Danish Freedom Council The Danish Freedom Council ( ) was a clandestine body set up in September 1943 in response to growing political turmoil surrounding the occupation of Denmark by German forces during the Second World War . Background . Attempts at resistance were initially somewhat confused as , in the absence of a formal declaration of war , Denmark was not officially at war with Nazi Germany . Technically , Denmark was illegally occupied by the Germans through Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940 . The Danish government as well as King Christian X immediately made formal protests but ultimately acquiesced to a unique German arrangement whereby Denmark was given ' independence ' despite having German troops stationed in the country . Concerned about the safely of the population , the Danish government thought it best to accept these terms . As a result , resistance initiatives could not be formally recognized by the Allied forces . Although the Danish government in Copenhagen had accepted the situation , many Danes had not . Much of the Danish Navy had sailed to Allied ports and Danish ambassadors abroad had refused to accept their government ' s decision . A Danish resistance movement arose at the initiative of citizens and former Danish soldiers . Initially the movement was willing to pass intelligence on to the Special Operations Executive ( SOE ) but refused to follow the SOE ' s calls for sabotage operations . Any sabotage that did take place was sanctioned by resistance leaders within Denmark or based in Stockholm . There was an increase in acts of sabotage in Denmark from 1943 on . Field Marshal Montgomery later stated that intelligence from Danish resistance had been " second to none " . Up to 1943 , the occupation was relatively quiet . However , Danish acts of sabotage caused the Germans to harden their response , arresting those involved . This led to strikes , more arrests for civil disobedience , causing even more strikes . By August 1943 , the situation had become so bad , that the Germans sent the Danish government an ultimatum — they were to declare a state of emergency and they were to condemn to death all captured saboteurs . The government refused to do this and resigned . The Germans responded by formally seizing power and , legally , Denmark became an " occupied country " . It was only after this occurred that the Danish Resistance became legitimised as their actions were now against the Germans . Anti - German sentiment sharpened further when the Germans attempted to arrest the Danish Jews in October 1943 . The operation failed thanks to Danish assistance in helping over 7 , 000 of them to escape to Sweden . The Freedom Council . In September 1943 , the ' Danish Freedom Council ' was created to coordinate the fight for liberation . The Council set out to unify the many different groups that made up the Danish resistance movement and consisted of representatives from the Communists , Free Denmark , the Danish Unity Party and the Ring . Key members were Børge Houmann , Mogens Fog , Arne Sørensen , Frode Jakobsen , Erling Foss and Aage Schock . Directives from the British Special Operations Executive helped to unite the different groups . In December the SOE sent orders that military groups should be organised , ready to attack the Germans in case of invasion . They were first organised by the Communists and the Danish Unity Party , and then increasingly by members of the Ring . The resistance movement grew to over 20 , 000 and in the lead - up to D - Day acts of sabotage markedly increased . Though the D - Day landings were to be in Normandy , the SOE encouraged tying up German troops elsewhere in Europe so that the fewer would be present in northern France . If acts of sabotage were increased , more German troops would be tied up in Denmark . The Danish Resistance used the country ' s proximity to Sweden to great effect . Stockholm became a base for the Danish Resistance . Here they were far safer than in Denmark — but they could easily get back to their country .