Kai Henning Bothildsen Nielsen (4 December 1919 – 9 May 1947) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

national socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

who became a member of the

Peter group The Peter group (Danish: ''Petergruppen'') was a paramilitary group created in late 1943 during the occupation of Denmark by the German occupying power. The group conducted counter-sabotage, also known as Schalburgtage, in response to the Danish re ...

in Denmark during the

Second World War 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 ...

. He participated in numerous operations to murder and bomb civilians and public servants as collective punishment whenever the Danish resistance carried out an operation. Bothildsen was after the war convicted for 57 murders, 9 attempted murders and 116 sabotage events and given a death sentence which was eventually ratified by the

Danish Supreme Court The Supreme Court (, lit. ''Highest Court'', , ) is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is based at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen which also houses the Danish Par ...

. He was executed on 9 May 1947 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Biography

Bothildsen Nielsen was the son of coach driver Marius Bothildsen Nielsen and his wife Kirsten Marie Christoffersen. They lived in Absalonsgade 45 in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

when their son was baptized. Bothildsen Nielsen grew up in a stable if modest household. He completed elementary school with good grades and marks but his later school years proved more difficult and when he was 16 years old, he dropped out. In 1938 Bothildsen joined the Danish

National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark The National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti; DNSAP) was the largest Nazi Party in Denmark before and during the Second World War. History The party was founded on 16 November 1930, after ...

and their

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

. In 1940 he applied to join the

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

but was rejected for medical reasons. In January 1941 he tried again and was sent to an SS-academy in

Sennheim Cernay (; german: Sennheim; gsw-FR, Sanna) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the river Thur, 17 km northwest of Mulhouse. Second World War The SS had an " ideology school" ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In March 1941 he was discharged for medical reasons. He opted to stay in Germany where he opened a paint shop which he ran until June 1943 when he was enrolled in Schalburgkorpset. In Schalburgkorpset he was assigned the Intelligence wing which had a special status as an autonomous unit increasingly used by the Germans to carry out various jobs. Bothildsen Nielsen worked for the Intelligence-units until April 1944 when he joined the Peter Group. In the Peter Group Bothildsen Nielsen quickly became one of the leaders. He was assigned the codename ''Perle'' (English: ''Pearl'') and under that name he participated in a large number of actions aimed at punishing civilians. He participated in murders, bombings of buildings and trains and destruction of landmarks. When German forces in Denmark surrendered Bothildsen Nielsen attempted to go underground but on 12 May 1945 he was arrested by the police after a suicide attempt. Bothildsen Nielsen was sentenced for 57 murders, nine attempted murders, 116 sabotage-events, five train bombings and 3 robberies. On 14 April 1947 he was sentenced to death by shooting along with 6 others. The sentence was executed at 03:15 on 9 May 1947 on Bådsmandsstræde Barracks in

References

;Publications * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bothildsen Nielsen, Kai Henning 1919 births 1949 deaths Danish mass murderers Danish Waffen-SS personnel Danish people convicted of war crimes Executed Danish collaborators with Nazi Germany Executed mass murderers Executed military personnel National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark politicians People from Aarhus Serial bombers Sturmabteilung personnel