228:, a senior officer came in and ordered her to be taken to the basement as there was sufficient evidence against her. She was instead taken by a guard to a large room on the second floor. The guard went into a back room where he started talking to another German. Left alone, she decided to try to escape. She walked down the stairs to the first floor where she met two civilian Germans who were leaving the building. She walked behind them and out of the front door where the guard failed to recognize her. After walking calmly across the bridge to the Palace Theatre, she ran off as fast as she could.
193:'s department for monitoring private railways. This role gave her access to confidential German reports, which she communicated anonymously to her friends in order to protest the German occupation. In early 1942, a friend brought her in touch with De frie Danske (Free Denmark), a resistance group which published an illegal paper with the same name. In addition to contributing to the paper, she became involved in producing
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Born in
Copenhagen on 28 September 1911, Edith Andersen was the daughter of the senior civil servant Edmund Christian Sofus Andersen (1886–1962) and Carla Vilhelmine Fliedner (1890–1928). She and her sister were brought up in a well-to-do home where they were taught to respect their country and the
220:, she had to exercise more caution. She continued her illegal work with the radio specialist L.A. Duus Hansen who transmitted coded information to the SOE. Using the code name Lotte, she became his personal secretary.
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at Aurehøj
Gymnasium in 1928, she trained to become an office worker. From 1930 until her marriage to Poul Winther Bonnesen in 1935, she worked for the London insurance company. Her marriage was dissolved in 1940.
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In August 1944, while visiting the Danish-Swedish
Refugee Service's illegal post office in central Copenhagen, Bonnesen was arrested and taken to the Gestapo headquarters in the Shell House. While being
186:, she experienced first hand the mistreatment of Jewish people by the Nazis. As a result, she became firmly opposed to the Nazis and became interested in participating in resistance activities.
251:, receiving messages from Denmark and passing them on to London. After the American consul was called back to the United States at the beginning of 1945, Bonnesen acted as consul until the
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and the SOE, Bonnesen was arrested three times by the Danish and German police in late 1942, but was released after denying any involvement in illegal work. After the
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In 1946, Bonnesen was employed by the textile firm
Fiedlers Kattuntryk where she later headed the export department. In 1952, she had to leave as her
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182:' racial policy when in 1935 she and her husband helped a Jewish couple in Denmark. In 1937, while visiting
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until her retirement in 1975. Bonnesen partially recovered her hearing after an operation in 1963.
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as a result of an injury from a shooting incident during the German occupation. After learning to
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was often used as a meeting place for resistance workers or for hiding wanted persons, including
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Since she had been identified by the
Gestapo, Bonnesen left Denmark for neutral
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137:(SOE). Arrested but released on several occasions, she escaped from
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Recipients of the King's Medal for
Courage in the Cause of Freedom
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Germans took over the government of
Denmark in August 1943
381:. AirmenDK Allied Airmen - Allierede flyvere 1939-45 DK
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After her divorce in 1940, Bonnesen was employed in the
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Danish civil servant and member of the Danish resistance
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Edith
Bonnesen died in Copenhagen on 20 February 1992.
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where she was employed as a secretary at the
American
290:for her participation in the resistance movement.
359:(in Danish). Gyldendal: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon
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288:King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom
150:King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom
97:King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom
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127:. She contributed to the illegal newspaper
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379:"Edith Bonnesen at the Gestapo HQ"
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212:In connection with involvement in
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35:Edith Bonnesen in the early 1940s
442:Danish female resistance members
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332:"Edith Bonnesen (1911 - 1992)"
265:hearing was seriously impaired
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145:headquarters in August 1944.
135:Special Operations Executive
121:German occupation of Denmark
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432:Danish women civil servants
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87:Danish resistance movement
422:Danish resistance members
286:Bonneson was awarded the
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148:Bonneson was awarded the
111:(1911–1992) was a Danish
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417:People from Copenhagen
427:Danish civil servants
253:liberation of Denmark
191:Ministry of Transport
247:. Unofficially, she
334:(in Danish). Kvinfo
273:Ministry of Defence
165:. After completing
330:Birkelund, Peter.
199:identity documents
115:and member of the
55:September 28, 1911
259:Post-war activity
117:Danish resistance
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63:February 20, 1992
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383:. Retrieved
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65:(1992-02-20)
412:1992 deaths
407:1911 births
385:9 September
363:9 September
338:9 September
245:Jutta Graae
241:Helsingborg
119:during the
401:Categories
294:References
197:and false
156:Early life
139:Copenhagen
71:Copenhagen
51:1911-09-28
237:consulate
167:realskole
73:, Denmark
269:lip-read
203:Hellerup
109:Andersen
143:Gestapo
282:Awards
233:Sweden
184:Berlin
93:Awards
180:Nazis
387:2019
365:2019
340:2019
107:née
60:Died
41:Born
239:in
141:'s
123:in
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