Frøslev Camp (, ) was an

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

camp in German-occupied Denmark during World War II. In order to avoid deportation of Danes to German

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s, Danish authorities suggested, in January 1944, that an internment camp be created in Denmark. The German occupation authorities consented, and the camp was erected near the village of Frøslev in the south-west of Denmark, close to the German border. From mid-August until the end of the German occupation in May 1945, 12,000 people had been imprisoned there. Most of them were suspected members of the

Danish resistance movement The Danish resistance movements () were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation authority allowed the democratic govern ...

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

and other

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s. Living conditions in the camp were generally tolerable, but about 1,600 internees were deported to German concentration camps, where about 220 of them died. Towards the end of the war, the Swedish count

Folke Bernadotte Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (2 January 1895 – 17 September 1948) was a Swedish nobleman and diplomat. In World War II, he negotiated the release of about 450 Danish Jews and 30,550 non-Jewish prisoners of many nations from the Nazi ...

tried to get all Scandinavian concentration camp prisoners to Sweden. Simultaneously, the Danish administration negotiated with the Germans about returning the Danish prisoners in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. As a result of these efforts, many Scandinavian prisoners came with the

White Buses White Buses was a Swedish humanitarian operation with the objective of freeing Scandinavians in German concentration camps in Nazi Germany during the final stages of World War II. Although the White Buses operation was envisioned to rescue Sc ...

from the German camps. In March and April 1945, 10,000 Danish and Norwegian captives were brought home from Germany. Some of the returning prisoners came to Frøslev Prison Camp. Among those were some of the 1,960 Danish policemen who had been arrested and deported on 19 September 1944.

After the war

When the German occupation ended, the prisoners were released, and suspected Nazi collaborators, among them

Frits Clausen Frits Clausen (12 November 1893 – 5 December 1947) was a far-right Danish politician and leader of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (DNSAP) before and during World War II. Life Born in Aabenraa, since 1864 a part of Prussia, ...

, former leader of the Danish Nazi party, were instead interned in the camp, whose name was changed to Fårhus Camp (''Fårhuslejren''). The camp was now run by the Danish resistance movement. The Danish state later took over from the resistance movement, using the camp as the country's largest correctional facility for convicted collaborators. By 1949 most collaborators had served their sentences, and the camp was converted to army barracks under the name of Padborg Camp (''Padborglejren''). The Frøslev Prison Camp Museum (''Frøslevlejrens Museum'') was inaugurated in 1969. A 2001 agreement established that the camp would be preserved as a national memorial park. Some parts of the original 1944–45 prison camp which had been demolished, including a watchtower and a portion of the barbed-wire fence, were reconstructed. The area also houses a residential

continuation high school A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school. In some countries it is primarily for students who are considered at risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same, but the sche ...

named Frøslevlejrens Efterskole.

External links

*
Website of the Frøslev Prison Camp Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Froslev Prison Camp Denmark in World War II World War II internment camps in Denmark World War II museums Museums in the Region of Southern Denmark Military and war museums in Denmark National Museum of Denmark Tourist attractions in Aabenraa Municipality