Jens Lillelund

Jens Lillelund (22 October 1904–10 July 1981) was a Danish resistance leader and fighter during World War II (1939–1945), including working with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret British organization.

[1] His activities included contributing to a resistance publication, sabotage, rescuing Jews, managing logistics, and military training.

He developed alliances with other Danish resistance groups and the British military which provided a means to obtain weapons and explosives.

[4] Lillelund married Ena Kjærbye, daughter of Johanne Augusta Allin (1882-1949) and Oluf Rasmus K. (1875-1932), head treasurer.

He was a public speaker known for his reputation as a freedom fighter and the chairman of organizations such as the Danish Israel Society, Denmark's Committee for Soviet Jews, and The League for Tolerance.

[5] He worked for the magazine De frie Danske (The Free Danes), which was an illegal publication[4] aligned with the Danish resistance movement group Borgerlige Partisaner (BOPA).

[6] Lillelund remembered Svend Otto Nielsen's feelings about working underground while at the apartment of Hedvig Delbo, who was later found to be the Gestapo operative who informed on him, I hope I survive the war.

I don't think you’ll get through, but it's just possible I might... [9]Lillelund helped reorganize the group of resistance fighters to meet the needs of the time, such as when they found out that the Germans planned to deport all Danish Jews to concentration camps in October 1943[4] during Rosh Hasanna (Jewish New Year).

[10] When Lillelund heard of the deportation plans, he and his wife identified Jewish-sounding names from the Copenhagen telephone book to warn them.

[4][6] Lillelund worked on logistics and rescue efforts to bring Danish Jews to safety in Sweden.

[4] A female informer for the Nazis had identified Lillelund and Svend Otto Nielsen, leader of another resistance group.

[4] In the meantime, Jørgen Staffeldt, a representative of the Freedom Council, ran the Holger Danske organization in Lillelund's absence.

[6] Holger Dansk began to train its members to fight to reclaim Denmark from Nazi Germany beginning in the summer of 1944.

He returned to Sweden after he and Toldstrup found working with Vagn Bennike, the military leader in Jutland, too difficult.

King Christian X's commemorative medal for participation in the war 1940–1945