Niels Nielsen Kjær

Niels Nielsen Kjær (2 April 1903 – 29 June 1944) was a member of the Danish resistance executed by the German occupying power.

Niels Nielsen Kjær
Niels Nielsen Kjær
Born
Niels Kjær Nielsen[1]

(1903-04-02)2 April 1903[1][2][3][4][5]
Hvidsten Mark[1][2][3]
Died29 June 1944(1944-06-29) (aged 41)[2][3][5][6]
Ryvangen[2][3]
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad,[2][5] gunshot wounds to the chest[3]
OccupationRadio mechanic,[2][3] Radio dealer[6]
Known forExecuted as member of the Danish resistance movement[2][3][6]
Parent(s)Jens Christian Nielsen and Johanne Petrea Christensen[1][2][3]
Website"Modstandsdatabasen" [Resistance Database]. Niels Nielsen Kjær (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. Retrieved 2014-11-20.

Biography

Kjær was born in Hvidsten Mark on 2 April 1903 as son of tenant farmer Jens Christian Nielsen and 39-year-old wife Johanne Petrea Christensen and baptized Niels Kjær Nielsen in Gassum on the 21st of the same month.[1]

On 15 May 1905 his name was changed to Niels Nielsen Kjær in accordance with a royal authorization.[1]

In addition to being a member of the Hvidsten group[5] Kjær was also a radio mechanic[2] or radio dealer.[6]

The group helped the British Special Operations Executive parachute weapons and supplies into Denmark for distribution to the resistance.

In March 1944 the Gestapo made an "incredible number of arrests" including in the region of Randers where a number of members of the Hvidsten group were arrested.[7]

The following month De frie Danske reported that several arrestees from Hvidsten had been transferred from Randers to Vestre Fængsel.[8]

On 29 June 1944 Kjær and seven other members of the Hvidsten group were executed in Ryvangen.[2][3][4][5][9][10]

After his death

On 15 July 1944 De frie Danske reported on the execution of several members of the Hvidsten group.[11] Six months later the January 1945 issue of the resistance newspaper Frit Danmark (Free Denmark) reported that on 29 June the previous year Kjær and seven other named members of the Hvidsten group had been executed.[6]

On 5 July 1945 Kjær's remains and those of five others from the group were found in Ryvangen and transferred to the Department of Forensic Medicine of the university of Copenhagen.[2][9] The remains of the two remaining executed members of the group, Marius Fiil and his son Niels had been found in the same area three days before.[9]

Alternatively, his remains were recovered on or before 3 July because on that day an inquest in the Department of Forensic Medicine of the university of Copenhagen showed that he was executed with gunshot wounds to the chest.[3]

On 10 July he was together with the seven other executed group members cremated at Bispebjerg Cemetery.[2][3][9][10]

In 1945 a memorial stone over the eight executed members of the Hvidsten group was raised near Hvidsten kro.[5]

Memorial stone for the Hvidsten group in Hvidsten

Similarly a larger memorial stone for resistance members including the eight executed members of the Hvidsten group has been laid down in Ryvangen Memorial Park.[4]

Memorial stone in Ryvangen for resistance members including the Hvidsten group

Portrayal in the media
  • In the 2012 Danish drama film Hvidsten Gruppen (This Life) Niels Nielsen Kjær is portrayed by Niels Lund Boesen (as Niels Boesen).[12]

References
  1. "Fødte Mandkøn" [Born Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1900-1909 (in Danish). Gassum. 1903. p. 7.
  2. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1930-1946 (in Danish). Sankt Johannes Sogn. 1945. p. 354. Død 29 Juni 1944 Ryvangen Fundet 5 Juli 1945. Skudt. Begravet 10 Juli 1945 Bispebjerg Krematorium. Radiomekaniker, Ugift, 41 Aar
  3. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1942-1949 (in Danish). Bispebjerg Sogn. 1945. p. 63. Ligsyn Retsmedicinsk Institut. Dødsaarsag: Skudsaar i Brystet Dødsmaaden: Henrettet ved Skydning
  4. NIELS KIÆR NIELSEN (Inscribed Stone Monument) (in Danish). Ryvangen Memorial Park. * 2.4.1903 *
  5. NIELS N. KJÆR * 2. 4. 1903 (Inscribed Stone Monument) (in Danish). Hvidsten Kro. 1944 DEN 29. JUNI
    FALDT DE FOR DE TYSKE KUGLER
    DYREBART ER DERES MINDE FOR DANMARK
    REJST AARET 1945
  6. "29. Juni - 8 Frihedskæmpere henrettet" [29 June - 8 freedom fighters executed]. Frit Danmark (in Danish). January 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  7. "Utrolig mange Arrestationer" [Incredibly many arrests]. De frie Danske (in Danish). 18 March 1944. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  8. "ARRESTEREDE" [ARRESTED]. De frie Danske (in Danish). 23 April 1944. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014. Kroejer Marius Fiil med flere fra Hvidsten er blevet overført fra Randers til Vestre
  9. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1930-1946 (in Danish). Sankt Johannes Sogn. 1945. p. 352.
  10. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1942-1949 (in Danish). Bispebjerg Sogn. 1945. p. 64. Ligsyn Retsmedicinsk Institut. Dødsaarsag: Skudsaar i Brystet Dødsmaaden: Henrettet ved Skydning
  11. "EN FOLKELIG SKIKKELSE, ET HISTORISK EKSEMPEL PAA JYLLANDS SEJGHED UNDER FREMMEDHEREDØMMET" [A POPULAR FIGURE, A HISTORICAL EXAMPLE OF JUTLAND'S TOUGHNESS UNDER FOREIGN RULE]. De frie Danske (in Danish). 15 July 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  12. "This life / Hvidsten Gruppen - nogle må dø for at andre kan leve". dfi.dk. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  • Holm, Axel (1945). Hvidsten-Gruppen [The Hvidsten Group] (in Danish). Aarhus: Gravers Andersens Forlag. 142 pages. OCLC 492247465. Archived from the original on 2007-09-19.
  • Røjel, Jørgen (1984). Modstandsgruppen Hvidsten [The resistance group Hvidsten] (in Danish). Copenhagen: Samleren. 249 pages. ISBN 87-568-0743-0. OCLC 13424058.
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