King Christian X (King of Denmark (1912--1947) | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

Christian X (Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was king of the Kingdom of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only king of Iceland (where the name was officially spelled Kristján), between 1918 and 1944.

He was the third Danish monarch of the House of Glücksburg and the first member of his family since King Frederick VII to have actually been born into the Danish royal family; both his father and his grandfather were born as princes of a German ducal family.

In spite of becoming unpopular due to his resistance to democracy, during the German Occupation of Denmark he did become a popular symbol of resistance to German occupation, particularly because of the symbolic value of the fact that he rode every day through the streets of Copenhagen unaccompanied by guards. He also became the subject of a persistent urban legend according to which, during Nazi occupation, he donned the Star of David in solidarity with the Danish Jews. This is not true, as Danish Jews were not forced to wear the star of David. However, the legend likely stems from a 1942 British report that claimed he threatened to don the star if this was forced upon Danish Jews.[1] He did, however, finance the transport of Danish Jews to unoccupied Sweden, where they would be safe from Nazi persecution.

With a reign spanning two world wars, and his role as a rallying symbol for Danish national sentiment during the German Occupation, he has become one of the most popular Danish monarchs of modern times.

(Wikipedia)