Reminds me vaguely of <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/what-it-s-like-to-carry-your-nobel-prize-through-airport-security/" rel="nofollow">https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/what-it-s-...</a>
<i>now that Denmark was suddenly part of the Reich</i><p>Actually, rather than being annexed into the Reich itself, Denmark was made into a protectorate (so the government and king were left in place -- but instrumented to serve the Reich's purposes). Similar to the status of the Netherlands and Norway.
I find it a little bit hard to believe that finding a couple of medals would be a priority as you're invading Denmark and Norway.<p>Sure, the Danes basically lay down and let the Germans march in, but really? The Germans needed to get to Norway asap, and were probably more concerned about that. Secure airfields, harbors, that kind of thing.<p>More likely the Danish cooperation policy helped later on, after the Germans had established themselves. Basically, the Danish government decided to save everyone a lot of trouble by cooperating with the invaders, a policy that is much discussed in Danish politics. It came to an end in 1943 after the Germans had done a number of hard to tolerate things.
I like how the author of this piece talk about <i>Sir</i> Martyn Poliakoff.<p>But the article predates his knighthood. (and presumably youtube fame)<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyn_Poliakoff" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyn_Poliakoff</a>