29 June 2019 - 75 years after the execution of 8 men from the Hvidsten Cell.           På dansk                               Updated:  16 JUL 2019
Speech by vicar Peter Ulvsgaard right after the last wreath laid in the memorial garden in Hvidsten. see photo from the speech.

Today 75 years ago! At early dawn in Ryvangen 8 men from this village and this area became the victims of the cruel ideology that had then subdued great parts of the world and deprived millions of their lives and humanity. The strong belief of these Jutlanders that justice and freedom cannot be bent, their belief that nations are not founded on fear of an occupying power made them a part of a new movement, a resistance movement, which might not be impressive in numbers, but its significance was and is invaluable, not least regarding  posterity’s view of our fellow countrymen during the 5 evil years. When we commemorate the Hvidsten Cell here today, both the 8 who were killed – and those who survived with scars on their souls and molested minds, the place is important, - it was here a little down Mariagervej, at the inn, that the first contact was established. It was here the group gathered, and they went out from here when Allied planes dropped weapons for the Danish resistance. We tell the story of these brave men and women in our area time and again in order to bring the past to eye level with us, because we recognize that no man is without responsibility for the world we share. We are never without guilt and responsibility – whether we act or abstain from action we are important to each other, to the country, and to the people. In the shadow of the policy of collaboration the ones we today know as the Hvidsten Cell were living in Hvidsten, Gassum, Spentrup and other places nearby. They were not persuaded to calm down and settle down by worried politicians. They  involved themselves in the resistance and above all they contributed to saving the self-respect and reputation of Denmark. The 8 men whose urns were taken from Ryvangen to this place, paid the ultimate price, or as one of the group writes in his farewell letter, “Some must give their lives so that others may live.” We will remember their courage by including the past into the present so that we remember that we never stand only on our own unsteady legs but on the shoulders of those who fought, defied peril and death, and paid the ultimate price.

The 8 from the Hvidsten Cell lost their lives and their families lost them. As a guest at the inn once wrote on a scrap of paper as a greeting to Gudrun Fiil, “Strong were those who fought, stronger the one who suffered.” In our area both the loss and the pride in the courage of the lost ones are borne in the families and in the local community. In this memorial garden and in the churchyards they lie giving evidence of courage and will, of faith and loyalty to the country that was theirs once and and is ours today. Here in Hvidsten in the Parish of Gassum we are honoured that Her Majesty Queen Margrethe, the Danish Home Guard, the Bishop of the Diocese of Aarhus, our Mayor and many others, together with descendants of the Hvidsten Cell, participate in this commemoration as part of the local tradition of remembering and honouring the cell, here and in the church.  The wreath-laying ceremony here and the subsequent memorial service in the Gassum Church is our local contribution to keep the story alive, present and relevant, and at the same time to show the surviving relatives that deep in the soul of the Danish people we still know that a people is not created unless some sacrifice themselves. These 8 and their companions knew that, and that is why, during their captivity, they read in the bible which is now on the altar in the Gassum Church. They did that when they needed comfort, when they feared, when they hoped. That is why they fortified themselves by the hymn we are going to sing now remembering them, Fight for all that you hold dear, die, if that be fitter! Life is then not full of fear, nor is death so bitter.                *) We will remember them. *) See the full text from HYMNS IN ENGLISH translated by Edward Broadbridge.