Unlike some other countries incorporated into the Reich (Czechoslovakia, Poland) or put under military occupation (Netherlands, Northern France), Denmark was nominally independent and a protectorate of Germany until 1943. Danes controlled the courts, police, and other aspects of local administration, and Denmark's parliament was still democratically elected with fair elections. This situation was totally different than Poland, for example, which according to the Nazis had ceased to exist as an independent country in 1939 and all aspects of administration were under German control. The Germans put pressure on the Danes to pursue anti-Semitic measures, but they had very little success.

The Jewish community in Denmark was also extremely small by comparison to other European countries (<0.5% of the population), and very well-integrated into Danish society. There was not a Danish legacy of popular or official anti-semitism that the Nazis could draw upon to sway the civil administrators or populace against the Jews, as they did in other countries.

After anti-Nazi parties were elected in the 1943 Danish elections, the Germans put Denmark under more direct control, but most aspects of day-to-day administration were still controlled by Danes. At this point in the war, the tide had turned against the Germans and it was clear that they would eventually lose, which led to increased active and passive anti-German activity in Denmark's civil administration and civilian population.

The Reich Plenipotentiary in Denmark, Werner Best, notified German diplomat Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz that the Jews would be deported from Denmark starting in October of 1943. Duckwitz tipped off Danish politicians who spread the word to the Jewish community and resistance organizations. Large numbers of civil servants and civilians took the initiative of telling their Jewish neighbors and friends what was happening in late September before the roundups began on October 1. The Lutheran bishop of Copenhagen issued a statement to be read in all the churches in Denmark on October 3rd, condemning anti-semitism and exhorting parishioners not to cooperate with the anti-semitic measures. Notably, during the round-up, the Danish police were not permitted to break down doors, and they could only arrest people who opened their doors freely. Some Jews in Copenhagen avoided arrest simply by not answering the door. Leaving from their hiding places, the majority were spirited out of Denmark on boats in October 1943. The Danish coast guard, still independent, did not stop the boats or actively aided in their escape. Some rescuers were shot at by the Germans or captured but the majority managed to escape safely. After the escape, those rescuers who were caught by the Gestapo were punished, but because local administration of justice was still under Danish control, they were not executed and at most were sentenced to a few months in prison.

Sources: Raul Hillberg, Destruction of the European Jews vol. II; Jensen & Jensen, Denmark & the Holocaust