Estvan Svend Aage Wehlast

Estvan Svend Aage Wehlast (15 April 1916 – 9 February 1945) was a member of the Danish resistance killed by Gestapo while resisting arrest.

Estvan Svend Aage Wehlast
Born(1916-04-15)15 April 1916[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Læssøgade 10-I, Copenhagen[1]
Died9 February 1945(1945-02-09) (aged 28)[5]
Cause of deathKilled while resisting arrest[5][7]
Resting placeRyvangen Memorial Park,[5] from 1946 Brønshøj cemetery[7]
Other namesEswan Wehlast
OccupationConstruction worker[5]
Known forKilled while resisting arrest as member of the Danish resistance movement[5][7]
Website"Modstandsdatabasen" [Resistance Database]. Eswan Wehlast (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. Retrieved 28 May 2015.

Biography

Estvan Svend Aage Wehlast was born in Læssøgade 10-I, Copenhagen 15 April 1916 as the first of five children to machine worker Holger Wehlast and wife Karen Sofie Frederikke née Andersen[2][3][4] and baptized in St. John's Church, Copenhagen the second Sunday after Trinity.[1]

In 1921 the family lived on the same address, with the father supporting them as a stoker at Carlsberg Brewery.[2]

On 1 November 1922 the family moved to Smørumvej 60, Husum.[8]

In 1930 the family still lived there with Wehlast working as an apprentice mechanic at Godthaabsvej on Frederiksberg.[4]

On 9 February 1945 Gestapo attempted to arrest Wehlast and his six years younger brother Egon Frants Albert Wehlast at Smørumvej 60 where they kept a duplicating machine.[7] Wehlast resisted the arrest and was shot and killed,[5][7] while his brother was interned in Frøslev Prison Camp.[9]

After his death

On 30 June 1945 at Vestre Kirkegaard a memorial service was held for him,[5] as well as for executed member of the resistance Harald Christensen.[10]

On 29 August Wehlast and 105 other victims of the occupation were given a state funeral in the memorial park founded at the execution and burial site in Ryvangen where their remains had been exhumed. Bishop Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard led the service with participation from the royal family, the government and representatives of the resistance movement.[5][11]

Soon after the funeral the authorities received information that not only had Wehlast contributed very little to the resistance, but also that he and his brother had committed a series of crimes including robbery, and there were demands to remove his remains from the memorial park. Thus on 3 May 1946, one day prior to the first anniversary of the liberation, Wehlast was exhumed a second time, after his father had agreed to pay for his funeral at the local Brønshøj cemetery.[7] Remarkably, a second resistance member to also be removed from the memorial park was the above-mentioned Harald Christensen.

The official list of resistance members buried in Ryvangen does not include Wehlast, nor Christensen.[12]

References
  1. "Fødte Mandkøn" [Born Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1907-1919 (in Danish). Sankt Johannes Sogn. 1916. p. 291. 80.
  2. Folketælling [Census] (in Danish). Copenhagen. 1 February 1921. Læssøesgade 10-I.
  3. Folketælling [Census] (in Danish). Copenhagen. 5 November 1925. Smørumvej 60.
  4. Folketælling [Census] (in Danish). Copenhagen. 5 November 1930. Smørumvej 60.
  5. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1943-1953 (in Danish). Husum Sogn. 1945. p. 34. 31. Død 1945 9de Februar Smørumvej 60. 1945 30te Juni Jordpaakastelse paa Vest. Kgd. Ndr. Kapel Senere flyttes til Ryparken: 29/8-1945. begr. paa Begravelsespladsen v. Ryparken 29-8-1945 ifgl. medd. fra Begrv. ug. Jord- og Betonarb., 28 Aar
  6. "Modstandsdatabasen" [Resistance Database]. Eswan Wehlast (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  7. Birkeland, Sven Arvid (2009). I krigens kølvand : danske skæbner efter 2. verdenskrig [In the wake of the war: Danish destinies after World War II] (in Danish). Gyldendal. pp. 54–57. ISBN 9788702078770. OCLC 895025207.
  8. Politiets Registerblade [Register cards of the Police] (in Danish). Copenhagen: Københavns Stadsarkiv. 1 November 1915. Station 8 (Ydre Nørrebro og Brønshøj-Husum) - fejlrettes. Filmrulle 0032. Registerblad 2366. ID 2486643.
  9. "Modstandsdatabasen" [Resistance Database]. Egon Frants Albert Wehlast (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  10. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1941-1966 (in Danish). Vigerslev Sogn. 1945. p. 36. 20. Død 1945 27 Februar Ryvangen. Ingen Skifteretsattest da Jordpaakastelse skal foretages senere. Jordpaakastelse af Biskop Fuglsang Damgaard. 1945 30 Juni Bisættelse (u. Jordpaakastel.) Vestre Kirkegaard Begravet i Ryvangen 1945 - 29 August. Automekaniker
  11. "Historie – Mindelunden Ryvangen" [History – Ryvangen Memorial Park] (in Danish). Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  12. "Det store Gravfelt – Mindelunden Ryvangen" [The large Grave field – Ryvangen Memorial Park] (in Danish). Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
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