Jutta Regitse Pilegaard Graae (1906–1997) was a Danish bank employee who became a member of the

Danish resistance The Danish resistance movements ( da, Den danske modstandsbevægelse) were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation autho ...

during the

German occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...

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 ...

. After first working as a contact for the resistance worker Ebbe Munck in Stockholm, she became so deeply involved in illegal activities that she had to move to Stockholm herself in September 1943. In 1944, she moved to London, where from January 1945 she joined the

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 ...

. After the war, she continued to work for Danish intelligence, becoming chief

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

for the

Danish Defence Intelligence Service The Danish Defence Intelligence Service, DDIS ( da, Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, FE), is a Danish intelligence agency, responsible for Denmark’s foreign intelligence, as well as being the Danish military intelligence service. DDIS is an ag ...

in 1956 until her retirement in 1960. In 1947, Graae was made a member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) for her service in World War II.

Early life

Born on 28 April 1906 in

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)realskole ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola' ...

'', she became an assistant at the Invalid Insurance Court. She then spent a year in London before taking up employment at Copenhagen's

Sparekassen for Kjøbenhavn og Omegn Sparekassen for Kjøbenhavn og Omegn, literally The Savings Bank for Copenhagen and Its Vicinity, was a local savings bank in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its headquarters was from 1870 located at the corner of Niels Hemmingsens Gade (No. 24) and Løvstr� ...

Resistance work

Under the German occupation of Denmark in World War II, as the sister-in-law of the journalist Ebbe Munck who was involved in clandestine activities for British intelligence, Graae was able to collect information in her position at the savings bank. It was then forwarded by courier to Munck who was stationed in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden. Graee's home on Rosenstandsvej in

Ordrup Ordrup is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located circa north of the city centre. History Ordrup was originally a small village which only consisted of eight farms and a forge. The area ...

was also used by resistance members to deposit items to be sent to Stockholm. It was here in May 1943 that a key meeting took place between

Mogens Fog Mogens Ludolf Fog (9 June 1904 – 16 July 1990) was a Danish physician, politician ( Danish Communist Party) and resistance fighter. In the 1930s, he headed the ''Socialistiske Læger'' (Social Physicians) who opposed Fascism. During the Sec ...

Erling Foss Erling Christian Foss (25 February 1897 – 15 June 1982) was a Danish civil engineer, famous for his contributions to the Danish resistance movement. As a result of contacts with Ebbe Munck and the Danish army's intelligence service, he bec ...

and

Frode Jakobsen Frode Jakobsen (21 December 1906 in Østre Jølby, Denmark – 15 June 1997 in Denmark), was a Danish writer and politician who is remembered for his contribution to Danish resistance activities during the German occupation of Denmark in the Secon ...

where they discussed how best to coordinate resistance work. When the Germans disbanded the Danish Army and Navy in August 1943, key members of the resistance had to go underground. As a result, together with Volmer Gyth and P.A. Mørch of the intelligence service, Graae moved to Stockholm where she acted as secretary and hostess. She became so knowledgeable of resistance activities that in October 1944 she was invited to London to advise Major-General R.H. Dewing who was planning operations in Denmark. The following January she was transferred to the Special Operations Executive which was responsible for coordinating illegal contacts with Denmark. Graae helped Danish resistance activist Edith Bonnesen escape to Sweden after Bonnesen escaped from the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen in August 1944. She published her

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

of her involvement in the Danish resistance in ''Værnepligt'' (1995).

Post-war activities

After the war, Graae moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where she worked at the Danish embassy under

Henrik Kauffmann Henrik Kauffmann (26 August 1888 – 5 June 1963) was the Danish ambassador to the United States during World War II, who signed over part of Greenland to the US. Career Kauffmann started his foreign career by serving as envoy in Rome, 1921� ...

. In 1947, she returned to Denmark to join the Defence Intelligence Service, where she became chief archivist in 1956 until her retirement in 1960. In December 1960, she married the estate owner Flemming Juncker (1904–2002) whom she had met while working in London. On 25 March 1997, Jutta Graae died in Havndal in the east of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

where she is buried in the local cemetery.

Awards and honours

In 1947, Graae was awarded the

. She was also honoured with King Christian X's medal for participation in World War II. In 1991, she received the Ebbe Munck prize.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graae, Jutta 1906 births 1997 deaths People from Hillerød Municipality Danish resistance members Danish female resistance members Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Danish writers Danish women writers Danish archivists Special Operations Executive personnel