Evening star., 1943-05-09
Danish People Growing Restless Under NozHotng Collaborating Premier
Light Defenses
Natural Barriers Face
Invaders

of Denmark's underground movement,
highly intellectual young man.
The sabotage movement there, he says,
got under way rather slowly and at first
was disorganized. Isolated groups. act
ing solely on their own initiative, began
wrecking local plants. But it soon be-
came apparent that there must be a
national organization and some co-ordi-
nation
1--WE studied carefully" he says, 'the
underground system in Norway. have
the utmost admiration for it, but I feel
that grave mistakes were made at first.
We started later and have been able to
profit by the Norwegians' errors. First,
the purpose of an underground is solely
to hurt the Germans To that end all
its energies should be devoted.
Actually, it has been the experience
In other countries before the movements
were well co-ordinated, nine-tenths of
the energy and resources 20 to protect
ones own members who are in danger
of being caught and are on the run.
That was our case at first.
Seek to Protect Members.
so we called halt and began per-
fectlng our own organization to make it
as near 100 per cent safe as is possible
under the circumstances. I think that
today we have a model for such an
organization. The chance of one of our
men being detected is very small indeed.
and we are just starting to get into full
action. The job has been hard because
Denmark lacks hiding places. But the
world is beginning to hear from us, and
I am sure that when a second front
starts, and wherever it starts, the invad-
ers will find we are giving them very
valuable help indeed. We are not ON
the run any more.
The saboteur can do verv good work
in Denmark because of the peculiar situ-
alton of Danish industry. Germany de-
pends on it primarily for the production
of machine tools Much of this industry
is concentrated in small shops which
easily can be wrecked, my informant
says He, himself, knows one proprietor
of small-town carpenters shop who
made 10000 kroner or about SIS 900, last
| year making wooden frames for airplane
factories. There are many hundreds OF
such instances, he believes
Money, because of German war con-
| tracts and high wages, is very plentiful
in Denmark, he says, but there is moth
ing to buy with it. ior problem has
| been to prevent prices going wild through
black markets. 1t is year since there
has been any coffee or tea New clothes
are unobtainable. Hard cash is burning
in thousands of pockets.
All this worries Scavenius He has
many anxious hours on schemes to keep
| work on German war orders down to a
minimum without, at the same time,
throwing Danes out of work and adding
a national depression to his other
troubles.
There is little question say Danes
here, that their countrymen hate the
Germans as sincerely as do the people
OF more vigorously occupied countries.
Any pretense of cooperation is pure
horse feathers. There is much passive
and growing active resistance.
Thousands wear under the lapels of
their coats badge with the letters
| DkS-lnltlals for the Danish Cold
Shoulder Club. When a German enters
a gathering of any kind, such as saloon
or cafe, there is immediate silence.
Churchill Clubs have been organized in
most Danish schools The boys wear
badges with the British Premer's pic
ture under their lapels. Their function
is to encourage acts of sabotage against
! the German Army.
Carry On in Prison
The story of typical Churchill club
is told in the latest issue of the Danish
clandestine paper, De Erie Danske. lust
received here: Most of the Aalborg boys
who were members of the Churchill Club
are now serving their hard sentences in
the prison at Nyborg. The prison was
oVercroWded and three boys were kept
IN one cell, where they were allowed to
make model airplanes to pass the time.
One day younger brother succeeded in
bringing cold saw into the CELL The
boys then sawed through the bars in
such way that you had only to give
them hard push to remove them. For
many nights on end they climbed out
OF the window and balanced along a.
wall until they reached a tree outside
tne prison walls There they contacted
their friends in town, got them organ
lied again and carried out intensive
sabotage against German military estab-
lishments.
The confidence of the boys grew and
soon their excursions began at 10 pm.
One night when the Raj was coming
over and the sirens were sounded three
OF them were caught. They had not
dared go to public shelter for fear of
being recognized. In Denmark YOU are
compelled to take shelter when the sirens
start Two Of them received 10 years
imprisonment, the third Is years"
Within the past few weeks it is re-
ported mere, an anti-sabotage corps Of
$4,000 men has been set up to guard vital
plants. The regular Danish police force
has been expanded from 5000 to 7.0oo
More than 5000 Danes have been sent to
prison for offenses against the Germans.
There is big shortage of cells and all
prisons have long waiting lists. Some
are now demanding health certificates
before they will admit an offender-they
cannot afford to waste prison space on a
man who may be taken to hospital In
few days.
Sentences range from short terms for
such crimes as speaking English to Ger
man soldiers to execution in Germany
and long terms at hard labor in German
prisons for inciting soldiers to mutiny.
| hoc