Hitler's Savage Canary: A History of the Danish Resistance in World War II

In a new foreword (the book originally appeared in the U.K. in 1957), Riis-Jorgensen, the Danish ambassador to England, writes that the story of the Danish occupation "carries within it many tales of humiliation, human strength, courage and compassion, of collective and individual acts of bravery." Within four hours of Germany's invasion, notes freelance writer Lampe (who died in 2003), the Resistance began with a 17-year-old's distribution of illegal leaflets. Not all resistance was organized; Danish laborers dumped sugar into cement they mixed for German gun emplacements, making them crumble. The Resistance set up radio guides for Allied aircraft on the coasts; Danish saboteurs attacked German army installations; and entire cities went on strike against occupation rule. If caught or even suspected of working for the Resistance, prisoners were interrogated, threatened, and tortured. Lampe also highlights the Danes' heroic efforts to protect its small Jewish community from Nazi concentration camps. By war's end, thanks to the role (and sacrifice) of Danes in the Resistance, Denmark was credited with helping to win Europe's freedom. (Apr.)