Bernardus IJzerdraat
Encyclopedia
Bernardus IJzerdraat was a Dutch resistance fighter
in the Second World War.
A tapestry restaurer from Rotterdam
, he became involved as early as 1936 in the Eenheid door Democratie movement which opposed Fascism
and Communism
. Immediately after the bombing of Rotterdam during the German invasion in 1940
, he set up the first Dutch resistance group, De Geuzen, and published the Geuzenbericht, a resistance pamphlet, the very next day.
He was arrested together with other members of his group when the Germans discovered a list of names and addresses at his home. After a show trial, he was shot at Scheveningen on 13 March 1941 together with 17 others, including three Communists involved in the February Strike
.
He was posthumously awarded the Resistance Cross
which his widow received in 1955.
Dutch resistance
Dutch resistance to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized by its prominent non-violence, summitting in over 300,000 people in hiding in the autumn of 1944, tended to by some 60,000 to 200,000 illegal landlords and caretakers and tolerated knowingly...
in the Second World War.
A tapestry restaurer from Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, he became involved as early as 1936 in the Eenheid door Democratie movement which opposed Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Immediately after the bombing of Rotterdam during the German invasion in 1940
Battle of the Netherlands
The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow , the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until 14 May 1940 when the main Dutch forces surrendered...
, he set up the first Dutch resistance group, De Geuzen, and published the Geuzenbericht, a resistance pamphlet, the very next day.
He was arrested together with other members of his group when the Germans discovered a list of names and addresses at his home. After a show trial, he was shot at Scheveningen on 13 March 1941 together with 17 others, including three Communists involved in the February Strike
February strike
The 1941 February Strike, also known as 'The Strike of February 1941', was a general strike organized during World War II in the Netherlands against the anti-Jewish measures and activities of the Nazis. Its direct causes were the pogroms held by the Germans in the Jewish neighbourhood of Amsterdam....
.
He was posthumously awarded the Resistance Cross
Dutch Cross of Resistance
The Verzetskruis 1940–1945 is one of the highest possible decorations that exist within the Kingdom of the Netherlands....
which his widow received in 1955.
External links
- Bernardus IJzerdraat from the Dutch National Archives. Retrieved 13 April 2008.