Editing Copenhagen (section)

====World War II====
{{See also|Denmark in World War II|Danish resistance movement}}
[[File:Shellhuset 210345.jpg|thumb|The RAF's bombing of the [[Gestapo]] headquarters in March 1945 was coordinated with the Danish resistance movement.]]
[[File:People celebrating the liberation of Denmark. 5th May 1945. At Strøget in Copenhagen..jpg|thumb|People celebrating the [[liberation of Denmark]] at Strøget in Copenhagen, 5 May 1945. Germany surrendered three days later.]]

[[Denmark in World War II|In Denmark during World War II]], Copenhagen was [[Occupation of Denmark|occupied by German troops]] along with the rest of the country from 9 April 1940 until 4 May 1945. German leader [[Adolf Hitler]] hoped that Denmark would be "a model [[protectorate]]"<ref>Henning Poulsen, "Dansk Modstand og Tysk Politik" ("Danish opposition and German Politics") in ''Jyske Historiker'' 71(1995), p.10.</ref> and initially the [[Nazism|Nazi]] authorities sought to arrive at an understanding with the Danish government. The [[1943 Danish Folketing election|1943 Danish parliamentary election]] was also allowed to take place, with only the [[Communist Party of Denmark|Communist Party]] excluded. But in August 1943, after the government's collaboration with the occupation forces collapsed, several ships were sunk in Copenhagen Harbor by the [[Royal Danish Navy]] to prevent their use by the Germans. Around that time the Nazis [[Racial policy of Nazi Germany|started to arrest Jews]], although [[Rescue of the Danish Jews|most managed to escape to Sweden]].<ref name="occupation">{{cite web|title=The Occupation of Denmark|url=http://denmark.dk/en/society/history/occupation/|access-date=15 November 2013|publisher=Denmark.dk|language=da|archive-date=19 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131119221244/http://denmark.dk/en/society/history/occupation}}</ref>

In 1945 [[Ole Lippman]], leader of the Danish section of the [[Special Operations Executive]], invited the British [[Royal Air Force]] to assist their operations by attacking Nazi headquarters in Copenhagen. Accordingly, air vice-marshal [[Basil Embry|Sir Basil Embry]] drew up plans for a spectacular precision attack on the [[Sicherheitsdienst]] and [[Gestapo]] building, the former offices of the [[Shell Oil Company]]. Political prisoners were kept in the attic to prevent an air raid, so the RAF had to bomb the lower levels of the building.<ref name="milhist.dk">{{cite web|last=Velschow|first=Klaus|date=21 March 1945|title=The Bombing of the Shellhus on March 21, 1945|url=http://www.milhist.dk/besattelsen/shell/shell.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410023949/http://www.milhist.dk/besattelsen/shell/shell.html|archive-date=10 April 2014|access-date=9 March 2013|publisher=Dansk Militærhistorie}}</ref>

The attack, known as "[[Operation Carthage]]", came on 22 March 1945, in three small waves. In the first wave, all six planes (carrying one bomb each) hit their target, but one of the aircraft crashed near Frederiksberg Girls School. Because of this crash, four of the planes in the two following waves assumed the school was the military target and aimed their bombs at the school, leading to the death of 123 civilians (of which 87 were schoolchildren).<ref name="milhist.dk" /> However, 18 of the 26 political prisoners in the Shell Building managed to escape while the Gestapo archives were completely destroyed.<ref name="milhist.dk" />

On 8 May 1945 Copenhagen was officially liberated by British troops commanded by [[Field Marshal]] [[Bernard Montgomery]] who supervised the surrender of 30,000 Germans situated around the capital.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Occupation of Denmark|url=http://Denmark.dk/en/society/history/occupation/|access-date=10 May 2014|website=Denmark.dk|archive-date=26 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426223212/http://denmark.dk/en/society/history/occupation}}</ref>