Feldgrau.net

I read recently that Soviets occupied Bornholm island (Denmark) in May 1945 and commited there many crimes against local people. Is it true or not and are there any good books or articles about that?

Juhan

adalbert wrote:Is it true or not

Yes it is. The Nazis turned down a Soviet ultimatum, which resulted in bombing the island on May 8 and 9. The towns of Ronne and Nexo suffered in particular, with some 10 civilians dead. Following this air raid the German garrison surrended (was the surrender signed in Kolberg?) and the Soviet occupation ensued. It was terminated in April 1946, following some haggling over the US military bases.

FALSE !

Russian troops occupied the island of Bornholm from May 1945 to the spring of 1946. They did not commit any serious crimes against the local population. There were som theft and a single rape, but the russians were punished quite hard. There were minor friction between some danes and russians, but in other instances there were good feelings between the two sides.

The two towns, Rønne and Nexø, were bombed on the 7th and 8th of May by a small number of russian planes. Some damage were done to the two towns (quite a few houses were destroyed or damaged) but there were not a great loss of life. The air raids were against German ships in the two harbours (but the pilots were not that good in hitting their targets). The Danes, who evacuated the two small cities, were not attacked.

The occupation of Bornholm went peacefull. The russian troops behaved rather well. There were a few thefts and the soldiers could sometimes be a bit drunk, but there were no attacks on civilians etc.

The Russians agreed to leave Bornholm again in the spring of 1946. The Danes took over the island again, but had to sign an agreement that no other troops than Danes were allowed on the island. There were no mention of American troops, which the Danes anyway would not allow to be stationed permanent in Denmark.

Carsten Petersen wrote:There were no mention of American troops, which the Danes anyway would not allow to be stationed permanent in Denmark.

I admit poor geography marks. What country is Thule?

Carsten Petersen wrote:The air raids were against German ships in the two harbours (but the pilots were not that good in hitting their targets)

Indeed, they must have been not that good. According to http://www.frommers.com/destinations/ne ... 10001.html, there were 900 houses destroyed in Nexo alone. There are also some pics on the net, showing bombed Ronne as a huge piece of rubble.

Yes, and my birthplace was one of them. Quite a few houses were damaged/destroyed during the bombing, but the Russians dropped leaflets before the attack and the Danes evacuated the cities. The Russians attacked military targets (the harbours that were packed with German ships and anti-aircraft emplacements in the outskirts of Rønne).

I think, that the Russians behaved rather well during the attacks. A lot of their bombs missed the targets by up to 500 meters, but so did many other bombs during other attacks. They did not attack the thousands of civilians that were hiding in the villages and forrests around the cities. They did not shoot up the towns and most of the bombs landed in the target area.

The USAAF and RAF carried out several bombing attacks in Denmark with loss of life and houses. American planes in particular attacked on several occations Danish civilian targets and killed many people. British planes shot up 'rolling stock' and fishing boats. Thousands of bombloads were dropped on Denmark during the war and people were always afraid when allied planes were overhead.

And back to Bornholm. The russian ground troops behaved rather well after the landing on Bornholm. There was no mass rape, plundering, firefights etc. As far as I know only one woman was ever raped by the Russians. The soldier was executed for his offense. That is more then what happend to british soldiers that could not control themselves at Karup.

And dear 4444 - Thule is part of Greenland. We have never had any forign troops stationed in Denmark since the war. Yes, we had a Nato-headquarter in Karup with US/UK/GE/NO soldiers, but that was a HQ only.

Ok Carsten you have told us they behaved well 4 times now, we get it.

Carsten Petersen wrote:And dear 4444 - Thule is part of Greenland

Thanks Carsten. Is Greenland Sweden or the United States?

4444 wrote:

Carsten Petersen wrote:And dear 4444 - Thule is part of Greenland

Thanks Carsten. Is Greenland Sweden or the United States?

Somebody give this guy a map.

Sheesh, I thought everyone knew where Greenland was. I love maps and geography.

Yours,
Paul

matthall wrote:

4444 wrote:

Carsten Petersen wrote:And dear 4444 - Thule is part of Greenland

Thanks Carsten. Is Greenland Sweden or the United States?

Somebody give this guy a map.

I have already admitted having poor geography marks. Could you please help and hint me what country is Thule, Greenland?

4444 wrote:

matthall wrote:

4444 wrote:

Carsten Petersen wrote:And dear 4444 - Thule is part of Greenland

Thanks Carsten. Is Greenland Sweden or the United States?

Somebody give this guy a map.

I have already admitted having poor geography marks. Could you please help and hint me what country is Thule, Greenland?

Greenland is the big white thing between Canada and the northpole.
Mapbooks aren't expensive and are IMO necessary when studying history.

4444 knows very well where is thule, greenland

he made sarcastic comment about carsten's statement:

There were no mention of American troops, which the Danes anyway would not allow to be stationed permanent in Denmark.

according to cia world factbook
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/fac ... os/gl.html

Greenland was granted self-government in 1978 by the Danish parliament. The law went into effect the following year. Denmark continues to exercise control of Greenland's foreign affairs.

but IMHO, american military base in thule was built already before this date, at time when greenland was part of denmark.

andrus wrote:4444 knows very well where is thule, greenland

he made sarcastic comment about carsten's statement

Ok, I guess I didn't get the joke then.
Either mine or his sense of humour is missing something.

But there were worries about the Russian occupation of Bornholm and American troops leaving so soon. Here is an excerpt from an article by Søren Nørby "Aldrig en 9. april mere!"

"Vedel gentog spørgsmålet på det næste møde den 14. februar, og fik her samme svar. Mødet den fjortende er også første gang, at man i kilderne ser direkte uro overfor den sovjetiske tilstedeværelse i Europa. Vedel fremfører, at der ”i visse kredse” var betænkelighed over, at USA trak dets tropper hjem i et hurtigt tempo, mens russerne synes at opretholde fuld militær tilstedeværelse i dets besættelseszoner."

However, no country would allow troops to be settled on its soil without a prior agreement, and so no American troops could be on Danish soil if not desired by Denmark, c.f. Greenland.

Carsten Petersen wrote: ↑Fri Jan 30, 2004 6:46 am FALSE !

Russian troops occupied the island of Bornholm from May 1945 to the spring of 1946. They did not commit any serious crimes against the local population. There were som theft and a single rape, but the russians were punished quite hard. There were minor friction between some danes and russians, but in other instances there were good feelings between the two sides.

The two towns, Rønne and Nexø, were bombed on the 7th and 8th of May by a small number of russian planes. Some damage were done to the two towns (quite a few houses were destroyed or damaged) but there were not a great loss of life. The air raids were against German ships in the two harbours (but the pilots were not that good in hitting their targets). The Danes, who evacuated the two small cities, were not attacked.

The occupation of Bornholm went peacefull. The russian troops behaved rather well. There were a few thefts and the soldiers could sometimes be a bit drunk, but there were no attacks on civilians etc.

The Russians agreed to leave Bornholm again in the spring of 1946. The Danes took over the island again, but had to sign an agreement that no other troops than Danes were allowed on the island. There were no mention of American troops, which the Danes anyway would not allow to be stationed permanent in Denmark.