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{{Short description|Danish playwright and pastor}}
{{onesource|date=September 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}{{Infobox writer 
| name = Kaj Munk
| honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Kaj Munk.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Photo of Kaj Munk published in<br>the ''[[De Wervelwind]]'', February 1944
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Kaj Harald Leininger Munk
| birth_date = {{birth date|1898|01|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Lolland]], Denmark
| death_date = {{death date and age|1944|01|04|1898|01|13|df=y}}
| death_place = Hørbylunde near [[Silkeborg]], Denmark
| resting_place =
| occupation = Playwright and [[Lutheran pastor]]
| language =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre = 
| subject = 
| movement =
| notableworks = ''Pilatus'', ''Ordet'', ''Kærlighed''
| spouse = 
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| relatives =
| awards =
| signature =
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}}

'''Kaj Harald Leininger Munk''' (commonly called '''Kaj Munk'''; 13 January 1898 – 4 January 1944) was a Danish playwright and [[Lutheran pastor]], known for his cultural engagement and his [[martyrdom]] during the [[Occupation of Denmark]] of World War II. He is commemorated as a martyr in the [[Calendar of Saints (Lutheran)|Calendar of Saints]] of the [[Lutheran Church]] on 14 August, alongside [[Maximilian Kolbe]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.renewingworship.org/ELW/content/PDF/ChurchYear_asm_20060119.pdf|title=The Church Year Calendar|date=2006-09-08|publisher=Evangelical Lutheran Church in America|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908112753/http://www.renewingworship.org/ELW/content/PDF/ChurchYear_asm_20060119.pdf|archive-date=2006-09-08}}</ref>

==Biography==
He was born Kaj Harald Leininger Petersen on the island of [[Lolland]], Denmark, and raised by a family named Munk after the death of his parents. From 1924 until his death, Munk was the vicar of [[Ulfborg-Vemb Municipality|Vedersø]] in Western [[Jutland]].<ref name="chronology">{{cite web|url=http://www.kajmunk.hum.aau.dk/en/?show=chronology|title=The Kaj Munk Research Center - Aalborg University|access-date=22 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718113424/http://www.kajmunk.hum.aau.dk/en/?show=chronology|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Munk's plays were mostly performed and made public during the 1930s, although many were written in the 1920s. Much of his other work concerns the "philosophy-on-life debate" (religion—[[Marxism]]—Darwinism) which marked much of Danish cultural life during this period.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

On one occasion, in the early 1930s, in a comment that came back to haunt him in later years, Munk expressed admiration for [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] (for uniting Germans) and wished a similar unifying figure for Danes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.information.dk/81242|title=Ingen Dansk kan ære Hitlers Daad mere end jeg|date=5 May 2003}}</ref> However, Munk's attitude towards Hitler (and [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]]) turned to outspoken criticism as he witnessed Hitler's [[Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany|persecution of the German Jewish community]], and Mussolini's conduct of the [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War|war in Ethiopia]]. In 1938, the Danish newspaper ''[[Jyllands-Posten]]'' published on its front page an open letter to [[Benito Mussolini]] written by Kaj Munk criticising the persecutions against Jews.<ref name="chronology"/>

Early on, Munk was a strong opponent of the [[Occupation of Denmark|German Occupation of Denmark]] (1940–1945), although he continually opposed the idea of democracy as such, preferring the idea of a "[[Nordic countries|Nordic]] dictator" who should unite the Nordic countries and keep them [[political neutrality|neutral]] during periods of international crisis. His plays ''Han sidder ved Smeltediglen'' ("He sits by the melting pot") and ''Niels Ebbesen'' were direct attacks on [[Nazism]]. The latter, centering on the figure of [[Niels Ebbesen]], a medieval Danish squire considered a [[Folk hero|national hero]] for having assassinated an earlier German occupier of Denmark, [[Gerhard III|Count Gerhard III]], was a contemporary [[Analogue (literature)|analogue]] to World War II-era Denmark. Despite his friends urging Munk to go underground, he continued to preach against Danes who collaborated with the Nazis.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

The [[Gestapo]] arrested Munk on the night of 4 January 1944, a month after he had defied a Nazi ban and preached the first [[Advent]] sermon at the [[Church of Our Lady (Copenhagen)|national cathedral]] in Copenhagen. Munk's body was found in a roadside ditch in rural Hørbylunde near [[Silkeborg]] the next morning with a note stating, "Swine, you worked for Germany just the same."<ref>''Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', William L. Shirer, 1960. Retrieved 23.3.13</ref>

Munk's body was returned to his parish church, Vedersø, where it is buried outside the choir.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ulfborg-turist.dk/idd63.asp|title=Ulfborg-Vemb Touristbureau – Churches|access-date=14 August 2013|archive-date=25 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225160352/http://www.ulfborg-turist.dk/idd63.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> A simple stone cross was also erected on a small hill overlooking the site where Munk's body was dumped.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kulturarv.dk/1001fortaellinger/en_GB/hoerbylunde|title=Hørbylunde, The pastor of Vedersø - 1001 Stories of Denmark}}</ref>

Half of the January 1944 issue of the resistance newspaper ''[[De frie Danske]]'' was dedicated to Munk with his portrait filling the front page. The obituary ''Danmarks store Søn—Kaj Munk'' (The great son of Denmark—Kaj Munk) filled the next page, followed by excerpts from a new year's sermon he had given. Next came a description of his murder and a photo reportage from his funeral. Lastly the paper featured condemning reactions from influential Scandinavians, namely [[Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland]], [[Jarl Hemmer]], [[Johannes Jørgensen]], [[Sigrid Undset]], [[Erling Eidem]] and [[Harald Bohr]].<ref>{{cite news |title= KAJ MUNK IN MEMORIAM |url= http://www.illegalpresse.dk/papers/show/id/68 |newspaper=De frie Danske |date= January 1944 |access-date=18 November 2014 |language=da}}</ref>

The Danish government allowed his widow, Lise, to live at the parish house until she died in 1998. The church and parish house were restored as a memorial and opened to the public in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Kunst_og_kultur/Litteratur/Dansk_litteratur/1914-40/Kaj_Munk|title=Kaj Munk - Gyldendal - Den Store Danske|date=28 April 2023 }}</ref>

==Playwright==
Munk often used a historical background for his plays—among his influences were [[William Shakespeare]], [[Adam Oehlenschläger]], [[Henrik Ibsen]], and [[George Bernard Shaw]].<ref name="gyldendal">[http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Kunst_og_kultur/Litteratur/Dansk_litteratur/1914-40/Kaj_Munk Kaj Munk], ''Den Store Danske'', [[Gyldendal]]</ref> As a playwright, Munk became known for "strong characters"—integrated people who fight wholeheartedly for their ideals (whether good or bad). In his play ''En Idealist'', for example, the "hero" is [[Herod the Great|King Herod]] whose fight to maintain power is the motive behind all of his acts until he is at last defeated by a show of kindness to the Christ child in a weak moment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kaj Munk |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100216675 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en }}</ref>

His 1925 play ''[[Ordet]]'' (''The Word'') is generally considered to be his best work; it is an investigation of miracles from the unique (at least, to theatre) viewpoint of one who was not prepared to dismiss them. A family of farmers—of differing degrees of faith—find themselves reconciled to their neighbours through a miracle. A 1943 film adaptation titled ''[[The Word (1943 film)|The Word]]'' was directed by [[Gustaf Molander]]. A 1955 film version of ''[[Ordet]]'' was directed by [[Carl Theodor Dreyer]], and won numerous awards, including the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[16th Venice International Film Festival]] and the 1956 [[Golden Globe Award]] for Best Foreign Language Film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carlthdreyer.dk/Filmene/Ordet.aspx|title=Carl Th. Dreyer - Ordet|access-date=22 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719121257/http://www.carlthdreyer.dk/Filmene/Ordet.aspx|archive-date=19 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

Munk's plays, many of which have been performed at the [[Royal Theatre, Copenhagen]], and elsewhere, include:
* ''[[Pilatus (play)|Pilatus]]'' (1917; published 1937)
* ''Ordet'' (tr. ''The Word'') (1925)
* ''Kærlighed'' (1926)
* ''[[En Idealist]]'' (1928)
* ''[[I Brændingen]]'' (1929)
* ''[[Kardinalen og Kongen]]'' (1929)
* ''[[Cant (play)|Cant]]'' (1931)
* ''[[De Udvalgte]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Sejren]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Han sidder ved Smeltediglen]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Egelykke]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Niels Ebbesen]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Før Cannae]]'' (1943)

His play ''[[Niels Ebbesen]]'' has been translated into English (2006) by his granddaughter Arense Lund and Canadian playwright [[Dave Carley]].<ref>[http://davecarley.com/media/uploads/text-plays/niels_ebbesen_translation_and_adaptation.pdf Niels Ebbesen (2006) English Translation]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Clearing murder]]
*[[Schalburgtage]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{official|http://www.kajmunk.dk }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060503195641/http://www.kajmunk.hum.aau.dk/en/ www.kajmunk.hum.aau.dk]
*[http://www.pietisten.org/summer99/kajmunk.html Commemorating Kaj Munk by Sarah Heinrich]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munk, Kaj}}
[[Category:Danish monarchists]]
[[Category:Danish people of World War II]]
[[Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar]]
[[Category:20th-century Protestant martyrs]]
[[Category:Danish people executed by Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Danish male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Danish dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Danish male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Danish Lutheran clergy]]

Kaj Munk - Revision history

imported>Omnipaedista: Wikipedia avoids unnecessary capitalization