaus-Atlas. Die Welt in Bild und Karte, Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus 1937

Der Brockhaus-Atlas. Die Welt in Bild und Karte, Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus 1937

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Der Brockhaus-Atlas. Die Welt in Bild und Karte, Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus 1937
Denmark 1938
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Population ca. 3,700,000
Area (km²) ca. 44,000
Inhabitants per km² 84
Gross domestic product per inhabitant Gross domestic product p. inhab. 336 US$
Jewish population before 1938 Jewish pop. before 1938 7,000 (0.2 %)
Profession
Agriculture and forestry 35 %
Mining and industry 30 %
Trade and transport 17 %
Other professions 20 %

 

Policy on Immigration and Refugees

Since the early 20th century, the kingdom of Denmark’s immigration policy has been marked by protectionism and concern about the domestic labor market, just as in its Nordic neighbors Sweden and Norway. This is aggravated in the early 1930s by a foreign-policy consideration towards Nazi Germany. Efforts are made to prevent German communists and Jews from entering the country. Administration officials and diplomats often use antisemitic stereotypes to excuse their restrictive treatment of Jewish refugees.

Between 1934 and 1939, a gradual tightening of the “foreigners’ law” leads to reduced immigration. Beginning in 1934, passport and visa allocation is made more difficult by giving the police the right to use “national-security reasons” to reject foreigners attempting to enter the country. In October 1938 the Danish border posts receive orders to “reject foreigners who wish to emigrate because of difficulties in their home country and therefore cannot return to their home country.” As a result, up to 1940, only about 200 German-Jewish youths whose resettlement in Palestine has been arranged are allowed to enter Denmark per year. Altogether, approximately 4,500 German Jews – the majority of them transit refugees – enter the country between 1933 and 1945.

When the German Wehrmacht occupies Denmark on April 9, 1940, the Danish government, under Social Democrat Thorvald Stauning, initiates a policy of cooperation with the occupiers. This policy, which allows Denmark to officially remain a sovereign state, enables both the king and the government to stay in office after they consent to the “peaceful occupation.”

However, at the end of August 1943, a military state of emergency is imposed and the Danish government is dissolved, because the Germans do not believe it is doing enough to counter increasing resistance activity in the country. As a result, the Jews in Denmark are in great danger. Thanks to the commitment of broad sectors of the population, including the Danish Resistance and parts of the Danish police force, the deportation of Jews planned for October 2, 1943 cannot be carried out; instead, helpers are able to ferry 8,000 people to safety in Sweden.

 

Young Jewish emigrants during the Hachsharah (preparation) in Denmark, 1938 In agricultural training centers, Jewish youths are prepared for life in Palestine. Fotoalbum Erich Meyer, Jüdisches Museum Berlin

Young Jewish emigrants during the Hachsharah (preparation) in Denmark, 1938

In agricultural training centers, Jewish youths are prepared for life in Palestine.

Fotoalbum Erich Meyer, Jüdisches Museum Berlin

Fishing boat with Jewish refugees on the way from Falster, Denmark to Ystad, Sweden, photographed by one of the refugees, September/October 1943 Frihedsmuseet / Nationalmuseet, Kopenhagen, www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseet/5709133933/

Fishing boat with Jewish refugees on the way from Falster, Denmark to Ystad, Sweden, photographed by one of the refugees, September/October 1943

Frihedsmuseet / Nationalmuseet, Kopenhagen, www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseet/5709133933/

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Young Jewish emigrants during the Hachsharah (preparation) in Denmark, 1938 In agricultural training centers, Jewish youths are prepared for life in Palestine. Fotoalbum Erich Meyer, Jüdisches Museum Berlin

Young Jewish emigrants during the Hachsharah (preparation) in Denmark, 1938

In agricultural training centers, Jewish youths are prepared for life in Palestine.

Fotoalbum Erich Meyer, Jüdisches Museum Berlin

Young Jewish emigrants during the Hachsharah (preparation) in Denmark, 1938

In agricultural training centers, Jewish youths are prepared for life in Palestine.

Fotoalbum Erich Meyer, Jüdisches Museum Berlin

Fishing boat with Jewish refugees on the way from Falster, Denmark to Ystad, Sweden, photographed by one of the refugees, September/October 1943 Frihedsmuseet / Nationalmuseet, Kopenhagen, www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseet/5709133933/

Fishing boat with Jewish refugees on the way from Falster, Denmark to Ystad, Sweden, photographed by one of the refugees, September/October 1943

Frihedsmuseet / Nationalmuseet, Kopenhagen, www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseet/5709133933/

Fishing boat with Jewish refugees on the way from Falster, Denmark to Ystad, Sweden, photographed by one of the refugees, September/October 1943

Frihedsmuseet / Nationalmuseet, Kopenhagen, www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseet/5709133933/

Young Jewish emigrants during the Hachsharah (preparation) in Denmark, 1938 In agricultural training centers, Jewish youths are prepared for life in Palestine. Fotoalbum Erich Meyer, Jüdisches Museum Berlin
Fishing boat with Jewish refugees on the way from Falster, Denmark to Ystad, Sweden, photographed by one of the refugees, September/October 1943 Frihedsmuseet / Nationalmuseet, Kopenhagen, www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseet/5709133933/

Delegation

Niels Carl Gustav Magnus Rasmussen

* 10 August 1895 Odense   † 13 September 1953 Kopenhagen

During the First World War, while still a law student, Gustav Rasmussen works as a secretary to the Danish delegation in Petrograd. After taking his exams, he enters the diplomatic corps in 1921 and is posted to the embassy in Switzerland one year later. In 1932/33 he represents Denmark in a dispute over Norwegian territorial claims on Greenland before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In 1934 he assigned as a permanent representative to the League of Nations as an expert in international law and a year later is named head clerk to the foreign minister.

After participating in the Évian Conference, Rasmussen is transferred to the Danish delegation in London in 1939. There, in 1941, he refuses to implement instructions from German-occupied Denmark and shortly thereafter joins the Danish Freedom Council.

In the fall of 1945, he becomes the first person without a party affiliation to be appointed foreign minister. Because of a leadership crisis in the foreign ministry, Rasmussen resigns his office in 1950 and becomes ambassador to Italy.

Niels Carl Gustav Magnus Rasmussen, 1942 Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Niels Carl Gustav Magnus Rasmussen, 1942

Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Niels Carl Gustav Magnus Rasmussen, 1942 Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Niels Carl Gustav Magnus Rasmussen, 1942

Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Niels Carl Gustav Magnus Rasmussen, 1942

Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Niels Carl Gustav Magnus Rasmussen, 1942 Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Troels Hoff

* 21 August 1903   † 8 December 1961

After taking his law exams, Troels Hoff first works in 1928 as a judge, but switches the same year to the Danish Ministry of Justice. There, beginning in 1933, he is responsible for refugee matters.

After Germany occupies Denmark, he becomes prosecutor for special affairs in 1942. In this role, he works closely with the eponymous police department, the Wehrmacht and the Gestapo and is responsible for the prosecution of Danes who are accused of espionage, sabotage and resistance against the occupying power.

Despite or even because of his loyalty to the Ministry of Justice, Hoff remains prosecutor for special affairs after 1945. With the reconnaissance unit, and in cooperation with the British secret service, he now combats German agents who remain in Denmark.

His career ends abruptly in 1951, when it emerges that the Danish underworld has bribed him with furs for his wife, for which crime he is sentenced by Denmark’s supreme court.

Troels Hoff, before 1945 Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Troels Hoff, before 1945

Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Troels Hoff, before 1945 Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Troels Hoff, before 1945

Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Troels Hoff, before 1945

Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Troels Hoff, before 1945 Danmarks Nationalbibliotek, Kopenhagen

Conference Contributions

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 1/2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 1/2

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 2/2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 2/2

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 1/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 1/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 2/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 2/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 3/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 3/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

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Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 1/2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 1/2

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 1/2

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 2/2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 2/2

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 2/2

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 1/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 1/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 1/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 2/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 2/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 2/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 3/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 3/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 3/3

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY

Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 1/2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY
Statement by Gustav Rasmussen (Denmark) in the public session on July 9, 1938, 11am, p. 2/2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY
Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 1/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY
Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 2/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY
Statement by the Danish delegate made for the Technical Sub-Committee at its meeting on July 11th, 1938, p. 3/3 Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY