it's still cold here. and i still wish it wasn't. but i'm trying to talk about more interesting subjects. so let's go to the danish resistance museum. ryan is going to go check out the casino and poker tournament, so it's just you and me.
i began this part with a 3 paragraph history lesson, and then thought better of it. you probably have wikipedia on your computer too. so if you want to know the essentials of what i was going to tell you, click away:
this is one the illegal printing presses that was used by the resistance to print: ration cards, pamphlets, flyers, anything illegal, really.
okay, this was cool. this case was filled with items that danish people would wear/display to covertly display their Allied pride. this headband, for example, holds the music to "rule, brittanica"
these caps were very popular with patriotic Danes, who were fined when they wore them. and the bow tie is the american flag.
okay, this is a terrible picture. but it's christian x, who was king during the nazi occupation. one week after they invaded, christian went out on his daily horseback ride through copenhagen... without a guard or escort. he did this nearly every day of the occupation. when a german soldier asked a civilian where his bodyguard was, the citizen allegedly replied, "All of Denmark is his bodyguard."
danish girls who went out with german soldiers were called "field mattresses". nice.
this is a re-creation of how radio operators would use ordinary people's homes (a different one each night) to send out messages to the resistance.
in 1943, the danish people went on a general strike in response to continued demands from the nazis. this is a picture of danish citizens attacking soldiers.
and during these same strikes, in 1943 (the war was NOT over), this picture was taken. the woman in the middle had a nazi boyfriend.
if you had to read "number the stars" in sixth grade (and it's a great book, you should give it to a middle-schooler you know), then you might remember a little bit about the danish response to the nazi's treatment of the jews. and if you didn't, or you don't remember, click here.
this is a train ticket bought by a jewish man who fled to neutral sweden. it's a round trip ticket, so as not to be suspicious...
money from the theresienstadt "model" ghetto, where the few danish jews who did not evacuate were sent.
this is powder that was used by boat captains to temporarily paralyze the noses of the dogs nazis used to sniff out escaping people. it is made of cocaine and dried blood and a few other pleasant things.
during the last months of the war, attempts were made to stop arms production by pouring a stinking liquid onto the machines. the stench was intolerable, but only lasted a few hours' time. however, this method of sabotage was used at the end of the war, so as not to destroy machines that would be needed after. smart!
self explanatory.
this rose was made out of chewed-up rye bread in ravensbruck, and given by a polish woman to a dane.
then i went for a walk. it was gorgeous out:
this is the copenhagen opera house. it cost 500 million dollars. most of it is actually underground. it was donated by Arnold Peter Møller, who's kind of a bossy pants.
that's amalienborg palace again. the queen lives in one mansion, and her son and his family live in another across the square. cozy.
oh, yes-- our hotel is in the middle of the wedding dress district. ryan tried to convince me that someone might wear a big white dress for an occasion other than a wedding, but of course he is a boy, and foolish. this is my favorite name for a bridal store.
thai food makes you warmer. scientific fact. and since the food here is herring, i've been doing a late breakfast and sort of a lunner thing. it's working out, no worries.
tomorrow? VIKINGS! oh yes...
No comments:
Post a Comment