- Description
- Film title on screen: Le DANEMARK LUTTE POUR SA LIBERTÉ 1943-44 (Denmark's Fight for Freedom), followed by two screens of French text. The film depicts events in Denmark during the occupation. Some of the footage was shot clandestinely by the Danish resistance. Brief shot of a church and birds in the sky, followed by scenes of German soldiers and sailors marching through the streets. Different views of a building set on fire by the Danish resistance. A crowd of civilians in the street, many with bicycles, during a general strike. Large crowd of people outdoors at a funeral/memorial service for those who died fighting the Germans. Pedestrians in the street look at a storefront with shattered windows. The shops of those who collaborated with the Germans were targeted by the resistance. CU of an announcement posted on a fence with headline, "militære Undtagelsestilstand i hele Danmark [Military emergency in all of Denmark]". Danish ships in Copenhagen harbor, scuttled by the resistance. Grainy footage of Germans (and Danish collaborators?) arresting people in Copenhagen. A woman and child talk with a Danish soldier through the fence of an internment camp. Shots of the Rosenborg Castle. The narrator says that the Royal Guard has been taken over by the Wehrmacht. Wreaths and flowers commemorating the fallen (? something about the King's birthday?). A billboard reads "I Stilhed fejrer Kongen i Dag sin 73 Aars Dag paa Sorgenfri [The silent are celebrating the King's 73rd birthday]". The camera moves down a crowded street filled with Danish flags, paying honor to King Christian X. The only place where no flags fly is Dagmar House, which has been taken over by the Gestapo. Civilians with their belongings on carts. They have been evacuated from their homes near Dagmar House. CU of a painted sign,"Do it well and do it now," written in English. Different angles of a destroyed warehouse. The funeral of Kaj Munk, a pastor and playwright who was outspoken in his opposition to German rule and who was murdered by the Gestapo in 1944. Buildings, including factories, set on fire by the resistance. Several different buildings destroyed by the Danish SS unit Schalburg Corps (the narrator calls it "Schalburtage"). Civilians cleaning up broken glass and rubble. Views of the Royal Yacht Club, destroyed by the Luftwaffe. A factory set on fire by the resistance. Footage shot by the resistance showing many people in the streets during a general strike in summer 1944. Empty wheelbarrows left by workers when the strike was called. More shots of people in the streets, barricades. An American flag flown by the resistance. The narrator says that the Germans were too strong but that the fight will go on. Shots of sabotaged buildings and ships.
- Duration
- 00:10:20
- Date
-
Event:
1941-1944
Production:
1944
- Locale
-
Copenhagen,
Denmark
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Imperial War Museums
- Contributor
-
Producer:
Le Comite du Danemark Libre en France
