Ellen christensen med nightingalemedalje

Ellen Marie Christensen (1913–1998) was a Danish nurse who became a

resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

during the German occupation of Denmark in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1953, she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal for her contribution to saving Jews, resistance workers and allied pilots.

Biography

Born on 30 March 1913 in the parish of Frejlev to the south west of

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

, Ellen Marie Christensen was the daughter of the farmer Peter Marinus Christensen (born 1885) and Christiane Hansen (born 1884). Brought up in a well-to-do family, after completing her school education, she trained to become a nurse. Under the German occupation, she was employed at

Bispebjerg Hospital Bispebjerg Hospital is one of the hospitals in the Capital Region of Denmark. Along with a number of other hospitals and the University of Copenhagen (the Faculty of Health Sciences), Bispebjerg Hospital forms part of the Copenhagen University Hos ...

. She soon became a member of the resistance group Frit Danmark (Free Denmark) where she helped to produce and distribute illegal publications. Her commitment to the cause increased when the Germans began to arrest the Danish Jews in October 1943. Bispebjerg Hospital was used to house Jewish refugees until they could be transported to Sweden. Thanks to her active participation in this work, Christensen developed numerous connections with the resistance movement. Not only did she treat wounded refugees, but contributed to transporting weapons and explosives and to obtaining fake identity cards and other items to facilitate resistance work. She became the partner of the key resistance coordinator Jørgen Haagen Schmith, better known as Citronen (the Lemon). When he was seriously wounded by the Germans in September 1944, she cared for him every day. When the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

discovered their hiding place in October, Schmith was killed but Christensen managed to escape, although her identity card had been found. As a result, she had to work underground for the rest of the war. After the war, she worked on several assignments abroad for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

, first in Greece and later in Israel during the

Six Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

in 1967.

Honours and awards

For her contribution to saving Jews, resistance workers and allied pilots during the German occupation, Ellen Christensen was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Ellen 1913 births 1998 deaths People from Aalborg Danish resistance members Danish female resistance members Danish nurses Florence Nightingale Medal recipients 20th-century Danish women