Whilst in Copenhagen I went to the Museum of Danish Resistance.  It provides an interesting conundrum….

King Christian X allowed Nazi occupation and some level of influence and control of Denmark, in return for Denmark not declaring war on Germany.  Initially and briefly the Danish fought the Nazi’s, but soon realised they would be annihilated, which led to their occupation.  As the Nazis exerted more control, the Free Denmark resistance grew, eventually working quite closely with British intelligence, particularly towards the end of the war.

A sense of regret emerges from the museum, of allowing the occupation, and of the effectiveness of Danish Resistance, which appeared to have little impact until the end of the war.  Certainly the Danish are rightly proud of the resistance, and many brave people succumbed to the Nazis.  But… herein lies the conundrum, I sense a desire for a different tack, would it have made any difference… I don’t know,  a lot of people would have died and superb architecture and culture destroyed.  Maybe if other Scandinavian countries had been less passive, there would have been a different outcome.

This ‘tank’ was a farm style truck, bolstered with an outer shell of steel plate.  The holes allowed those inside to see and shoot.  There are signs of battle, but obviously it didn’t encounter a Nazi tank.