Gunnar Dyrberg

Gunnar Dyrberg (12 November 1921 Faaborg – 8 January 2012) was a member of the Danish resistance movement during World War II, leading the Holger Danske, a Danish resistance group in the capital Copenhagen, from 1943 to 1945. After the war, Dyrberg became a public administrator, holding several appointed positions in government, and later a public relations executive in banking. For more than 40 years, he also owned and operated a horse farm, breeding and training Icelandic horses in Høsterkøb, North Zealand.

From 1994 to 2000, Dyrberg published his own writing: his novels and memoirs were based on his experiences in the Resistance. He was featured in the 2003 Danish documentary film, With a Right to Kill (Med ret til at dræbe), based on the 2001 history by Peter Øvig Knudsen. The book and film were part of some of the first efforts by Danes to seriously study issues raised by the liquidation of 400 persons by the Danish Resistance during the war. The film featured news footage, interviews with surviving agents and leaders of the Resistance movement, and reconstruction of known events.

Dyrberg's Holger Danske group was also the subject of Flame and Citron (Flammen og Citronen, 2008), a Danish fictionalized dramatic film based on actions of its two most noted members, who were both killed by the Germans before the end of the war.

After the Nazis occupied Denmark, Dyrberg was among the many young men who joined the Danish Resistance. He used the code name, "Herman," to disguise his identity during the German occupation. He rose to lead the Holger Danske, a resistance group in Copenhagen.

Dyrberg had a very close working relationship with Bent Faurschou-Hviid ("Flame") and Jørgen Haagen Schmith (code named "Citron"), two of the most noted members of the group. After the war, Dyrberg admitted that he had directed the killing of several German informants and soldiers, though the number has never been publicly revealed. Before 1944, the group killed only Danish Nazis, informers, and collaborators, to reduce the threat of overwhelming Nazi retaliation against the civilian population.

...
Wikipedia