Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen

Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen (3 June 1914 – 29 June 1944) was a member of the Danish resistance executed by the German occupying power.

Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen
Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen
Born
Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen[1]

(1914-06-03)3 June 1914[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Maribo[1][2][4][5]
Died29 June 1944(1944-06-29) (aged 30)[4][5][7][8]
Ryvangen[4][5]
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad,[4][7] gunshot wounds to the chest[5]
Other namesPeter Sørensen[7]
OccupationBrewery worker[4][5][8]
Known forExecuted as member of the Danish resistance movement[4][5][8]
Spouse(s)Kirstine Fiil (married 1939-1944)[2][5][3][9][10]
ChildrenGudrun[3]
Parent(s)William Bergenhammer Sørensen and Anne Petrine Nielsine Agnes née Jensen[1][2]
Website"Modstandsdatabasen" [Resistance Database]. Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. Retrieved 2014-11-20.

Biography

Sørensen was born in Maribo on 3 June 1914 as son of merchant William Bergenhammer Sørensen and wife Anne Petrine Nielsine Agnes née Jensen and baptized in Maribo Cathedral on the 19th Sunday after Trinity.[1]

On 25 April 1939 in Gassum church he married the four years younger Kirstine Fiil as a brewery worker living in Gassum.[2][3]

In 1942 in Hvidsten his wife gave birth on her birthday to a girl, who on the 19th Sunday after Trinity was baptized Gudrun Fiil Sørensen Møller in Gassum church.[3]

While a brewery worker Sørensen became a member of the Hvidsten group.[7][4][8][11]

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 Sørensen, his wife, her 17-year-old sister Gerda, her brother Niels and their father the "nationally known folklore collector and keeper of Hvidsten Inn Marius Fiil".[11]

The following month De frie Danske reported that several arrestees from Hvidsten had been transferred from Randers to Vestre Fængsel.[12]

On 29 June 1944 Sørensen, his father in law, his brother in law and five other members of the Hvidsten group were executed in Ryvangen.[4][5][7][13][14]

After his death

On 15 July 1944 De frie Danske reported on the execution of Sørensen, his father in law, his brother in law, the life sentence of his wife and the two-year sentence of his sister in law and lamented the profound loss of his mother in law.[15] Six months later the January 1945 issue of the resistance newspaper Frit Danmark (Free Denmark) reported that on 29 June the previous year Sørensen and seven other named members of the Hvidsten group had been executed.[8]

On 5 July 1945 Sørensen'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.[4][13] The remains of the two remaining executed members of the group, Marius Fiil and his son had been found in the same area three days before.[13]

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.[5]

On 10 July he was together with the seven other executed group members cremated at Bispebjerg Cemetery.[4][5][13][14]

In 1945 a memorial stone over the eight executed members of the Hvidsten group was raised near Hvidsten Inn.[7]

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.[6]

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) Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen is portrayed by Jesper Riefensthal.[16]

References
  1. "Fødte Mandkøn" [Born Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1909-1918 (in Danish). Maribo. 1914. p. 81.
  2. "Ægteviede" [Married]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1935-1949 (in Danish). Gassum. 1939. p. 172.
  3. "Fødte Kvindekøn" [Born Females]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1935-1949 (in Danish). Gassum. 1942. p. 71.
  4. "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. Brygggeriarbejder, 30 Aar
  5. "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
  6. PETER BERGENHAMMER (Inscribed Stone Monument) (in Danish). Ryvangen Memorial Park. * 3.6.1914 *
  7. PETER SØRENSEN * 3. 6. 1914 (Inscribed Stone Monument) (in Danish). Hvidsten Inn. 1944 DEN 29. JUNI FALDT DE FOR DE TYSKE KUGLER DYREBART ER DERES MINDE FOR DANMARK REJST AARET 1945
  8. "29. Juni - 8 Frihedskæmpere henrettet" [29 June - 8 freedom fighters executed]. Frit Danmark (in Danish). January 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. "Ægteviede" [Married]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1930-1960 (in Danish). Finderup. 1946. p. 232.
  10. Warring, Anette (2003). "Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon - Kirstine Fiil" (in Danish). KVINFO. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  11. "Utrolig mange Arrestationer" [Incredibly many arrests]. De frie Danske (in Danish). 18 March 1944. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  12. "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
  13. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1930-1946 (in Danish). Sankt Johannes Sogn. 1945. p. 352.
  14. "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
  15. "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.
  16. "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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