Georg Quistgaard (19 February 1915 - 20 or 21 May 1944) was one of 102 members of the

Danish resistance The Danish resistance movements () 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 authority allowed the democratic governm ...

to the

German occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from occupying the country soon after the outbreak of war; the occupation lasted until Germany's defeat. The ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

who were

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

following a

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

Biography

As a youth, Quistgaard dropped out of high-school and travelled through Europe on foot and bicycle. In Paris, he met the two year younger Ellen Nielsen and they returned to Denmark. They married and opened a small shop of art works in Copenhagen, which went out of business in 1940.

Resistance

During the

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself Neutral countries in World War II, neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from Military occupation, occupying the country soon after the outbreak of ...

, Quistgaard was connected to "Hjemmefronten" (the home front) og

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

for whom he was a contact person and courier. He scouted for new airdrop sites, helped found the Hvidsten group as well as participating in their initial airdrop receptions. Additionally Quistgaard participated in the reception of allied airdropped weapons in the area of Gyldenløves Høj. On 13 January 1944 the Gestapo arrested Quistgaard in his home (Abenraa 10, Copenhagen) after an exchange of fire; they incarcerated him in

Vestre Fængsel Vestre Prison (, Western Prison) 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 Ve ...

. His wife was not at home and managed to escape to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, a fact which the resistance later communicated to Quistgaard. The January 1944 issue of

De frie Danske De frie Danske () was a Danish resistance newspaper published in Copenhagen about monthly from December 1941 to 24 May 1945. It was the first Danish non-Communism, communist resistance newspaper and the first to bring photographs. It was also one ...

describes a drawn out firefight around 3 pm in the Copenhagen street Aabenraa between the Gestapo and Danish patriots. The newspaper learned that five people were arrested in a building there, after they ran out of ammunition. On 28 January 1944 the Gestapo arrested Quistgaard's mother. The interrogation by the Gestapo took place at their

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

in Dagmarhus. Quistgaard's

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

and letters to his wife and mother suggest that he did not feel he was subjected to

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

, but rather that there was some element of mutual respect between him and his interrogators. Quistgaard's initial interrogation included

sleep deprivation Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...

, including one 28-hour interrogation, and thinly veiled threats of being beaten with a rubber baton. His mother was released after about two weeks of imprisonment. On 2 March 1944 Quistgaard was moved with eight others to

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

. On 25 April 1944 he was transferred back to Vestre Fængsel. On 12 May 1944 Quistgaard was put on trial as one of twelve members of the resistance in front of three

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s from the SS. As

witnesses In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

, the

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

presented two SOE operatives, known as ''Jacob Jensen'' and ''Bent''. The former incriminated eight of the twelve to the point where they admitted to the charges. Quistgaard along with two other men and

Monica Wichfeld Monica Emily Wichfeld (''née'' Massy-Beresford; 12 July 1894 – 27 February 1945) was a leading member of the Danish resistance during the German occupation of Denmark in the Second World War. She was the first woman in Denmark to receive a cap ...

were condemned to death with the execution pending any new acts of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

. Two days later the four death sentences were published in the Danish newspapers. On the evening of 20 May 1944 Quistgaard wrote what was to be his last letter, to his mother. It was smuggled out the following day by

Jørgen Kieler Jørgen Kieler (23 August 1919 – 19 February 2017) was a Danish physician, remembered primarily for his participation in Danish resistance, resistance activities under the German occupation of Denmark in the early 1940s. He was captured and was ...

. On 20 or 21 May 1944 Quistgaard and the two other men condemned at the trial were executed. Monica Wichfeld had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment but died in German captivity before the end of the war. The news of the execution was published by the papers on 23 May.

After his death

On 26 June a memorial service was held for Quistgaard in

Grundtvig's Church Grundtvig's Church () is located in the Bispebjerg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is a rare example of expressionist church architecture. Due to its originality, it is one of the best known churches in the city. History The commission fo ...

and on 29 August he and 105 other victims of the occupation were given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

in the memorial park founded at the execution site in Ryvangen. Bishop

Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard (29 July 1890 – 8 July 1979) was a bishop of the diocese of Copenhagen for 25 years including the years of the Nazi Germany, German occupation. Early life and education Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard was born on 29 July 1890 in ...

led the service with participation from the royal family, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and representatives of the resistance movement. In 1946 his prison diary and letters were published, prefaced by

Elias Bredsdorff Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated traditi ...

. The royalties from the book were donated to

Frihedsfonden Frihedsfonden was founded on May 31, 1945. It was a charity for the families of fallen members of the Danish resistance movement The Danish resistance movements () were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark dur ...

Legacy and honors

* Together with Erik Briand Clausen and two other resistance members who fell victim to the German occupation Quistgaard is commemorated with a memorial stone on Gyldenløves Høj.

Bibliography

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quistgaard, Georg 1915 births 1944 deaths People from Copenhagen Danish resistance members Danish male writers Danish people executed by Nazi Germany Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi courts