Danish resistance members during the liberation of Denmark in 1945. At the outset of World War II, Denmark declared itself neutral. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December 1939. Just over 3,000 Danes died as a direct result of the occupation. A further 2,000 volunteers of Free Corps Denmark and Waffen SS, of which most originated from the German minority of southern Denmark, died fighting on the German side on the Eastern Front, while 1,072 merchant sailors died in Allied service
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