No, screw that “Cinco de Mayo” bull. Not that there’s anything wrong with celebrating a bunch of fwench weasels getting their derrieres good and thoroughly spanked, but it’s not like there’s a shortage of those dates in history. We’d be celebrating every day of the year, most days more than once.
Hmm… Come to think of it…
OK, I digress again.
No, the 5th of May will always mean something else to me entirely. You see, on May 4th at 2036 hrs, local time, the BBC’s listeners in Denmark learned that the German troops in the Netherlands, NW Germany and Denmark had surrendered unconditionally and that
All hostilities on land, on sea or in the air by German Forces in the above areas to cease at 0800 hours British Double Summer Time on Saturday the 5th of May, 1945.
Thus ended more than 5 years of Nazi occupation. The only country that had been occupied for longer than that was Poland.
All over Denmark, candles were lit and put in the windows to celebrate the end of 5 years of mandatory air raid blackout. As the years have gone by and generations have passed on, there are fewer and fewer candles being lit on the anniversary, but it still continues to this day.
After that, the German occupation troops started the long trek back to what was left of Germany. Defeated, humiliated and facing an uncertain future the seemingly endless columns of tired troops walked back in silence. Well, not all of them, only the “good Germans.” The bad ones had to stay a while for, er, “interrogation” and such. Not to mention the local traitors and fifth columnists who had nowhere to go to and had to stay behind and face the music like the filth that they were. They didn’t like the music much, I should add, which is just what they deserved.
But, and this should also be said, they were a minority, both the traitors and the Bad Germans. Most of the German troops were old men and young boys conscripted by the Nazi Terror Regime, conscripts lucky enough to find themselves away from the main battle fronts. They generally behaved themselves. Some, I’m sure, because they didn’t really want to be there in the first place and were just trying to make the best of a bad situation, realizing that their stay would be all the less painful if they didn’t antagonize the locals too much. The Bad Germans tended to have, er, “accidents”, you see.
There’s this story I was told when I was younger, and I’ll try to relate it to you from memory:
My grandmother was home alone when she heard a rap on the door. Outside, drenched to the skin and shivering from the cold, biting wind (the weather in the Western parts of Jutland is rarely benevolent) were a German patrol. They’d been patrolling the coast line, the Germans were convinced that the invasion would come as close to Germany as possible, and wanted to know if they could come inside for a few for some shelter and a cup of Ersatz coffee. My grandmother, noticing their good manners and being, at heart, a hospitable and kind woman, looked at them and said that they could, on one condition: “You leave those outside or you stay outside with them”, she said, pointing to their weapons. She wasn’t about to let a bunch of Krauts traipsy around her house with guns. They could enter as civilians and guests, but not as armed occupiers, no way.
Now, you don’t argue with my grandmother, it just isn’t a good idea and it wasn’t then either, and the Germans must’ve sensed that, so they promptly violated every rule in the book by stripping themselves of their weapons, leaving them unsupervised, and got inside for long enough to catch some warmth, behaving themselves with the utmost of decorum all the time.
I always get a smile on my face when I think about that. I can just see my grandmother, a young woman then and all alone in the middle of nowhere, demanding that a patrol of heavily armed Nazi occupiers disarm or stay the Hell out of her house. Of course, I also know my grandmother very well, so I have no trouble understanding why they did as they were told 
I often wonder if they remembered that when they started the long walk back to their utterly destroyed home country in May of 1945.
No, they weren’t all bad. Unfortunately, the decent ones weren’t the ones running the show during the occupation, but those bastards got their come-uppance after May 5th.
May 5th, 1945, the end of more than 5 years of Nazi occupation, thanks to the heroic sacrifices of the allied soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought the brutal bastards until their Nazi asses had been thoroughly stomped into the ground.
Every May 5th I remember that, and every May 5th I send up a prayer and a thank you to all of those who fought and died so that I might grow up free.
I didn’t grow up in a free country thanks to protesters screaming “one, two, three, four, we don’t want your filthy war!”
I didn’t grow up in a free country thanks to poets, playwrights, authors, “bravely dissenting” columnists or “the loyal opposition.”
I grew up in a free country thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of men in uniform, men risking everything they were and ever would be for people they didn’t even know.
THERE’S a debt that I can never possibly repay.
Thatisall.
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What a great story! Your grandma sounds like a truly amazing woman.
I used to love cinco de mayo in my 20s…any excuse to have some friends over and down a few Coronas…now that I’m older and wiser
I could really care less, and THIS year I’m offended that it’s even a marketing tool here, with all the illegal nonsense going on. I’d much rather think of this day and see it through your and your grandma’s eyes.
May 5th, 2006 at 11:45 amThat is a lovely story, Misha. What an admirably brave woman! I don’t know if I would have the presence of mind to insist that all weapons be left outside.
And I like the idea of celebrating the end of Nazi Occupation on May 5th. I think I’ll put a candles in our windows tonight.
May 5th, 2006 at 11:52 amHoo-Ah, Sir.
Candles tonight - and one just for your Grandma.
- MuscleDaddy
May 5th, 2006 at 11:57 amThanks!
Yes. She’s something else alright. She’s got her limits and she’s not about to let you cross them, no matter what. Still, I remember when I was first told, saying “you did WHAT?” while thinking to myself “of course she did. What else would your grandma have done?”
May 5th, 2006 at 11:58 amWhat other celebration is May 5th. I thought that was it?
May 5th, 2006 at 11:59 amYour grandma is quite a courageous lady. I know she didn’t feel particularly brave, that’s just the way she was.
It’s a shame that the labors and sacrifice of so many may have come to naught in Europe. What was fought for at such great price to obtain in 1945 is being given away.
My father-in-law recently gave me some of his WWII memorabilia. One item is a map produced by G-3 tracking the operations of his unit: 12th Amored Division, 714th Tank Battalion.
On May 4th he was in Kufstein, Austria. From the map legend (Enemy Contact Points) he was still fighting.
His big battles were near Ludwigshofen (22 Mar 45), Kitzengen (5 Apr 45), Dillingen (22 Apr 45) and Landsberg (27 Apr 45). About every two weeks or less a real barn burner. He turned 19 on 27 Apr 45, the same day of his last major battle.
He mailed the map home just before the war ended. His note on the back of the map:
“Dear Mom please keep this map for me. It shows all the places we fought. We are now near Dillingen which I have marked on the map.”
De
I’ll scan some of these items and try to post them (over sized items) if you’re interested.
May 5th, 2006 at 12:26 pmCan you see those filthy, drunken invaders coming north acting likethat? There are documented stories of them breaking into Citizens’ houses, then DEMANDING that the Citizen fix them breakfast!
On a more cheerful note, check out:
http://www.illegalaliens.us/merchandise/WakeUpAmericaCD.htm
This is excellent “blast it from the stereo on the 4th” music. As Jeff Foxworthy might say,”If you don’t tear up within 45 seconds of the sample ‘Thank You America,’ you might be a liberal. Take a close look at the back cover of the CD for the “Boycott The French” button.
May 5th, 2006 at 12:31 pmAbsolutely! Your dad-in-law is one of those many many soldiers that I owe a debt of eternal gratitude to.
Sure, they too will just shrug and say that they didn’t do anything special, but we both know that they’re wrong.
They did.
May 5th, 2006 at 12:31 pmCelebrate Cinco de Mayo…
Mexican-Americans should celebrate El Cinco de Mayo, or Mexican Independence Day, in Mexico this year….
May 5th, 2006 at 12:50 pmRecently got to visit a Holocaust museum, and watched ‘The Pianist’ for the first time two days ago. With that frame of reference still painfully fresh in mind, all I can say is…your grandmother is One. Gutsy. Lady.
Best reason I ever heard of for celebrating the 5th of May.
May 5th, 2006 at 12:56 pmWhat a beautifully told story. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Denmark because of the way they treated their Jewish population during WWII. My Jewish Grandparents were lucky enough to be born here in the states. Unfortunately, most of their extended families were Polish and Lithuanian Jews and very few survived. It was because of people like your Grandmother that it went differently in Denmark. Noble people, the Danes.
As for Cinco de Mayo, I had never even heard of it until I went into labor on May 5, 1993. I spent the day laboring with the TV on to distract me, and on every channel there was some Cinco de Mayo coverage. Kinda got on my nerves, after awhile. Anyway, I’ll be happy to tell my son that his birthday (13 today!) has gigantic significance for our family history.
May 5th, 2006 at 1:56 pmSee, I was tetched about the whole Cinco de whatever thing. . . but this story makes the whole day better.
There will indeed be candles at the window tonight, and I’ll be sharing this with everyone I meet.
Thank you for sharing this.
^___^
May 5th, 2006 at 2:05 pmFor me as well, the 5th of May means something else to me. It is the day my Grandmother died from lung cancer. I was at UCB at the time (in the ROTC program) and had gone out for the day. When I arrived home, I saw a note on my door from my roommate that my Grandmother had died. It’s 5 years after, and it’s still not an easy day for me.
May 5th, 2006 at 3:16 pmA candle will go in the window tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow, someone in my neighborhood will ask why.
May 5th, 2006 at 3:20 pmMisha, now I know where you get it from. With a grandmother like that, you couldn’t be anybody else but who you are. Your entire family is heroes, sir, and I salute you all. And if there’s any way possible, there will be a light of some kind in one of my windows tonight.
May 5th, 2006 at 3:45 pmNah. Not really, but thanks.
The true heroes were the ones making sure that I don’t speak German unless I want to today.
May 5th, 2006 at 4:05 pmFantastic post Misha! God bless your grandmother. She sounds a lot like my grandmother [affectionately called Gmama]. We have a joke in our family: Gmama is so strong that she’s goin’ to give her own eulogy.
May 5th, 2006 at 6:08 pmA very good story and well told. Your Grandma sounds like my Mom, who was a very strong woman and independent as all get out! I have a candle lit as well. Thanks for sharing this with us.
May 5th, 2006 at 6:56 pmSo, please tell us, Your Majesty, how does one say “May 5th” in Danish? It would give us a nice alternative for “Cinco de Mayo”. And certainly Carlsberg would be in order, rather than Corona. As a more solemn side note, if you ever visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel, you’ll see trees planted in the “Garden of the Righteous” to honor those Gentiles who saved Jews from Nazi depredations. Most are for inviduals like Corrie ten Boom, Oskar Schindler or Raoul Wallenberg, or for husband/wife or brother/sister teams that provided shelter. In other words, either courageous individuals or small groups with blood or marriage ties who trusted each other completely. There is one significant exception, which is all you ever need to know about Danes having the fortitude to do the right thing: the tree and plaque dedicated to “King Christian X and the People of Denmark”.
May 5th, 2006 at 7:27 pm“THERE’S a debt that I can never possibly repay.”
I believe we all owe a debt that we can never repay but we can come close by never forgetting those who gave of themselves then and those who continue to fight for our freedom today.
May 5th, 2006 at 7:42 pmNor can I, Sire…but we can pass the legacy on…as we now try to do.
May 5th, 2006 at 8:03 pmIt’s “femte Maj”, but the pronounciation is what’ll get you
The “fem” is like the “fem” in “feminine”. “te” is the “tu” in “turpentine”, except it’s with a soft “t”, pronounced like a “d.” And “Maj” is pretty much exactly the same as the English word “my”, only shortened a bit, like the “mi” in “mite.”
And thanks for the recognition re: the Jews back then. It’s nothing special, really, it’s what any decent human being would do. But it’s nice that it’s been remembered. In an ideal world, it’d be so common a thing that it wouldn’t need to be. But we don’t live in an ideal world, do we?
May 5th, 2006 at 8:10 pmwaltj,
The Emperor himself, in an email exchange, translates “5th of May” as “Den Femte Maj” in Danish. I hope that I’ve immortalized it here.
May 5th, 2006 at 8:13 pmGreat story - your grandmother must’ve been a cool lady to know.
I hate to quibble, but wasn’t the Czech half of Czechoslovakia occupied longer than Poland? Austria might not count, they voted themselves in - though the election might have been fixed - but the Czechs were betrayed, and their ‘rescuer’ was Stalin.
May 5th, 2006 at 11:27 pmThe Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia (Böhmen-Mähren)?
Well, yes, I suppose there’s a good argument to be made there, since their “choice” to become a “protectorate” wasn’t much of one, to say the very least.
I was going from the official start of hostilities on Sep 1, 1939, but you’re right.
May 6th, 2006 at 12:05 amGreast post Misha. As it happens May 4 was my Grandmother’s 87th birthday (and also my father-in-law’s 70th). She’s alot like your’s in that you don’t cross her unless you want your butt kicked, but she’s also the most loving woman I know. She had 8 children and 20 grandchildren, and I’m not about to try to count the great grands. After losing her husband, two grandchildren, and a child (my dad) she still has a great love of God, and has the patience and peace of heart to let him chart his course for her life. Her health is not very good now, but I’m praying she’s still got a lot more years left.
May 6th, 2006 at 12:13 amMisha, over the last 10 months I’ve been working closely with a sprightly old man who was a horny 13-year-old during the Fall of Berlin, and whose suffering as a “moderate German” rings some SHARP PARALLELS for Americans today who talk about ‘moderate Muslims’…
380,000 ‘moderate Germans’, and a helluva lotta GOOD it did THEM or US!
When we publish his diary, it’ll be called ‘Mein Krampf’ and we’re working on a screenplay, too.
More as it happens, Sir.
May 6th, 2006 at 1:41 amNo, indeed we don’t. While I agree that the Danes did what “decent” people everywhere should have done, it’s painfully obvious that it didn’t happen that way. What the Danes did was special. Not everyone has the gumtion to tell an armed patrol to leave its weapons outside, or to look an SS thug in the eye and insist that the “Jewish-looking” person who recently arrived at your house really is your Catholic cousin from Warsaw. Doing the right thing often comes with a price many are not prepared to pay. The Danes took the chance, and saved many lives as a result.
And thanks for the “Femte Maj” info. I’ll have to use that from now on.
May 6th, 2006 at 3:46 amThe custom of putting candles in windows to commemorate a day of liberation can’t help but remind me of another part of Scandinavia: Finland. My late girlfriend taught me that Finns do this every December 6th in honor of the date in 1917 when Finland declared independence (successfully, it turned out) from Russia–right after Lenin’s takeover. She insisted that I do the same, even when we were apart–& wasn’t happy when I forgot the candle once. So I try to remember this every December 6th, though she’s been gone these last five years.
May 6th, 2006 at 4:53 amThanks for posting this Misha. Being of 1/4 Danish extraction, I learned at a very early age about the Danes role in helping the local Jewish population during WWII. I had not know May 5th as liberation day.
What is it about Danish grandmothers? My own (American born) graduated from normal school in Illinois at the age of 17. Normal schools were two year schools for teachers.
May 6th, 2006 at 11:07 amHere is something that should make you go hmmmmm: http://www.wsp.wa.gov/crime/wanted.htm
Happy Siete de Mayo ….
May 8th, 2006 at 12:57 amSorry to have to correct you my son, but the soldiers were Russians, not Germans - and they also wanted to listen to the English BBC-NEWS.
The rest i correct.
Farmor
May 8th, 2006 at 5:26 amThat would be Russian volunteers with the German Wehrmacht, then.
May 8th, 2006 at 10:02 amYep - that’s correct.
May 9th, 2006 at 1:13 amHave a nice day everybody over there.
Farmor