The Minister of Denmark called at his request. He said it meant a great
deal to his people to receive encouragement just now and especially such
encouragement as would be given by a brief statement that the President
and Mr. Churchill might together or individually put out. He handed me a
copy of a draft which he said he gave to the President yesterday (copy
attached). I showed every interest in the situation and said that he had
fully presented the idea to the President, that the matter is perfectly
simple and calls for no conference between the President and myself, and
that the President himself will decide whether or not to put it out and
that if he does not do so, the matter will have to remain in abeyance
until later when it could be revived on some suitable occasion.
The Minister was greatly appreciative of what I had said on this same
subject during the past three days.
[Annex]
Draft Statement
The Danish people, long subjected to the Nazi yoke, have revolted
against their oppressors in a way that has stirred the admiration of
the Free World. The sympathy of all free men go forward to the
Danish Nation and their gallant King, who, though made virtually a
prisoner in his own country, continue to fill the hearts of his
people with his defiant spirit, which the tyrants have been unable
to break.
Since the occupation of Denmark on April 9, 1940, the Danes in the
Free World, through their contributions to the Allied war effort,
have voiced the suppressed feelings of their countrymen at home.
Greenland has taken her place as a bastion in the Atlantic
battle.
In December 1941, Mr. Churchill and I invited the Danish Minister in
Washington, Mr. Henrik Kauffmann, to join the United Nations
declaration (of January 1, 1942).12 In
accepting, Mr. Kauffmann referred to the fact that the Danish
Government in occupied Denmark were under German duress, and thus
not free to sign the Declaration by the United Nations. Mr.
Kauffmann proclaimed that the Danish Nation, “though subjugated, now
more than ever, believes in the principles and purposes of the
Atlantic Charter.13 Danes in
the free world feel pledged to contribute the best of their efforts
in the common struggle for victory over Hitlerism, adhering to the
[Page 13]
principles of the
Declaration of January 1, 1942 as if the Declaration had been signed
by a free Danish Government.”
All remnants of a Danish Government in Copenhagen have now ceased to
exist. As trustees for Danish interests outside Denmark, the Danish
Ministers in Washington and London and Danish official
representatives elsewhere, working for the liberation of Denmark
together with Free Danish organizations all over the world, may
count upon our fullest support.
Our thoughts and our good wishes go to the people of Denmark in their
struggle; they have clearly demonstrated to the world that they
fully endorse the declaration of the Danish Minister in Washington
on January 2, 1942. Every Dane, whether in his home country or
abroad, who contributes to our common cause is an ally in name as
well as in fact. We welcome Denmark’s time-honoured flag,
“Dannebrog”, by the side of the banners of the United Nations.
