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Page from volume two of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark.

Photograph | Photograph Number: N16482.19
Page from volume two of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark. This page contains a document about a Danish resistance fighter trained in England who was sent back to Denmark to fight. His parachute did not open, and he died on impact. It is from the D.P.E. or Danske Politi Efterretninger, the internal police newspaper. The photo on the bottom left shows how the fighter had a gun strapped to his body which was designed to shoot automatically if the man surrendered.

Page from volume two of a set of scrapbooks compiled by Bjorn Sibbern, a Danish policeman and resistance member, documenting the German occupation of Denmark.

This page contains a document about a Danish resistance fighter trained in England who was sent back to Denmark to fight. His parachute did not open, and he died on impact. It is from the D.P.E. or Danske Politi Efterretninger, the internal police newspaper. The photo on the bottom left shows how the fighter had a gun strapped to his body which was designed to shoot automatically if the man surrendered.

Photo Designation
ARTIFACTS -- Personal/Family Records -- Scrapbooks/Autograph Albums
Photo Credit
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Ruth Scott

About This Photograph

Event History
Bjorn Sibbern compiled five scrapbooks documenting the German occupation of Denmark. The books contain photographs, documents and three-dimensional artifacts documenting all aspects of the German occupation of Denmark. Shortly before his death, Mr. Sibbern entrusted the albums to Ruth and Dell Scott who he met through their work in the charitable group, "Thanks to Scandinavia." The organization raises money for Scandinavian students to study in California in gratitude for the Danish rescue of its Jewish population. The scrapbooks are dedicated to the Sibbern's daughter, Lisa, and she agreed with the Scotts that the US Holocaust Memorial Museum was the most appropriate home for the albums.

The Danish police played a major role in support of the Danish resistance movement, and some documents relate directly to Mr. Sibbern's work in the underground. He was in charge of the printing and issuance of false identification cards. There are several examples in the scrapbooks. The albums contain both real and forged cards as well as his forgery stamps. The scrapbooks also contain leaflets dropped over Denmark of Nazi propaganda, anti-Nazi cartoons and photographs of German officials, Danish collaborators, sabotage and demonstrations. Every page is fully annotated in English.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/denmark.
Biography
Bjorn Sibbern was born May 18, 1916 in Soro, Denmark and his wife Tove Gertrud Sibbern was born October 27, 1920. Sibbern was trained as a book-binder, but during the war, he worked as a police inspector; Tove, his wife worked as police clerk. Both became active in the Danish resistance, and Bjorn used his skills as a bookbinder to manufacture false papers for the underground. He also used his police credentials to investigate being suspected of being Nazi informers. After the war the Sibberns moved to Canada and later settled in California where Bjorn Sibbern compiled five scrapbooks documenting the German occupation of Denmark.

Keywords and Subjects

Rights and Restrictions

Photo Source
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Provenance: Ruth Scott
Source Record ID: Collections: 2011.176.1
 
Record last modified: 2012-06-28 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1176299