| Horserød
| | June 22nd 1941 the Danish police arrested approximately 350 communists and put them in Vester Prison in Cpenhagen. In August they were interned in the Horserød Camp in North Zealand. Later 150 of them were sent to the German concentration camp Stutthof. Among the imprisoned and interned were a number of Denmark´s well-known politicians, writers and future resisters. |
June 22nd 1941 the Danish police arrested approximately 350 communists and put them in Vester Prison in Cpenhagen. In August they were interned in the Horserød Camp in North Zealand. Later 150 of them were sent to the German concentration camp Stutthof. Among the imprisoned and interned were a number of Denmark´s well-known politicians, writers and future resisters.
The Camp in North Zealand
The Horserød camp is situated in North Zealand, approximately 7 kilometres from Elsinore. The camp consisted of approximately wooden hutments and was built in 1917 to hold Russians war prisoners, which arrived from Germany during the First World War. Later the camp was transformed into a holiday camp for children from the slums in Copenhagen.
The arrested Communists were first taken to Vestre Prison in Copenhagen and on August 20th, they were interned in this camp. Here the Danes and later the Germans interned different prisoner categories in the course of the five occupation years.
The Communist Law
Under the codename “Operation Barbarossa” Hitler attacked the Soviet Union on the June 22nd 1941. Hitler´s main enemies were Jews and Communists. The latter had been left in peace in Denmark, but now the hunt for the Communists began in Denmark. The Germans demanded that the Danish Communist Party (DKP), which had three members in the Folketing (parliament), be banned and the leading party members arrested.
The Danish police could, via their extensive files on Communists, arrest 339 persons immediately. The Germans had only demanded that 38 be arrested. A great part of the arrested had to be released, when they apparently only had a peripheral connection to the party. Two months later the parliament carried a special retrospective law, “the Communist Law”, which “legitimised” the arrests and the subsequent internment.
Both acts were clearly unconstitutional and have since caused intense discussions between politicians, jurists and historians.
In defence of the arrests: If the Danish politicians and police force had not arrested the Communists, the Germans would have done it and have taken the Communists to Germany, where a cruel fate awaited them. Consequently they did it to save them from a much worse fate.
The critics say: The Conservatives as well as the Social Democrats went much further than the basis of the collaboration policy and seized the opportunity to get rid of troublesome adversaries, believing that the Germans would win the war.
The Internment of the Communists
Many of the Communists were interned for more than two years, which was a heavy mental strain. You cannot compare the Horserød Camp with the concentration camps in Germany and the other occupied countries. It was not a death camp and the hygienic conditions were much better.
From the beginning a somewhat officious prison governor, Bentzen, drew up a daily routine, where harassment made life difficult for the interned. Especially the writer, Hans Kirk, spoke up and was punished with solitary confinement for several months in Vestre Prison. In several books Kirk´s letters with the authorities on the harassment are reported.
Prison Director Bentzen | 
Hans Kirk | 
Eigil Larsen | 
Martin Nielsen | 
Carl Madsen |
Escape Discussion
However, one paradox was that the prisoners almost from the beginning had the opportunity to escape, but did not. The creative Eigil Larsen, for instance, had during a grotesque meeting with one of Horserød´s prison chaplains, been able to get a hold of the keys to the main gate, as early as three weeks after the internment!
After the battle of Stalingrad the interns were treated better. The authorities and the prison staff began to doubt that the Germans would win and they feared the reaction of the population. Furthermore the authorities had promised to release the interns, if the Germans took over the camp. A promise they did not keep.
On the other hand the interned Communists were afraid that the Germans would take over the camp, if anybody escaped. This was an important reason as to why the prisoners did not escape. The prisoners discussed it and some wanted to escape, but the internal leadership, among others Eigil Larsen, Martin Nielsen and Carl Madsen, were against it.
The Tunnel in Horserød
In the beginning of 1942 the Communist resistance movement prepared for more intense fighting, but the party lacked the prominent people, who had been interned. These were: Villy Fuglsang, former soldier in Spain, Ib Nørlund and Gelius Lund, the ideologists of the party, the organizer Martin Nielsen, the military knowledgeable ship builder, Eigil Larsen, chairman of the Communists in Elsinore, and Johannes Hansen, a future mayor in Copenhagen. More people were to follow.
The Tunnel
The decision to let these people escape was followed by an impressive piece of engineering by Eigil Larsen. He had let himself be strategically placed in a hut close to the barbed wire fence. In April 1942 he started, with a few friends, a tunnel, which ended a few feet from the fence.
But an officer discovered the escape attempt and raised the alarm. Ib Nørlund managed to escape, while the four others were caught and transferred to Vestre Prison. However, the tunnel was not discovered. All four prisoners said that they had climbed the fence.
That same night Eigil Larsen went through the tunnel and got away. The prison leadership found out about the escape the next day and a search was organized. Neither of them was caught. Eigil Larsen swam across Gurre Lake and hid for two months at the parents of Kristian Engelsen´s - a young party comrade.
Tunnel |
Eigil Larsen | 
Wanted | 
Kristian Engelsen |
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 | | Large | Kristian Engelsen on Eigil Larsens escape from Horserød |
The Prisoners Are Moved
In the camp they called in trucks, placed the interns in them and took them to Vestre Prison, Copenhagen, where they were placed in cells, two and two. When the camp was empty the guards systematically searched the camp and they found the tunnel. The prisoners were in Vestre Prison for four months, before they were sent back to a much more strongly fortified Horserød camp.In the meantime 100 volunteers from the Spanish civil war had been placed in the camp. The had combat experience and the will to defy the camp leadership and the Danish authorities.
In the report from the Elsinore police there is a detailed description of the making of the tunnel, and the engineering skills of Eigil Larsen. You can also learn how the police reports were written then.
The Mass Escape, August 29th 1943
August 29th 1943 the Danish government resigned. The reason was the extensive strikes and sabotages, which made the Germans demand the death penalty for the saboteurs.
The Germans´ answer was prompt. On the night between August 28th and 29th the Germans stood, heavily armed, in the Horserød Camp. They were not aware that they were in the smaller aprt of the camp, and that enabled the interns in the other part of the camp to climb the fence.
Under the cover of darkness and the driving rain approximately 90 men disappeared into the forest in Horserød and tried to get to the capital. Approximately 150 of the prisoners did not manage to escape and they were deported to the German concentration camp, Stutthof. 21 of them died there.
The Mass Escape |
Carl Madsen |
Martin Nielsen |
The Civilian Hostages
On the same day that the government announced its resignation the Germans took over and introduced a state of emergency and death penalty. The Danish army was interned and 140 prominent Danish citizens and politicians were taken hostages.
At first the hostages were taken to the Alsgade School in Copenhagen, but in the course of a month most of them released. Tilbage blev gamle og nye modstandsfolk.
Henning Jensen |
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| | Large | Listen to Henning Jensen´s report on how things were, when he arrived in Horserød. |
| | Large | Listen to Henning Jensen´s report on his localization from Neuengamme to Verse |
The jews in Horserød
In October 1943 the Germans started the persecution of Jews in Denmark. Most of them succeeded in escaping to Sweden, but about 200 were interned in the Horserød Camp. A few were released but on the 12th of October 170 Jews were sent by bus to Elsinore. From here they were transported in box wagons to the kz-camp, Theresienstadt, in the present Czech Republic.
In 2008 Hanne Abrahams recounts her experiences from Horserød.
Under Extern links, "The Jews in Horserød", in the side menu, you will find the home page with the interview.
Hanne Abrahams |
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