About the Book
In April 1940, German forces invaded Denmark under the false pretenses of preserving Danish neutrality during World War II and protecting them from possible Allied attacks. Knowing they lacked the military power to resist, the Danes gave in. While there was little direct change in daily life, most Danes had a sense that freedom was lost. When a new Danish government began more active cooperation with the Nazis, many Danes had already begun a resistance movement aimed at sabotaging the German war effort. They worked to save Jews from the German death camps and free their country from the Nazi invaders.
About the Author :
Michael Burgan has written numerous books for children and young adults during his nearly 20 years as a freelance writer. Many of his books have focused on U.S. history, geography, and the lives of world leaders. Michael has won several awards for his writing, and his graphic novel version of the classic tale Frankenstein (Stone Arch Books) was a Junior Library Guild selection. Michael graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in history. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his cat, Callie.
Review :
The Taking a Stand series highlights the key historic events and people who fought adversity while standing up for their beliefs. Each book portrays the hardships faced, as well as the victories won, through centuries of resisting governments, reforming belief systems, and reshaping history. The German invasion of Denmark during World War II is examined in Refusing to Crumble. The Danes hated their loss of freedom and looked for ways to sabotage and resist the Nazis. Burgan explores both small underground resistance efforts--like Arne Sejr, a seventeen-year-old boy who wrote "The Commandments for Danes," which listed actions Danes should take to resist the Nazis--as well as large-scale efforts, like the Danish Special Operations Executives who were trained by Great Britain to operate radios, parachute, make bombs, and shoot guns. Unwilling to give up, the Danes engaged in various acts of resistance, including printing an underground paper titled "Free Denmark," stealing German guns by the Churchill club, and saving the Jews. Other titles in the Taking a Stand series include Striking Back: The Fight to End Child Labor Exploitation, Freedom Fighter: William Wallace and Scotland's Battle for Independence, and United in Cause: The Sons of Liberty. Dozens of historic events and people are covered in each book, but it is not an in-depth look at any one topic since detail typically ranges from a few sentences to a few short paragraphs. Readers will come away with a broad knowledge of the topics, and the series serves as a good jumping-off point for more research. Reading like fiction, the text incorporates quotes, pictures, and stories from real events that hold the reader's attention. Aimed at students in fifth through eighth grade, each book has an identical layout containing lots of extras, including a timeline, glossary, photos, and maps that bring history to life. A bibliography and list of additional resources are included, as well as a referral to www.Facthound.com, where readers can put in the book's ISBN and retrieve a list of related and authoritative websites.-- "VOYA"
There are several children's books about Danish resistance during the Second World War, including the excellent Darkness over Denmark by Ellen Levine. Some of them include the heartwarming but apocryphal story that King Christian rode through the streets of Copenhagen wearing a yellow star. Michael Burgan's history ignores the legend and focuses on the more basic theme of resistance to tyranny. The volume's six chapters give an account of the Nazi invasion of the country, its quiet resistance, and the slow but steady success of the Danish people's actions in thwarting German domination. The author notes that the Danes were sent British supplies, and that Allied bombing began fairly early, further assisting the Underground. The book includes several stories about grass-roots opposition to the Nazis, which are little known to Americans. The Danish response was deeper than in almost any other captured nation, and memorializing it seems to be the author's primary aim. Several events are described in some detail, including the General Strike of 1944. There are only a few references to Jews, including a bland account of the mass escape of the Jewish population (p. 35-40). No mention is made of the deportations to Theresienstadt. A number of the book's photographs are only tangential to the Danish story, such as a photo of Hitler in Paris and two images of British aircraft in flight. The book appears to be aimed at 4th-6th-grade students. It would be useful for the study of resistance to the Nazis but it is of limited value in Judaica libraries-- "Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter"
This book is from the series called Taking a Stand. The other titles are: Freedom Fighter: William Wallace and the Battle for Independence, Striking Back: The Fight to End Child Labor Exploitations, and United in Cause: The Sons of Liberty. This series examines how one person or small groups of people have the courage to change the course of history. Refusing to Crumble begins with the invasion of Demark in April 1940. The Germans said that Denmark's King Christian could keep his throne, but a new Danish government began to run the city with active participation and cooperation of the Nazi's. That's when a resistance movement, working with the help of Great Britain and Sweden, began to sabotage the war effort. The book provides names of individuals and names of resistance groups and includes information on how Jews were treated. A German, Georg Dukwitz, working in Denmark, found out that the Germans were planning on rounding up the Danish Jews to send them to concentration camps. He took action and got the Swedish government to be ready to accept 7200 Jews from 300 Danish fishing boats. This united effort to save the Jews was one of the greatest acts of moral courage during the war. This book is well-researched, with quotations, pictures with sidebars explaining the text, a good timeline of events in Denmark, a glossary, a select bibliography, a map, source notes, further reading and even Internet sites-- "Jewish Book World"
This series is written to examine how an individual or small group of people stood up against an injustice to change the course of history. Once these books arrive in your library, they will never sit on a shelf together since their cataloging spreads them throughout the collection. It does not matter if you purchase the complete series or just buy the titles you need. Written in a compelling narrative format and augmented with authentic photos, these titles help students appreciate the freedoms and opportunities they perhaps take for granted. Each book contains minimal text, but is still a good resource for emerging learners, which includes sidebars, maps, fact boxes, timelines, and primary sources. Bibliography. Glossary. Table of Contents. Index. Recommended.-- "Library Media Connection"
