Gudrun Fiil

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 occupying power.

Gudrun Fiil
Born
Gudrun Margrethe Kjul Kristensen[1]

18[1][2][3] or (1890-12-19)19 December 1890[4]
Gødstrup præstegaard, Snejbjerg, Denmark[1]
Died19 May 1972(1972-05-19) (aged 81)[3]
Resting placeSpentrup cemetery[3]
Other namesGudrun Margrethe Kjul Kristensen Søvang[1]
OccupationInn keeper[5]
Known forMember of and widow after a member of the Danish resistance movement[2][5]
Spouse(s)Marius Fiil (married 1917-1944)[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Children
Parent(s)
  • Tenant Kristen Kristensen[1]
  • Kristine Bolette Kristensen[1]
Website"Modstandsdatabasen" [Resistance Database]. Gudrun Fiil (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. Retrieved 20 November 2014.

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 Sunday the following year.[1][4] On 29 October 1906 her name was changed to Gudrun Margrethe Kjul Kristensen Søvang.[1]

In 1917 she married Marius Fiil, who in 1918 and 1920 when she gave birth to their two first children Kirstine and Niels[4] was a house proprietor and bicycle dealer.[5][11]

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.[4]

In the autumn of 1932 her oldest daughter was confirmed, at that time she and her husband had taken over the inn.[12]

During the occupation Fill and her family became the center of a resistance group, the Hvidsten group.[2][5]

With the group she helped the British Special Operations Executive parachute weapons and supplies into Denmark for distribution to the resistance.[2]

In March 1944 the Gestapo made an "incredible number of arrests" including in the region of Randers the "nationally known folklore collector and keeper of Hvidsten inn Marius Fiil", their son Niels, their 17-year-old daughter Gerda, their daughter Kirstine and her husband brewery worker Peter Sørensen.[13]

The arrests left Fiil alone not only with the inn and her youngest daughter Linna who was confirmed 26 March 1944,[10] but also Fiil's infant grandchild Gudrun, whose both parents were incarcerated.[14]

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.[15]

On 29 June 1944 her husband, their son Niels, their son-in-law and five other members of the Hvidsten group were executed in Ryvangen.[5][6][7][8][9][16][17]

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 while lamenting her profound loss:

Our thoughts go to mrs Gudrun Fiil.
In one day and in the same bitter hour she lost her husband, her only son and son-in-law.
And her two young daughters are abducted as prisoners.
No Danish wife and mother carries a fate as heavy of sorrow and loss, pain and horror and worry.
But the veneration and devotion of the people shall support the fainting.[18]

Six months later the January 1945 issue of the resistance newspaper Frit Danmark (Free Denmark) reported that on 29 June the previous year the executions of the Hvidsten group members had taken place.[7]

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.[5][16] 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.[5][16] The following inquests showed that they had been executed with gunshot wounds to the chest.[6][17]

On 10 July 1945 her executed family members and the five other executed group members were cremated at Bispebjerg Cemetery.[5][6][16][17]

As a widow she continued as keeper of the Hvidsten Inn, until her death in 1972.[3]

Portrayal in the media

References
  1. "Fødte Qvindekiøn" [Born Females]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1882-1891 (in Danish). Snejbjerg. 1890. p. 108.
  2. "Modstandsdatabasen" [Resistance Database]. Gudrun Fiil (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  3. "Gudrun Fiil". gravsted.dk. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  4. Folketælling [Census] (in Danish). Gassum. 5 November 1930. Hvidsten.
  5. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1930-1946 (in Danish). Sankt Johannes Sogn. 1945. p. 352.
  6. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1942-1949 (in Danish). Bispebjerg Sogn. 1945. p. 63. Ligsyn Retsmedicinsk Institut. Dødsaarsag: Skudsaar i Brystet Dødsmaaden: Henrettet ved Skydning
  7. "29. Juni - 8 Frihedskæmpere henrettet" [29 June - 8 freedom fighters executed]. Frit Danmark (in Danish). January 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  8. MARIUS FIIL (Inscribed Stone Monument) (in Danish). Hvidsten Inn. 1944 DEN 29. JUNI - FALDT DE FOR DE TYSKE KUGLER - DYREBART ER DERES MINDE FOR DANMARK - REJST AARET 1945
  9. MARIUS ANTON PEDERSEN FIIL (Inscribed Stone Monument) (in Danish). Ryvangen Memorial Park. 21.5.1893 * + 29.6.1944 +
  10. "Konfirmerede Piger" [Confirmed Girls]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1935-1949 (in Danish). Gassum. 1944. p. 149.
  11. "Fødte Kvindekøn" [Born Females]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1909-1920 (in Danish). Gassum. 1918. p. 70.
  12. "Konfirmerede Piger" [Confirmed Girls]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1920-1934 (in Danish). Gassum. 1932. p. 155.
  13. "Utrolig mange Arrestationer" [Incredibly many arrests]. De frie Danske (in Danish). 18 March 1944. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  14. "Fødte Kvindekøn" [Born Females]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1935-1949 (in Danish). Gassum. 1942. p. 71.
  15. "ARRESTEREDE" [ARRESTED]. De frie Danske (in Danish). 23 April 1944. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2014. Kroejer Marius Fiil med flere fra Hvidsten er blevet overført fra Randers til Vestre
  16. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1930-1946 (in Danish). Sankt Johannes Sogn. 1945. p. 354.
  17. "Døde Mandkøn" [Deceased Males]. Kirkebog [Parish Register]. 1942-1949 (in Danish). Bispebjerg Sogn. 1945. p. 64. Ligsyn Retsmedicinsk Institut. Dødsaarsag: Skudsaar i Brystet Dødsmaaden: Henrettet ved Skydning
  18. "EN FOLKELIG SKIKKELSE, ET HISTORISK EKSEMPEL PAA JYLLANDS SEJGHED UNDER FREMMEDHEREDØMMET" [A POPULAR FIGURE, A HISTORICAL EXAMPLE OF JUTLAND'S TOUGHNESS UNDER FOREIGN RULE]. De frie Danske (in Danish). 15 July 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 24 November 2014. Vi samler Tankerne om Fru Gudrun Fiil. Paa een Dag og i samme bitre Time mistede hun sin Mand, sin eneste Søn og sin Svigersøn. Og hendes to unge Døtre er bortført i Fangenskab. Ingen dansk Hustru og Moder bærer en Skæbne saa tung af Sorg og Savn, Smerte og Gru og Bekymring. Men Folkets Ærbødighed og Hengivenhed skal støtte den segnende
  19. "This life / Hvidsten Gruppen - nogle må dø for at andre kan leve". dfi.dk. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
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