70 years of freedom

"This is London... At this moment, it is announced that Montgomery has stated that the German troops in Holland, Northwest Germany and Denmark have surrendered".
 Those were the words of BBC's Danish broadcast on 4 May 1945 at half past eight. They meant the end of Germany's five-year occupation of Denmark, and the radio broadcast has since become one of the most important symbols of one of the happiest days in recent Danish history.

When the liberation was announced, many Danes spontaneously placed lit candles in their windows. This became a custom that is still kept up by most Danes, so tonight the boys and I will place a lit candle in the window and be grateful that we live in a country, which has been free for 70 years.

Matador is a Danish TV series produced and shown between 1978 and 1982. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its mix of melodrama and a warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, but also and not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II. This is how Matador shows 4th of May - when the the Danish liberation was announced on the illegal radio broadcast from England. It is a movie clip, which can still give most Danes a lump in the throat.

The Danish liberation is celebrated all over Denmark tonight. I will be at home with the boys and watch the memorial ceremony from Ryvangen Memorial Park (Mindelunden) on TV.

See you tomorrow
Emmy and the Hazyland Boys