Holger Danske () was a Danish resistance group during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was created by veteran volunteers from the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

who had fought on the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

side against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It was among the largest Danish resistance groups and consisted of around 350 volunteers towards the end of the war. The group carried out about 100 sabotage operations and was responsible for around 200 killings of informers who had revealed the identity and/or the whereabouts of members of the resistance. The group was named after the legendary Danish hero

Holger Danske Holger may refer to: People * Holger (given name), includes name origin, plus people with the name * Hilde Holger, stage name of dancer, choreographer and dance teacher Hilde Boman-Behram (née Hilde Sofer, 1905–2001) Fictional characters * Holg ...

History

The group was formed in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in 1942 by five men who had all fought on the Finnish side during the

. Resistance work carried a great deal of risk because the general public was still largely opposed to sabotage and the government was following its "co-operation" policy with the Nazis to keep German intervention in Danish affairs to a minimum. Holger Danske, as well as the rest of the Danish resistance, was very much opposed to this collaboration and continued to believe that the Danes should have resisted the invasion much more fiercely.

Gunnar Dyrberg Gunnar Dyrberg (12 November 1921 Faaborg – 8 January 2012) was a member of the Danish Danish resistance movement, resistance movement during World War II, leading the Holger Danske (resistance group), Holger Danske, a Danish resistance group in ...

recalls in his memoir how he had seen Danes engage in friendly conversation with the Germans immediately after the invasion and cites this as one of the reasons he later decided to join Holger Danske, with the code name Bob Herman. A fuller account of his activities as a liquidator are described in his autobiographical book ''De ensomme Ulve'' (The Lonely Wolves). The group was infiltrated by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

twice but because of its loose structure (unlike

BOPA BOPA ( da, Borgerlige Partisaner, Civil Partisans) was a group of the Danish resistance movement; it was affiliated with the communists and developed after the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. In 1942, the Commu ...

) they were unable to identify all the members. A total of 64 members were executed by the Gestapo during the occupation. Among their largest sabotage actions were the blowing up of the Forum Copenhagen in 1943 and the attack on

Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it ...

in 1944.

Members

Two of the members of Holger Danske were

Jørgen Haagen Schmith Jørgen Haagen Schmith, also spelled Jørgen Haagen Schmidt (18 December 1910 – 15 October 1944), known during the war by the codename ), was a renowned fighter in the Danish resistance movement during the German Occupation of Denmark (1940� ...

and

Bent Faurschou Hviid Bent Faurschou Hviid (7 January 1921 – 18 October 1944) was a member of the Danish resistance group Holger Danske during World War II. He was quickly named "Flammen" (meaning "The Flame"), for his red hair. In 1951, he and his Resistance partne ...

, who became famous under their aliases, Citronen (the Lemon) and Flammen (the Flame). Both led numerous sabotage operations in 1943 and 1944. They were portrayed in the 2008 movie ''

Flammen og Citronen ''Flame & Citron'' ( da, Flammen & Citronen) is a 2008 historical drama film co-written and directed by the Danish director Ole Christian Madsen. The film, a fictionalized account based on historical events, stars Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelse ...

'' by Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelsen. One member of the group,

Lis Mellemgaard Lis Mellemgaard (née Wognsen, 20 February 1924 – 5 July 2019) was a Danish ophthalmologist and resistance spy. A member of the Holger Danske Group, she escaped execution by the Nazis as she remained at home with a sore throat. After comple ...

, survived the war as she remained at home with a sore throat when her colleagues were rounded up and executed in March 1945. The author Arne Sørensen was a member of the group. After the war, he was involved in the nation's reconstruction as a politician.Arne Sørensen
from Nomos website. Retrieved 18 April 2008.

References

* ''Holger Danske Vaagner'', Josef Petersen and "Bob" Jarset, Copenhagen, 1946 *

* ''De illegale: To Holger Danske sabotører fortæller'', Bob Herman, 1985, * ''En dreng alt vel fra Dannebrogsgade 60 til Nobel’s Explosive no. 808 - fra en Holger Danske sabotørs dagbog'', Gunnar Dyrberg, 2006, * ''De ensomme Ulve'', Gunnar Dyrberg, Gyldendal Copenhagen 2009, 208 pp, * ''Gemüse fortæller. Erindringer fortalt af Gemüse i mindet om Flammen og Citronen'', Sofie-Amalie Høgsbro Østergaard, {{Danish resistance movement Danish resistance groups Denmark in World War II World War II resistance movements