The occupation of Skive 1940-1945

The war is coming

On April 9, 1940, people in the Skive region woke up to a new reality. On that Tuesday morning, the radio was broadcasting reports of war in Southern Jutland. At the same time, the sky above Skive was filled with German planes dropping leaflets. They stated in awkward Danish that Germany had occupied Denmark. World War II had thus spread to Denmark.

Some schoolchildren made it to the day’s lessons. But soon the schools in the town and surrounding area were closed. Adults were both angry and confused by the situation.

It was hoped that the Germans would stay away from Skive. But during the day, there were German troop transports in the surrounding area. Finally, at 21:00 in the evening, the Germans reached Skive. They demanded that Mayor Woldhardt Madsen provide them with accommodation. Reluctantly, he made the schools and Hotel Royal available to the Germans.

The Skive region was now occupied.

A changed everyday life

The war led to shortages of many things. Rationing was introduced for food and fuel, among other things. When buying these goods, you had to hand in a ration stamp.

People in Skiveegnen coped with great ingenuity. In the hinterland, some began to grow tobacco. Coffee was made from grain. In addition, unemployed people were put to work collecting household waste. It could be recycled into new products. Finally, a sewing center was established in Skive where old clothes were sewn into new clothes.

Despite the hardships of everyday life, there were also cheerful moments. In 1940, two sing-alongs were held at the plant in Skive. Participants sang Danish national songs to show unity and national feeling. In the same year, many began wearing the royal badge, which was produced on the occasion of Christian the 10th’s 70th birthday.

Rationed goods:
Year of introduction of rationing on various goods.
From 1939 onwards
– Gasoline, sugar, coffee, tea, cocoa.
– In 1939, Skive Municipality bought extra coal to secure the supply to the gasworks.

From 1940 onwards
– Margarine, butter, bread, flour, soap.
– The fat percentage was reduced in whole milk.

From 1945 onwards
– Salt, tobacco. However, there was already a shortage of tobacco long before, which is why tobacco had in fact always been rationed without regulation.

Cooperation and interaction with the Germans?

The Germans needed food. This provided opportunities for local farmers and the fishing industry in Glyngøre to earn money. Local hauliers drove for the Germans, and many unemployed people were forced to work for the Germans. This happened, for example, on the construction of Karup Airfield. In 1941, unemployment was at its lowest for many years.

However, the question was whether they wanted to cooperate with the Germans. This dilemma became an increasingly important moral consideration throughout the occupation.

Others, however, went further and joined the Nazi party. Skive had its own party headquarters in Frederiksgade. Here you could buy the propaganda magazine Fædrelandet and sign up for German military service. Locally, however, support was limited. In the 1943 parliamentary elections, the party received less than 150 votes in total in the Skive area.

The German soldiers took a liking to some of the local girls. These girls quickly became easy targets for harassment. The earliest known example of a haircut for a German girl in Skive took place in the spring of 1941.

At the liberation in 1945, 111 people in the Skive region were arrested for collaborating with the Germans. Of these, 38 were later brought before a court.

Resistance

In 1942, customs assistant Anton Jensen – with the alias Jens Toldstrup – started Skive Terrænsportsforening. This happened together with teacher Knud Nørlem Andersen. Terrænsportsforeningen may have sounded like a sports association. Behind the name was actually a resistance group.

Skive’s desolate hinterland was ideal for dropping weapons and explosives from British aircraft. Together with other groups, the Terrain Sports Association was given a major task of receiving them on the ground and passing them on to the resistance. Among other things, explosives were used to sabotage German railroad transports.

In January 1945, the Germans discovered enough weapons for 1,000 men hidden at Spøttrup Castle. Many of the local resistance fighters were now arrested. Despite this major setback, the movement quickly recovered.

For the vast majority of people in the Skive region, however, the resistance was less dramatic and more passive. They listened to the BBC from London and read the local illegal magazines Baunen and Ny Tid.

Number of resistance fighters in Skiveegnen:

• January 1945: 40
• February 1945: 20
• May 1945: 125
• May 1945: 350 (in Skive, Salling, Fur and part of Fjends).

Civil preparedness

Already on the first night of the occupation, blackout curtains were ordered. This was done so that British planes could not use lights as targets for bombing raids. Skive had two air raid alarms installed and 24 shelters were set up in existing houses.

The air raid sirens sounded for the first time in December 1940. But no bombs were dropped on the city. Most of the planes were headed for targets in Germany.

In 1944, the number of British flights over Denmark increased dramatically. With a few exceptions in Copenhagen and Aarhus, they continued to head for Germany. That same year, 30 public shelters were built in Skive. Some can still be seen today in the cityscape as small square towers. Underground, they are dome-shaped. Here there was room for 50 people.

At the end of the war, the status was that not a single bomb had been dropped on Skive.

The Germans in the Skive region

The German commander had his headquarters at Restaurant Kilden on Nordbanevej. The soldiers were accommodated at Hotel Royal and Brårup School.

Their task was to be ready in the event of an Allied invasion on the west coast of Jutland. From 1943, they also operated a radar system in the Jegstrup camp. From here, they kept an eye out for British planes on bombing raids against Germany.

The mayor and chief of police were required to cooperate. When the Germans made difficult demands, they had to be rejected diplomatically. This applied, for example, to a request for a public celebration on Hitler’s birthday. At the same time, Mayor Woldhardt Madsen had to turn down a tennis match with the German commander. However, they had to accept the Germans’ use of the city’s new stadium in 1944.

Over time, new soldiers arrived from Germany and others were sent on from Skive to the Eastern Front.

The liberation in May 1945

By 1945, the Germans had been pushed back on all fronts. On the evening of May 4, the message came from the BBC in London: The Germans had surrendered in Denmark!

Immediately, the streets of Skive were filled with happy people, and Mayor Woldhardt Madsen spoke at the Town Hall Square.

The next morning, the church bells rang at 8:00 am to mark the surrender. The German soldiers gathered at Nordre Skole and left the next day. Now the resistance movement took over. They immediately interned 111 people who had collaborated with the Germans.

On May 13, the police returned, and on May 23, the British soldiers arrived on a short visit to Skive, where they were celebrated by the citizens of the town and the region. The resistance movement had completed its task. However, many resistance fighters met again in new associations, which in 1949 became the Home Guard.

After the happy May days, everyday life returned. A court settlement was pending, rationing continued for a few years, and 2,500 German refugees had arrived in the city.

Sources and literature

• Based on poster texts from the exhibition “Besat, Befriet, Beredt”, Skive Museum 2020-2021.
• Skive Kommunes historie fra 1940-2003, Skive Museums Forlag, 2003, pp. 57-80.