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

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 ...

while resisting arrest.

Biography

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. Wehlast resisted the arrest and was shot and killed, while his brother was interned in

Frøslev Prison Camp Frøslev Camp ( da, Frøslevlejren, german: Polizeigefangenenlager Fröslee) was an internment camp in German-occupied Denmark during World War II. In order to avoid deportation of Danes to German concentration camps, Danish authorities suggest ...

After his death

On 29 August Wehlast and 105 other victims of the occupation were given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

in the memorial park founded at the execution and burial site in Ryvangen where their remains had been exhumed. Bishop

Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard (29 July 1890 – 8 July 1979) was a bishop of the diocese of Copenhagen for 25 years including the years of the Nazi Germany, German occupation. Early life and education Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard was born on 29 July 1890 in ...

led the service with participation from the royal family, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and representatives of the resistance movement. 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 Brønshøj, part of the municipality of Copenhagen, forms, together with Husum, the administrative city district (''bydel'') of Brønshøj-Husum, in Denmark. History The first mention of the village Brønshøj (Brunshoga), is in a letter dated Oc ...

cemetery. The official list of resistance members buried in Ryvangen does not include Wehlast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wehlast, Estvan Svend Aage 1916 births 1945 deaths Danish resistance members Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany