Danish Nazis were not innocent bystanders when persecution of the Jews was at its height during the Second World War.

A new book by two Danish historians reveals that around 800 Danish Nazis were directly responsible for the deaths of at least 1,400 Jews in a concentration camp in Belarus.

Dennis Larsen, one of the authors, who is also curator of Frøslev internment camp museum said: "We have witness statements showing that the Danish Nazis were deeply involved in genocide and a number of other war crimes during their time on the Eastern Front."

Danes were part of liquidation squads
With his colleague, Larsen has examined countless historical archives of trials, military documents and witness statements from the period.

And as the two historians dug deeper into the material they found increasing evidence that Danish Nazis were not only camp guards, but that they were also active participants in the deaths of many hundreds of Jews during the Second World War, in both Bobruisk camp and in many villages.

"The Danes were also used in combat situations to stamp out partisan activity, in which they were sent into villages with death lists of people they were to execute.

And this was not only aimed at partisans, it also affected the civilian population. They burned down houses and murdered women, children and men," said Larsen, who is in no doubt that Danes took part in these crimes.

During their research, the historians have discovered that at least two of the Danes who took part in the persecution of the Jews are still alive.

Moral obligation to investigate the murder of Jews
Even though 70 years have passed, Danish Nazis took part in the extermination of Jews, and Larsen believes that we still have a responsibility to investigate the Danish role in this dark chapter of our own history.

Whether it will be possible to prosecute the former members of Frikorps Danmark (the Danish volunteer corps), is another matter.

Firstly, 70 years is a long time, and secondly, the historian's information is largely from written sources and even though there are still two living members of the group that were camp guards in Belarus, it might be difficult to prove the crimes today.

"It would certainly require some interviews, but whether they could be prosecuted would be up to the lawyers," said Larsen.

dr.dk