Jørgen Kieler a Danish physician, is remembered primarily for his participation in resistance activities under the German occupation of Denmark

Occupation of Denmark

Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to the Allies on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish...

 in the early 1940s. Together with his sister, Elsebet, he published Frit Denmark or Free Denmark, an illegal newspaper. As a member of the Holger Danske resistance group

Holger Danske (resistance group)

Holger Danske was a Danish resistance group during World War II. It was created by veteran volunteers from the Winter War who had fought on the Finnish side against the Soviet Union. It was among the largest resistance groups and consisted of around 350 volunteers towards the end of the war...

, he helped hundreds of Danish Jews to escape to Sweden and avoid extermination.

Despite capture by the Germans and time in a concentration camp, he returned to Denmark after the war and then completed his studies in the United States. In 1980, he became director of research at Kræftens Bekæmpelse (the Danish Cancer Research Institute).

Kieler has written a number of books about the German occupation and about concentration camp syndrome.