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 resistance movement through Ole Giesler, a captain of the Special Operations Executive who helped connect British weapons drops to the Danish Resistance. Marius Fiil, the owner of the Inn and the leader of the Hvidsten Group met with Giesler on March 12, 1943 following an SOE drop that had occurred the night before in Trinderup Heath east of Mariager that had delivered with 12-14 containers of explosives and weapons to supply the resistance in Jutland. That evening, Fils, with the help of his neighbour Andreas Stenz, retrieved the weapons and eventually brought them to Mustard Point, which was chosen by Hvidsten Group as a receiving site and became one of the most reliable during the resistance effort.

The Hvidsten Group received many drops during the resistance signalled via "greetings" at the end of the BBC news broadcasts with the encoded message "Greetings to Elias - Listen again" and delivered via British Halifax planes. The Hvidsten group was responsible for pick-up at Allestrupgårds Heath and delivery of and explosives to resistance groups like BOPA and Holger Danske to be used for sabotage of railways, locomotive sheds, bridges and factories in use by the German occupation.



The Hvidsten Group and several other resistance groups were informed on to the Gestapo by Jacob Jensen, a British paratrooper employed by the Special Operations Executive after he was captured on 13 December 1943 in Aarhus and interrogated under torture. On March 11, 1944, in the early morning, the Gestapo surrounded Hvidsten Inn and the majority of the group were arrested. Their arrest was reported by the resistance newspaper De frie Danske on 18 March 1944.

The following month De frie Danske reported that several arrestees from Hvidsten including Marius Fiil had been transferred from Randers to Vestre Fængsel.

Eight of its members were sentenced to death on June 26 and executed by firing squad in Ryvangen on June 29, 1944, three weeks after D-day.

On 15 July 1944 De frie Danske reported on the execution of Fiil, his son and son in law, the life sentence of his older daughter and the two-year sentence of his younger daughter and compared Fiil to Svend Gønge and Niels Ebbesen while lamenting the profound loss of Fiil's widow. News of the executions contributed to escalation of the general strikes happening in Copenhagen. Six months later the January 1945 issue of the resistance newspaper Frit Danmark (Free Denmark) reported that on 29 June the previous year Fiil and seven other named members of the Hvidsten group had been executed.

Members of the group and their fates
The following are the eight members of Hvidsten Group that were executed:


 * Marius Pedersen Fiil - owner of Hvidsten Inn and Hvidsten Group leader
 * Niels Fiil - Marius's son
 * Peder Bergenhammer Sørensen - Kirstine Fiil's husband
 * Johan Kjær Hansen - a mechanic
 * Niels Nielsen Kjær - a radio dealer
 * Søren Peter Kristensen - a coach builder
 * Henning Andersen - a miller
 * Albert Carlo Iversen - a veterinarian

The following members were sentenced to life in prison:


 * Kirstine Fiil - Marius Fiil's daughter
 * Jens Stenz - a farmer
 * Barner Hyldegaard Andersen - a driver

The following members were sentenced a prison sentence of four years:


 * Anders Venning Steensgaard - served as a driver for the group. He was later moved to concentration camp, but survived.
 * Knud Peter Buchhorn Christensen - a grocer.

The following members were sentenced a prison sentence of two years:


 * Gerda Søvang Fiil - daughter of Marius and Gudrun Fiil.

Other members:


 * Andreas Stenz - fled to Sweden
 * Svend Egon Andersen - as of 2014 living in Jutland.

Memorial
The bodies of the eight executed members of Hvidsten Group were found in Ryvangen, and in the summer of 1945 their remains were taken home to Hvidsten and buried 100 meters north of Hvidsten Inn, where there is a memorial grove and erected a monument with the following inscription:

Rough translation of the full inscription on the Memorial stone reads:

''Deed for Denmark brought this day.  Bravely acted, true until death.  Let light shine in the red of morning,  They gave their lives for Denmark's cause.''

S. P. KRISTENSEN * 20. 8. 1887

ALBERT IVERSEN * 28. 9. 1896

NIELS N. KJÆR * 2. 4. 1903

JOH KJÆR HANSEN * 2. 4. 1907

HENNING ANDERSEN * 16. 7. 1917

MARIUS FIIL * 21. 6. 1893

PETER SØRENSEN * 8. 6. 1919

NIELS FIIL * 12. 6. 1920

''1944 on the 29 June  They fell before German bullets  Precious is their memory to Denmark  Erected in the year 1945''

Portrayal in the media

 * The Hvidsten group is portrayed in the 2012 Danish drama film Hvidsten Gruppen (This Life).