Jørgen Kieler (23 August 1919 – 19 February 2017[1]) was a Danish physician, remembered primarily for his participation in resistance activities under the German occupation of Denmark in the early 1940s.

After the war, he wrote a book about his war-time experiences and supported other Danish concentration camp survivors as president of the Freedom Foundation of Denmark.

Jørgen Kieler, the son of a physician of Jutland, studied medicine with his sister Elsebet in England, France, Germany, and Copenhagen.

[2] Denmark and Germany signed a treaty of nonaggression on 31 May 1939, and with a small population of Nazi sympathizers, Kieler had hoped his country would not be invaded, until he was awakened by the sound of low-flying planes over Copenhagen on 9 April 1940.

[4] Kieler came to realize what other Danes were thinking about being an occupied country, their only chance was to either support the German regime or become resistance fighters.

[7] In the spring of 1943, Kieler and his sister Elsebet then began to publish the newspaper and books in their apartment, which helped to rally anti-war sentiment and sabotage actions.

[7] As a member of the Holger Danske resistance group, he helped hundreds of Danish Jews to escape to Sweden and avoid extermination.

Nielsen was unable to move out of bed due to his broken leg and he was in a poor state, he had no means to go to the toilet or wash himself and he had not had medical treatment for three months.

[16] Kieler wrote a number of books about the German occupation and about concentration camp syndrome, including,Hvorfor gjorde I det?

[16] His story is told at the Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen, alongside four other figures from the time period as part of an interactive exhibition.