In Defence of Danish Writers. The Daily Workings of the Press Bureau; or the Struggle for Sovereignty, 1940–1943

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates the way in which cultural censorship was practiced in Nazi-occupied Denmark, focusing on the Danish Press Bureau’s censorship of books in the period 1940–1943. From April 1940 to August 1943, the explicit German acceptance of Denmark as an independent state constituted a certain degree of internal sovereignty; often referred to as the illusion of sovereignty in Danish historiography. On the basis of new empirical studies and records of the Press Bureau, and with particular emphasis on two significant cases, this article argues that this illusion of sovereignty had an impact on the Danish administration of censorship, and it demonstrates the importance within the Press Bureau of maintaining the outward show of sovereignty. The article reveals that the formal political setting of the occupation had real administrative implications in negotiating with the German occupier in the sense that Danish authorities within the Press Bureau to some extent acted autonomously and even challenged direct German orders in relation to censorship. In doing so, the Press Bureau succeeded in defending Danish writers against further German pressures in some cases, which adds new insights regarding the peculiar form of political sovereignty that was constituted in Denmark.