Sculpture at Mindelunden in Copenhagen where the Gestapo executed captured members of the Danish resistance including a large number of members of Holger Danske. Mindelunden is a memorial park in Ryvangen in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Holger Danske was a Danish resistance group during World War II. The Danish Resistance Movement (Modstandsbevægelsen was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German Occupation of Denmark during World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including It was created by veteran volunteers from the Winter War who had fought on the Finnish side against the Soviet Union. The Winter War (Talvisota Советско-финляндская война - official Зимняя война - unofficial Vinterkriget began when the Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 It was among the largest 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 executions 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. Ogier the Dane ( Danish: Holger Danske, French: Ogier de Danemarche) is a Legendary Danish Hero who

History

The group was formed in Copenhagen in 1942 by five men who had all fought on the Finnish side during the Winter War. Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city By this time of the occupation 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 avoid as much German intervention in Danish affairs as possible. Nazi Germany’s occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew Holger Danske, as well as the rest of the Danish resistance, was very opposed to this collaboration and continued to believe that the Danish should have resisted the invasion much more fiercely. Gunnar Dyrberg recalls in his book 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 enter Holger Danske.

The group was infiltrated by the Gestapo twice but because of its loose structure (unlike BOPA the organization was very loose) they were unable to identify all the members. The ( contraction of ge heime Sta ats' po' lizei: "Secret State Police" was the official Secret police of Nazi Germany BOPA ( Danish: Borgelige Partisaner, Bourgeois Partisans was a group of the Danish resistance movement operating at the time of the Occupation 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 Arena in 1943 and the attack on Burmeister & Wain in 1944. Forum Copenhagen (or Forum København) in Frederiksberg in Central Copenhagen, Denmark, is a large rentable faire building which hosts a large MAN Diesel (formerly MAN B&W Diesel is is the world’s leading provider of large-bore Diesel enginess for Marine propulsion systems and Power plant applications

References

• Resistance and Terror in Denmark
• Danmark under besættelsen og befrielsen (Danish)
• 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