Museum’s battle with Hitler!

 

Running until November 27, the new exhibition explores the connection between British Special Forces and the Danish Resistance movement during World War II.

 

The inspiration for the exhibition is the curator’s Danish background, her father’s recollections of his brief involvement in a resistance group and the book Hitler’s Canary by the Danish-born author, actress and comedian Sandi Toksvig, who now lives in Britain. The book was written for children and describes life in Denmark during the German occupation.

 

Curator Eva Bredsdorff explains: “During almost 25 years as museum curator and working with schools, it has become clear to me that the teaching of World War II in British schools is very much - and understandably so - focusing on the British experience. Children learn very little about the situation in the rest of Europe and what it was like to live under German occupation. By using the Danish experience as an example, I am hoping that this exhibition will broaden the knowledge of the Second World War and be of interest to both school children and adult visitors.”

 

The exhibition gives an overview of the German occupation of Denmark and how the resistance movement slowly developed. It looks at the importance of Britain’s support of the resistance and training Danish agents. It focuses on specific people, depicting their story and giving an impression of the life of a resistance fighter. It also describes the rescue of Denmark’s Jewish population and how it affected ordinary Danish people, who until then had had no involvement in any resistance against the Germans.

 

Most of the artefacts, documents and photographs for the exhibition have come from “Frihedsmuseet” – The ‘Freedom Museum’ in Copenhagen and part of the National Museum of Denmark.

 

The exhibition is supported by donations from three Danish funds and the museum would like to thank Konsul George Jorck og Hustru Emma Jorck’s Fond, Hotelejer Andreas Harboes Fond and Lippmann Fonden