Kim Malthe-Bruun

Who was Kim Malthe-Bruun?

Kim Malthe-Bruun was a member of the Danish resistance captured and killed during World War II.

He was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Canada. At the age of nine, Kim, his six-year-old sister Ruth, and his mother moved back to Denmark, where she was originally from. He grew up a peasant, but by the time he was seventeen, he became a merchant seaman. When Nazi Germany invaded Denmark, he joined the Danish resistance movement at the age of 21. He used his skills as a sailor to transport arms for the resistance.

On 19 December 1944, Kim was caught by the Gestapo in an apartment on Classen Street with two friends. He was unarmed and carrying his own identification papers. He was sent to the Vestre Fængsel Prison soon after his arrest. The first cell he stayed in was Cell 252, in the German Section. On Wednesday, 21 February, Kim was sent to the Police Headquarters for questioning. He did not return to Vestre until Wednesday, 28 February. The next day he was placed in solitary confinement and forbidden to write letters.

In a letter to his girlfriend, he stated the cells he had been in so far:

19 December 1944 - 2 February 1945, Cell 252

2 February 1945, at 8 o'clock - Cell 585