Kim Malthe-Bruun
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Kim Malthe-Bruun was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Canada in July 1923. At the age of six, Kim, little sister Ruth, and mother moved back to Denmark, where she was originally from. He grew up a peasant, but by the time he was sixteen, 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 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. Surprisingly, he was quite happy to be alone in his own cell.
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 (he called a "dark cell")
- 7 February - 11 February - Froeslev
- 12 February - 11 March - Cells 286, 284, 282, 276, and 270 (in Vestre)
- 1 March - 2 March - Cell 586
- 5 March - 12 March - Cell 50 (Police Headquarters)
- 15 March- ? - Cell 37 (Police Headquarters)
On 6 April 1945, Kim Malthe-Bruun was executed for resisting the Germans.
After the war, a book, called Kim, was published about him by his mother. It contained many of his letters home to both her and his girlfriend Hanne.
Lois Lowry is said to have based the character Peter in Number the Stars after Kim, possibly due to his courage against the Nazis.
