Svend Otto Nielsen

Svend Otto Nielsen (29 August 1908 – 26 April 1944) was a Danish resistance operative during the Danish resistance movement during the German Occupation of Denmark (1940–1945). With the code name John, Nielsen led other resistance fighters of the Holger Danske against the Nazis. He was captured, tortured, and executed in April 1944.

Early life and career Nielsen was born on 29 August 1908 in Herfølge, Denmark, the son of Astrid Vilhelmine and Carl Peter Christian Nielsen, a forest warden. He grew up in Jutland.

Nielsen considered careers in agriculture and shipping over two and a half years and then studied at Ranum seminar to become a teacher.

On 23 October 1943, Nielsen began the first actions as a resistance fighter. With polytechnics and medical students, Nielsen sabotaged Dansk Skovindustri's factory in Næstved. They used arms that sea cadets stole from Holmen, Copenhagen. Five days later, they attacked a Copenhagen tool factory. Nielsen became the leader of Holger Danske (HD) group 2, and he trained other Holger Danske groups.

Neilsen was captured and suffered torture and inhumane treatment to get him to provide information, but he never did. The most notable attacks made by HD were to a steel mill in Jutland and the B&W shipbuilding yard in Copenhagen, which were conducted in retribution for Nielsen's arrest and treatment.

Nielsen met up with Jørgen Kieler in the Copenhagen prison. Nielsen was unable to move out of bed due to his broken leg, and he was in a poor state. He had no means to go to the toilet or wash himself and he had not had medical treatment for three or four months (December 1943 to April 1944). He had to bind his leg with newspapers. On a few occasions, Kieler was allowed to carry him outside and to the toilet.

A German judge court-martialed Nielsen for killing a German policeman and for sabotage and sentenced him to execution. Nielsen was too weak to stand up and was carried to the place of his execution at Ryvangen (an execution and burial site for members of the Danish resistance). He was shot and killed on 26 April 1944. His body is interred at the Ryvangen Memorial Park in Copenhagen.

His obituary stated of his execution, "Probably he couldn't even stand upright by a wall - he was one of them though the most upright people in the fighting Denmark." Memorial plaques were installed at Skovshoved School, Ranum State Seminary, Årestrup Church, and Skovshoved Church.