Documentary-series in three parts
It’s taken many years for them to come out in the open, but now a group of women have agreed to tell the dramatic story about the last years of World War II and their dangerous work in the Danish Resistance Movement. The purpose of the series is to change the current picture of the Danish Resistance Movement – as an army of young men wearing cotton coats and broad-brimmed hats.
The fact is that women also participated at all levels in the fight for freedom. Some of them were gradually involved in the actual resistance, participating in large-scale operations. Others transported weapons, hid refugees, fellow resisters and Englishmen, tracked down informers, procured false identity papers, and took part in liquidations.
We have chosen a selection of clips from the interviews conducted by Pia Friis Laneth with more than 15 different women. The series has received financial support from sources including DR K, The Velux Foundation, the Danish Film Directors, and the Danish Union of Journalists.
'LIke A DUCK TO WATER'
The Saboteur
Hedda Lundh was a railway saboteur who transported explosives during the Occupation. At the time, she was called a terrorist – today she is called a freedom fighter. Her all-female resistance group was handed over to the Gestapo by a collaborator, Grethe Bartram, from Århus.
Directors: Pia Friis Laneth & Li Vilstrup
Producers: Casper Høyberg & Ulrik Gutkin
'ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER'
The Auxiliaries
Gertrud Pedersen and Annie Langberg carried explosives and helped parachute agents from the Jutlandic Resistance Movement. Lis Mellemgaard printed illegal books in Copenhagen. Many of their friends were sent to concentration camps or were executed by the Germans.
Directors: Pia Friis Laneth & Li Vilstrup
Producers: Casper Høyberg & Ulrik Gutkin
'BEHIND BARBED WIRE'
Prisoners of the Gestapo
Benthe Asmussen, Lis Bomhoff, Else Marie Pade, Karen Ruge, and Dorthe Røssell were caught by the Gestapo during the Occupation. In this third and last episode in the series, they tell about the arrests, the interrogations, and the Frøslev Prison Camp.
More than 700 women and 5,000 men were interned at this strange concentration camp in the last years of the German Occupation. Some found love – others were sent to German concentration camps.
Directors: Pia Friis Laneth & Li Vilstrup
Producers: Casper Høyberg & Ulrik Gutkin