Dock worker and freedom fighter Henry Hede (February 14, 1905 – December 31, 1944) was active politically and professionally. He was a communist, but avoided the first arrests. Hede joined the resistance, but in 1944 he fell victim to an informer. He died in a concentration camp. His body was later brought home for burial in Skive to much attention.
Dock worker, politically and professionally active
Dock worker Arne Henry Kristian Jensen (called Hede) (February 14, 1905-December 31, 1944) was the son of slaughterhouse worker Jens Jensen and his wife, Kirkegade in Skive. The family moved to the harbor in Skive, and Jens Jensen became a dock worker and fisherman (when there were no ships in the harbor). Henry Hede became a dock worker like his father, and was politically active in the Danish Communist Party (DKP) and unionized in the Workers’ Union in Skive.
the crisis of the 1930s: Hede demands equality for the unemployed
During the deep economic crisis of the early 1930s, Henry Hede led the first unemployment demonstration in Skive. A deputation of five was given an audience with Skive City Council. As spokesperson, Henry Hede criticized that the young unemployed were disadvantaged compared to the married unemployed when the municipality sold cheap fuel to the unemployed. He demanded equality between young and married people. Mayor Valdemar Johansen gave an answer speech.
“The mayor and the deputation bowed to each other, and the deputation went down to the square, where a few hundred people awaited it. Mr. Henry Jensen briefly announced the mayor’s response and urged people to go home calmly, as nothing could be achieved by making a spectacle. There were a few cheers – and then they went home,” wrote Skive Folkeblad on January 24, 1933.
Not in the city council, but in the union
In the city council elections of March 1933 and 1937, Henry Hede was the leading candidate on the Communists’ city council list. But he was not elected. In 1936, Henry Hede was elected to the board of the Workers’ Union in Skive. He served until he was arrested on June 21, 1944.
The arrest of communists.
Hede goes free and gets involved in the resistance
After Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Danish police arrested a large number of communists across the country. Henry Hede, as the informal leader of the communists in Skive, was under police surveillance, but he was not arrested. The communists in Skive set up an illegal leadership. Henry Hede became a member along with, among others, the young worker Fritz Nielsen, who had been sent to Skive by the DKP to initiate resistance work against the German occupying forces. Work was to be done in three areas: Trade union work, sabotage and magazine work. In September 1943, both Henry Hede and Fritz Nielsen took part in a drop group that received British weapons. And that same month, the first issue of the communists’ illegal magazine “Ny Tid” was published.
A snitch becomes fateful
The communists in Skive had close ties with the DKP in Aarhus, which is why they were also affected when the Germans – thanks to information from the great informer Grethe Bartram – began arresting a number of communist resistance fighters in Central Jutland in 1944. On June 21, 1944, Henry Hede and Fritz Nielsen were arrested by the Germans and taken to Aarhus, where they were interrogated. In August 1944, they were transferred to Frøslev camp and later that fall to Neuengamme concentration camp in Germany. On November 15, they were moved to Versen concentration camp near Meppen close to the Dutch border. On December 22, 1944, Fritz Nielsen died of pneumonia, and on December 31, Henry Hede died of dysentery, 39 years old.
The mention of Hede’s death
The news of Henry Hede’s death reached Skive in early February 1945. It was of course published in “Ny Tid”, but the legal press was also allowed to publish a – censored – announcement about the death. Skive Folkeblad wrote on February 10, 1945: “Henry Jensen (Hede) died on December 31. Former fisherman Jens Jensen (Hede) and his wife, Fjordvej 8, have been informed that their son, dock worker and fisherman Henry Jensen (Hede), passed away on December 31 last year. Henry Jensen (Hede), who would have turned 40 on February 14, was unmarried and lived with his parents, for whom his death will be a great loss. Henry Hede is described by his friends and superiors as a good and stable man, a faithful comrade and worker, whose strong, healthy figure will be missed.”
The painting
Just over a month later, on March 20, Folkebladet reported that friends of Henry Hede had commissioned painter N. Mølgaard Andersen, Skive, to paint a painting of Henry Hede, which had been donated to Henry Hede’s parents.
1947: Hede is buried with a large entourage
In July 1945, the parents were informed by the Danish Red Cross that Henry Hede’s body had been found in a grave in the camp in Versen. But it would be two years before the body was returned to Denmark along with more than 100 other dead freedom fighters. On July 13, 1947, Henry Hede was buried at Skive Cemetery. The procession was so large that it could barely fit in the Church of Our Lady.
The memorial stone
In connection with the funeral, a committee initiated a collection for a memorial stone for Henry Hede to be placed on the grave. The two-ton stone was carved by sculptor Chr. Westerbye, Skive. It was unveiled with great participation at a ceremony at Skive Cemetery on May 2, 1948. The memorial stone was unveiled by manufacturer Poul Møller, who had been the leader of the resistance movement in Skive for a period until he was taken by the Germans.
On the memorial stone is a verse by the Norwegian poet Nordahl Grieg: “Here we shall remember the dead, / who gave his life for our peace”.
Sources:
- Jørgen D. Jensen: The 40th anniversary of the liberation. Published by the Danish Communist Party – Skive branch. 1985.
- Skive Folkeblad April 30, 1948