Gudrun Fiil (18 December 1890 – 19 May 1972) was inn keeper at Hvidsten Inn and member of the Danish resistance, whose husband, son and son-in-law were executed by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

occupying power.

Biography

Gudrun Fiil was born in Gødstrup præstegaard, Snejbjerg on 18 December 1890 to tenant Kristen Kristensen and 38-year-old Kristine Bolette Kristensen and baptized Gudrun Margrethe Kjul Kristensen in Snejbjerg church on

Quinquagesima Quinquagesima (), in the Western Christian Churches, is the last Sunday of Shrovetide, being the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It is also called Quinquagesima Sunday, Quinquagesimae, Estomihi, Shrove Sunday, Pork Sunday, or the Sunday next before ...

Sunday the following year. On 29 October 1906 her name was changed to Gudrun Margrethe Kjul Kristensen Søvang. In 1917, she married Marius Fiil, who in 1918 and 1920 when she gave birth to their two first children

Kirstine Kirstine is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Kirstine Fiil (1918–1983), Danish resistance member * Kirstine Frederiksen (1845–1903), Danish pedagogue, writer and women's activist * Kirstine Meyer (1861–1941), Danish physi ...

and

Niels Niels is a male given name, equivalent to Nicholas, which is common in Denmark, Belgium, Norway (formerly) and the Netherlands. The Norwegian and Swedish variant is Nils. The name is a developed short form of Nicholas or Greek Nicolaos after Sai ...

was a house proprietor and bicycle dealer. In 1930, she and her husband lived in Hvidsten Inn with her 72-year-old father-in-law as inn keeper, their son and four daughters and a farm hand, a maid and a manager. In the autumn of 1932, her oldest daughter was confirmed, at that time she and her husband had taken over the inn. During the occupation Fill and her family became the center of a resistance group, the

Hvidsten group The Hvidsten Group (Danish: ''Hvidstengruppen'') was a Danish resistance group during World War II named after the Hvidsten Inn between Randers and Mariager in Jutland where it was formed. History The Hvidsten Group became connected to the res ...

. With the group she helped the British

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

parachute weapons and supplies into Denmark for distribution to the resistance. In March 1944, 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 ...

made an "incredible number of arrests" including in the region of

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Peter Sørensen. The arrests left Fiil alone not only with the inn and her youngest daughter Linna who was confirmed 26 March 1944, but also Fiil's infant grandchild Gudrun, whose both parents were incarcerated. The following month De frie Danske reported on her husband again, that he along with other arrestees from Hvidsten had been transferred from Randers to

Vestre Fængsel Vestre Prison ( da, Vestre Fængsel) is the main jail of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Erected in 1895, it is Denmark's largest prison with a total capacity of 530 inmates. It primarily houses pretrial detainees, not convicted felons. History ...

. On 29 June 1944, her husband, their son Niels, their son-in-law and five other members of the

were executed in Ryvangen. On 15 July 1944, De frie Danske reported on the executions, the life sentence of her older daughter and the two-year sentence of her younger daughter and compared her husband to Svend Gønge and

Niels Ebbesen Niels Ebbesen (1308 – 21 November 1340) was a Danish squire and national hero, known for his killing of Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg in 1340. From 1332 to 1340, Count Gerhard was the lord of both Jutland and Funen. His death meant ...

while lamenting her profound loss: In the January 1945 issue of the resistance newspaper ''Frit Danmark'' (Free Denmark) reported that on 29 June 1944 the executions of the Hvidsten group members had taken place. On 2 July 1945, the remains of her husband and son were found in Ryvangen and transferred to the Department of Forensic Medicine of the

university of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. The remains of her son-in-law and the five other executed members of the group were found in the same area three days later. The following

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...

s showed that they had been executed with gunshot wounds to the chest. On 10 July 1945, her executed family members and the five other executed group members were cremated at Bispebjerg Cemetery. As a widow she continued as keeper of the Hvidsten Inn, until her death in 1972.

Portrayal in the media

In the 2012 Danish drama film ''Hvidsten Gruppen'' (

This Life This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This, or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France People with the surname * Hervé This, French culinary chemist Arts, e ...

), Gudrun Fiil is portrayed by

Bodil Jørgensen Bodil Jørgensen (born 3 March 1961) is a Danish film actress. She has appeared in 40 films since 1992. She starred in ''The Idiots'', which was entered into the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. On 18 June 2014, Jørgensen was severely injured while s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiil, Gudrun 1890 births 1972 deaths Danish people of World War II Danish resistance members