Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1943, Blaðsíða 66

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LE NORD
these publications were read by the people for whom they were
intended. Sometimes, the section of foreign opinion with which
we have succeeded in getting into contact has been rather narrow
and fortuitously chosen. This is not to say that it would be more
useful if our work of information were to address itself to the
man in the street: if it did, it would be lost in the multifarious
ramifications of modern society. Indeed, it would be better for
the work to concentrate on smaller, well-defined sections of the
foreign public and to try to produce a real impression on them.
These sections of the public should, however, be carefully selected
in such a way that a close contact is established with all the im-
portant organizations, institutions, and personalities which influ-
ence and guide public opinion in the country in question.
Especially during the second World War, and under the in-
fluence of the repercussions which this war has had on the Danish
community, it has been increasingly realized how important it is
that the rest of the world should in the future be informed about
Danish conditions, and that such information should be provided
according to a preconceived plan, involving a centralization of
the services in question. Many misunderstandings among our old
connections will have to be removed, and new fields must be
opened for mutual cultural and economic co-operation. For a
country like Denmark, which is so largely dependent on its con-
nections and mutual interchange with the outside world, it is
especially true that the whole world is our »living space«.
A number of leading Danish personalities have therefore
agreed to establish an organ intended to inform other countries
about ourselves through the agency of a staff of qualified repre-
sentatives, who are in touch with well-reputed institutes of educa-
tion and with the organs which shape public opinion abroad.
Having first prepared a comprehensive plan as a result of a
number of preliminary discussions during the first war winter
of 1939—40, a group of Danish men and women, representing
various sections of cultural and economic life, applied in March
1940 to Mr. Fr. Graae, Permanent Under-Secrerary of State for
Education, and asked him to place himself at the head of the
proposed organization. At a meeting held at the University of
Copenhagen on June 27, 1940, and attended by leading person-
alities from the Government services and the cultural and business
world, such an organization was founded under the name of »Det
danske Selskab« (The Danish Society).