Wie die Made im Speck? Fredsbesættelsen 1940-1943 belyst gennem samarbejdet mellem Esbjerg politi og værnemagten

Wie die Made im Speck? The Peaceful Occupation of Denmark 1940-1943 Seen in the Light of Cooperation Between the Police in Esbjerg and the Wehrmacht »Sie fühlten sich wie die Made im Speck,« wrote the head of the Gestapo in Esbjerg of the German troops in the town. Danish historians of the German occupation of Denmark have also noted the comfortable life that the peculiar occupation regime in Denmark afforded the Wehrmacht compared to conditions in other occupied countries. The present article provides a more complex picture of the Wehrmacht's situation on the so-called »whip cream front.« It focuses on conditions from the viewpoint of the German authorities charged with administering the occupation regime at both the local and national levels in cooperation with the Danish authorities. The main source for depicting these conditions is internal German correspondence, especially confidential messages to and from the commander of the German troops in Denmark, General Erich Lüdke. Some of these documents, used here for the first time, are essential for understanding how the so-called peaceful occupation was experienced and managed by the German authorities charged with its implementation. Since maintenance of law and order on the part of both occupier and occupied was crucial to the occupation regime, their cooperation is also assessed from a contemporary Danish viewpoint, namely, as it was experienced by the chief constable of Esbjerg, Børge Hebo. It was his task, whenever German interests were involved, to solve police problems together with the local German commander. It was paramount for the Danish government to keep legal jurisdiction in Danish hands. The police, therefore, played an essential, yet vulnerable role, since assurance of law and order was the very basis of the peace occupation. The abilities of Esbjerg's chief constable to negotiate and mediate between the German military and the population were put to the test shortly after the beginning of the occupation. Because of its strategic importance throughout the war the town was filled with a large number of German troops, resulting almost immediately in brawls with the male population. For the first few months the cooperative effort to keep things calm ran smoothly, but then it became increasingly marked by complaints on the part of the German commander about the hostile behaviour of the population. The commander found in Hebo an intrepid counterpart who managed to manoeuvre deftly within the confines of the occupation rules, evidencing considerable virtuosity in exploiting any lack of clarity regarding police jurisdiction. He was able to perform his function as intermediary between the occupation forces and the population without losing the trust of the latter through concessions to the former. Complaints about the inadequacy of his measures in dealing with the people of Esbjerg were frequently lodged with the negotiators at the national level. Because of the German personnel problem and the lack of clarity in the agreement on police cooperation the Danish police had authority vis-à-vis the Wehrmacht that would seem incompatible with the relation of occupied to occupier. This is a factor that helps to understand how Hebo managed. A circumstance that facilitated his task was the attitude of Esbjerg's commander, who compared to commanders in other towns seems to have developed a greater appreciation of the importance of maintaining peaceful conditions and dependence on the efforts of the Danish police. It is probable that in Esbjerg as in other places of strategic importance the Germans had assigned a commander who understood Danish conditions. Like Esbjerg's commander the military commander at the national level, Erich Lüdke, endeavoured to uphold amicable cooperative relations and preserve the status quo. The German plenipotentiary ( Reichsbevollmächtigter ) Renthe-Fink supported this policy and what it entailed in the way of futile efforts to enforce internal discipline. There was clearly considerable uncertainty in some segments of the military about how to play the role of peaceful occupier, resulting among other things in persistent Danish complaints, thus weakening the bargaining position of the German authorities. The German negotiators let the Danish authorities understand that they were strongly dissatisfied with the efforts of the police, while in communications with Berlin there was praise for Danish efforts along with futile attempts to call attention to problems caused by internal conflicts over jurisdiction, rivalries, and irresponsibility among the occupation authorities. In acknowledgment of the problems with the troops Berlin was presented with arguments for extending the jurisdiction of the Danish police over members of the Wehrmacht. The Reich authorities, however, were deaf to these arguments, and the foundation of the peaceful occupational regime gradually eroded. A crucial problem in maintaining stability was the lack of unified German policy ( Einheitlichkeit ), creating a difficult situation for the Germans in charge of negotiations. The lack of a common attitude and uniform conduct sprang in part from disagreements on jurisdiction between competing authorities in the German hierarchy. The chain of command was apparently so unclear that all those involved seemed to define their own rules of cooperation with the Danish authorities. Both the air force and the navy created obstacles to the endeavours of Lüdke, Renthe-Fink, and the latter's successor Werner Best to coordinate, improve, and impose discipline on the German effort to preserve the peaceful occupation. Nor was there much evidence of ability or will on the part of the highest authorities in Berlin to see the advantages for Germany of upholding the status quo. By September 1943 German confidence in the ability and will of the Danish police to solve cases of sabotage, spying, and destabilizing activity was gone, and the Gestapo took over. The agreement, which the Danish Government under protest had concluded with the German occupation force to guarantee the safety of military personnel in return for not infringing on the sovereignty and neutrality of the Danish state, was now broken by both parties. Seen through the eyes of German soldiers assignment to occupied Denmark may well have felt like »die Made im Speck,« but for the Germans in charge of negotiations the mission was marked by a futile struggle within their own camp to explain and reach consensus on how to play that odd game with no clear rules inaugurated by the peculiar conditions of a regime of peaceful occupation. Translated by Michael Wolf

Cryptic MHC Polymorphism Revealed but Not Explained by Selection on the Class IIB Peptide-Binding Region

The immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are characterized by extraordinarily high levels of nucleotide and haplotype diversity. This variation is maintained by pathogen-mediated balancing selection that is operating on the peptide-binding region (PBR). Several recent studies have found, however, that some populations possess large clusters of alleles that are translated into virtually identical proteins. Here, we address the question of how this nucleotide polymorphism is maintained with little or no functional variation for selection to operate on. We investigate circa 750–850 bp of MHC class II DAB genes in four wild populations of the guppy Poecilia reticulata. By sequencing an extended region, we uncovered 40.9% more sequences (alleles), which would have been missed if we had amplified the exon 2 alone. We found evidence of several gene conversion events that may have homogenized sequence variation. This reduces the visible copy number variation (CNV) and can result in a systematic underestimation of the CNV in studies of the MHC and perhaps other multigene families. We then focus on a single cluster, which comprises 27 (of a total of 66) sequences. These sequences are virtually identical and show no signal of selection. We use microsatellites to reconstruct the populations' demography and employ simulations to examine whether so many similar nucleotide sequences can be maintained in the populations. Simulations show that this variation does not behave neutrally. We propose that selection operates outside the PBR, for example, on linked immune genes or on the “sheltered load” that is thought to be associated to the MHC. Future studies on the MHC would benefit from extending the amplicon size to include polymorphisms outside the exon with the PBR. This may capture otherwise cryptic haplotype variation and CNV, and it may help detect other regions in the MHC that are under selection

Play behaviour positively relates to weight gain, feeding behaviour and drinking behaviour in weaner pigs (Sus scrofa)

Engagement in play behaviour has been associated with the presence of positive affective states and, thus, proposed to be an indicator of positive animal welfare. However, the interpretation of play in animals remains challenging due to the complexity of motivating factors. Accordingly, we aimed to clarify whether Yorkshire × Landrace weaner pigs would engage more in play behaviour the more well-nourished they were by examining the effects of weight gain, feeding behaviour, and drinking behaviour on two types of play behaviour [locomotor-rotational play (LOC) and social play (SOC)]. In total, 24 litters [pigs/litter: (mean ± SD) 13 ± 2] raised under conventional husbandry conditions were included in this study. Each pig was manually weighed within 24 h of birth and on days − 7, 0, 1, 2 relative to the weaning day (day 0) at approximately 26 days of age. All behavioural measures were registered via video at individual level. Visits to feeder and drinker were registered from 07:00 h to 21:59 h on days − 1 and 1 using 2-min interval instantaneous sampling. The proportion of visits to each resource was calculated by dividing the number of scans visiting the resource by the total number of daily scans. The latencies to visit the feeder and drinker within the first 24 h post-weaning were continuously recorded. Both LOC and SOC were registered between 14:00 h and 22:00 h on days − 1, 1 and 2. Both before and after weaning, heavier pigs spent more time performing LOC. Before weaning, heavier pigs spent more time performing SOC. Proportion of visits to the feeder positively related to LOC after weaning. On the day before weaning, the proportion of visits to the drinker positively related to LOC. No clear relationships between the latency to feed and drink after weaning and play behaviour were found. Our study supports the hypothesis that motivation to play is higher when animals are in more stable conditions, e.g., well-nourished, and healthier than under suboptimal conditions. However, the fact that the nutritional measures did not similarly affect LOC and SOC suggests that these two types of play behaviour may be differently affected by the weaning context and questions whether they have the same underlying motivation. This study represents a step toward the validation of play as a positive animal welfare indicator

Reply to the comment on "Imaging of the Hydrogen Subsurface Site in Rutile TiO2''

A reply to the Comment by M. Calatayud et al. on "Imaging of the Hydrogen Subsurface Site in Rutile TiO2" (Physical Review Letters, Volume 102, Issue 13). DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.102.136103.Peer reviewe

Imaging of the Hydrogen Subsurface Site in Rutile TiO2

From an interplay between simultaneously recorded noncontact atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy images and simulations based on density functional theory, we reveal the location of single hydrogen species in the surface and subsurface layers of rutile TiO2. Subsurface hydrogen atoms (Hsub) are found to reside in a stable interstitial site as subsurface OH groups detectable in scanning tunneling microscopy as a characteristic electronic state but imperceptible to atomic force microscopy. The combined atomic force microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and density functional theory study demonstrates a general scheme to reveal near surface defects and interstitials in poorly conducting materials.Peer reviewe

Investigating the effects of two weaning methods and two genetic hybrids on play behavior in weaner pigs (Sus scrofa)

In conventional pig production, suckling pigs are typically weaned between 3 and 5 weeks of age. This involves separation from the sow, dietary change, and regrouping in a novel environment, which challenge the welfare of pigs. We investigated the effects of two weaning methods [conventional weaning: two litters mixed in a weaner pen of different size and design (MOVE) vs. litter staying in the farrowing pen after removing the sow (STAY)] and two genetic hybrids [DanBred Yorkshire × Landrace (approximately 21 total pigs born/litter; DB) vs. Topigs Norsvin TN70 Yorkshire × Landrace (approximately 16 total pigs born/litter with higher individual birth weight and weaning weight than DB; TN)] on play behavior across weaning. Both genetic hybrids were inseminated with semen of DanBred Duroc boars. Litters were reduced to the number of functional teats at birth. The durations of locomotor-rotational play (LOC) and social play (SOC) of 24 indoor-housed litters [pigs/litter: (average ± SD) 13 ± 2; age at the weaning day: 26 ± 2 days] were video-recorded continuously between 14:00 h and 22:00 h on days −1, 1, and 2 relative to weaning and statistically analyzed with mixed-effects modeling at the individual level. Before weaning, TN pigs performed LOC longer than DB pigs. On day 2 post-weaning, STAY pigs engaged in more SOC than MOVE pigs. Moreover, TN pigs and STAY pigs displayed a steeper increase in LOC from days 1 to 2 than DB pigs and MOVE pigs, respectively. We demonstrated that pigs belonging to the genetic hybrid with higher weight at birth and weaning spent more time playing on the day before weaning. Additionally, weaning pigs in the farrowing pen and, hence, avoiding social mixing and relocation to an unfamiliar environment had a positive effect on social play after weaning. Our study illustrates that weaning stress in pigs may be reduced by using a genetic hybrid featuring higher birth and weaning weight and by keeping litters intact in a familiar environment after weaning. This study also supports the use of play behavior as an animal welfare indicator