Ellen Christensen

Ellen Marie Christensen (1913–1998) was a Danish nurse who became a resistance fighter during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II. In 1953, she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal for her contribution to saving Jews, resistance workers and allied pilots.

Biography Born on 30 March 1913 in the parish of Frejlev to the south west of Aalborg, Ellen Marie Christensen was the daughter of the farmer Peter Marinus Christensen (born 1885) and Christiane Hansen (born 1884). Brought up in a well-to-do family, after completing her school education, she trained to become a nurse.

She became the partner of the key resistance coordinator Jørgen Haagen Schmith, better known as Citronen (the Lemon). When he was seriously wounded by the Germans in September 1944, she cared for him every day. When the Gestapo discovered their hiding place in October, Schmith was killed but Christensen managed to escape, although her identity card had been found. As a result, she had to work underground for the rest of the war.