Abstract

North Slesvig: an Unoppressed Minority

This article focuses on the plight of minorities in Europe. The situation on the Danish-German frontier is interesting because there are people of the same religious faith and of the same ethnic stock, separated only by language and by national culture. The Danish law safeguards the right to use the German language in the courts and administrative bodies of North Slesvig but the measures which Denmark has taken to preserve the German public schools are still more interesting. It is the practice of the Danish Government to regard the wishes of the minority in school matters. The Danish legislation for the protection of minorities is, relative to other countries, ideal. The best laws can be made illusory if the civil officials are hostile to them, so the spirit of the Danish administration, particularly of the Ministry of Education, counts for most in the end.