Silverfoxes Club Digest 294/5

NOTE: Some postings may have been deleted at the discretion of Ben Boxer. Erotic pictures posted on the regular version of the list are automatically deleted from the digest and are archived separately. Viewing them requires a password available only to members. Profiles posted to the list are also moved into a separate viewing area, but do not require a password. Click here to browse through them.

Silverfoxesclub-digest
Friday, July 6 2001
Volume 01 : Number 294/5

In this issue:

-Holland 1943: Arondéus' and 20 Other's Trial & Death Sentence
-Picture of Willem Arondéus, ca. 1940, aged 45
-Holland, June 27, 1943: Arondéus Farewell Letters
-Holland 1943: Arondéus Immortalized in Spielberg's "Shoah"
-Commemorating Willem Arondéus at the Homomonument 1995 (2)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Dean Hutchinson bvgay@yahoo.de
Subject: Holland 1943: Arondéus' and 20 Others' Trial & Death Sentence

THE .COLONIAL INSTITUTE. COURTHOUSE, AMSTERDAM, FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1943 Willem Arondius and Twenty Other Accused Appear In Court.

.Arondius was the first to be indicted. During the mock trial, for that.s what it was, his bearing attracts the most attention. Even the Germans themselves mention his .soldatische Haltung. [.soldierly bearing.] in the Anklageverf|gung [German word for: decree of indictment].

Gotji:
.The bearing of all the accused was generally very dashing. Arondius especially distinguished himself by his remarkably bold manner. He was prepared to assume full responsibility for the crime of sabotage that had been committed and wished to be sentenced to death for his comrades, who, he claimed, had merely acted on his instigation.

Another eyewitness, also accused in the matter, the young Amsterdam doctor Frits Dekking (who as a writer was also known by his pseudonym Yvo Pannekoek) praised Arondius as well: .His detached and almost exalted tone of voice is magnificent --- joyeux et indifferent..

After a short break the Vernehmung zur Sache [German expression for: examination in the case] followed --- the reconstruction of the crime of which they were being accused. Once again, Arondius distinguished himself by his bearing, this time in a dialogue with the chairman of the .tribunal. about the necessity of bringing people with knowledge of medicine in on the attack.

Arondius:
.We needed doctors since we.d said from the very beginning that blood must not be shed and that the attack should not cost any human life.---.

Chairman:
.Now you found these two doctors purely by chance. If they hadn.t been able to [do it], then you would have sat there without any and then..

Arondius interrupts the lecture with perfect self-confidence:
.Then I would have straight away found two more, [adding in German:] .es gibt SO Viele die furchtbar gern so was mitmachen. [.there are SO many just dying to join in the act.]..

At the end of the day.s trial the verdict was read out, with Arondius and thirteen others hearing the court call, in their cases, for the death sentence. Shortly before it was to be carried out, the death sentence for the doctors Honig and Beck was commuted to fifteen years. imprisonment. The remaining twelve were apparently going to .get the bullet.: Arondius, Bloemgarten, Grvger, Hartogh, Van Musschenbroek, Reitsma, Halberstadt, Brouwer, Limperg, Bakker, Barentsen and Roos. All other persons involved in the attack were either given prolonged prison sentences, sent to a concentration camp, or sent to forced labor in Germany. Joop H. got off best of all; he was released after one year. The ninth .chief culprit,. Gerrit Jan van der Veen, was captured on May 12, 1944, after trying to attack the prison at Weteringschans [in Amsterdam]. Van der Veen was executed on the tenth of June that year.
*****

During our second joint trip to Amsterdam in the summer of 1995, my lover Jvrg and I took a picture of the commemorative plaque (attached to this e-mail) marking the spot where the .Bevolkingsregister. was destroyed in 1943. The Dutch words .BLIJF WAAKZAAM!. on the bouquet ribbon a Dutch visitor had attached to the memorial mean .REMAIN VIGILENT.. The inscription on the plaque reads:

27 MARCH 1943 DESTRUCTION OF THE .BEVOLKINGSREGISTER. W.J.C. ARONDEUS RUDOLF BLOEMGARTEN KARL GROEGER COOS HARTOGH SAM VAN MUSSCHENBROEK GUUS REITSMA HENRI HALBERSTADT DR. JOHAN BROUWER KOEN LIMPERG SJOERD BAKKER C.L. BARENTSEN CORNELIS ROOS THEY FOUGHT AND DIED FOR FREEDOM 1 JULY 1943

[Here is the text on the trial of Arondius from Marco Entrop.s aforesaid book, in the original Dutch:]

HET KOLONIAAL INSTITUUT, AMSTERDAM, VRIJDAG 18 JUNI 1943 Willem Arondius en twintig andere verdachten staan terecht...
*****

. Arondius werd als eerste aangeklaagd. Tijdens het schijnproces, want dat was het, valt vooral zijn houding op. Zelfs de Duitsers spreken in de Anklageverf|gung respectvol over zijn .soldatische Haltung..

Gotji:
.De houding der beklaagden was over het algemeen zeer kordaat. In het bijzonder onderscheidde Arondius zich door een uitermate dapper optreden. Hij was bereid all verantwoordelijkheid voor de gepleegde sabotage-daden op zich te nemen en wenschte de dood in te gaan voor zijn kameraden, die, naar zijn bewering, slechts op zijn instigatie hadden gehandeld. Een andere ooggetuige, tevens verdachte, de jonge Amsterdamse arts Frits Dekking (en schrijver onder het pseudoniem Yvo Pannekoek) roemt eveneens Arondius: .Prettig is zijn gedetacheerde en vrijwel verneukratieve toon --- joyeux et indifferent.. Na een korte onderbreking volgde de Vernehmung zur Sache, de reconstructie van het ten laste gelegde. Opnieuw onderscheidde Arondius zich in zijn optreden, ditmaal in een dialoog met de voorzitter van de .rechtbank. over de noodzak bij de anslag mensen met medische kennis in te schakelen. Arondius: .We hadden de artsen nodig, omdat we van het begin af gezegd hebben, dat er geen bloed mocht vloeien en de aanslag geen mensenlevens mocht kosten.---. Voorzitter: .Nu hebt U heel toevallig deze twee artsen gevonden. Als die nu eens niet gekund hadden, dan had U zonder gezeten en dan.... Arondius valt in de rede, met een volmaakte zelfverzekerheid: .Dan had ik direct twee anderen gevonden, .es gibt SO Viele die furchtbar gern so was mitmachen.. Aan het einde van de procesdag werd het vonnis voorgelezen en hoorden Arondius en dertien anderen de doodstraf tegen zich eisen. Voor de artsen Honig en Beck werd die eis kort voor zijn voltrekking omgezet in vijftien jaar tuchthuisstraf. De overige twaalf kregen wel de kogel: Arondius, Bloemgarten, Grvger, Hartogh, Van Musschenbroek, Reitsma, Halberstadt, Brouwer, Limperg, Bakker, Barentsen en Roos. De andere betrokkenen bij de aanslag werden veroordeeld tot langdurige gevangenisstraffen, naar een concentratiekamp gezonden of in Duitsland te werk gesteld. Joop H. Kwam er het best van af. Na een jaar werd hij vrijgelaten. De negende hoofddader, Gerrit Jan van der Veen, werd op 12 mei 1944 alsnog gepakt, nadat hij had geprobeerd de gevangenis aan de Weteringschans te overvallen. Van der Veen werd op 10 juni van dat jaar gekxecuteerd.
------------------------------
From: Dean Hutchinson bvgay@yahoo.de
Subject: Picture of Willem Arondéus, ca. 1940, aged 45

Attached is a picture from ca. 1940 of Willem Johan Cornelis Arondius, born in Naarden, Holland on August 22, 1894; artist, writer and prominent figure in the "Artists' Resistance Movement"; co-organizer of the attack on Amsterdam's "Bevolkingsregister"; arrested on April 1, 1943; death by German firing squad the dunes near Haarlem, Holland, on July 1, 1943...

[Photo: Godfried de Groot, taken from Marco Entrop's aforementioned book, p. 98.]
------------------------------
From: Dean Hutchinson bvgay@yahoo.de
Subject: Holland, June 27, 1943: ArondéusFarewell Letters

[The following text, translated by me from Dutch into English, was taken from Marco Entrop.s .Onbekwaam in het compromis: Willem Arondius, kunstenaar en verzetsstrijder. (.Not Prepared to Compromise: Willem Arondius, Artist and Resistance Fighter.), p. 123, Bas Lubberhuizen (publ.), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1993. Jan Tijssen, mentioned in Arondius.s first farewell letter, was his lover. Jan, a typical Dutch name (approximately pronounced .Yawn.) is equivalent to .John..]

.On Sunday afternoon, June 27, 1943, the twelve convicted men received a pencil and note paper in order to write their farewell letters. Arondius instructed Zus van der Masch Spakler [see first letter below and the attachment depicting that note in Arondius.s own handwriting], whom he had made his sole heir, to distribute his books and money among his friends..

---1st FAREWELL LETTER---

*****
27 June, 2 o.clock in the afternoon

My dear Zus,
Just now the commander came and brought us paper, pencil and envelopes; this means that, tomorrow morning, we must die. We are making use of a few hours to write our friends, and afterward we shall spend this last evening with each other as happily and steadfastly as we possibly can--- You are my sole heir. Give to Willem de Boer, Nieuwe Zijds Kolk 113 the sum of f500 [500 guilders], and to Meynema (Biet) the sum of f300. Further, help as best you can the widows of agents Roos and Halberstad[t]; Jan Evertsenstr. 64 and Bors[s]enburgstraat 24. They must be helped later on as well. Bring f500 to Jan Tijssen, too --- Ruimzichtlaan 13, Apeldoorn.

*****
.The most touching farewell letter was the one Arondius addressed to Hetta van der Masch Spakler [.Hets.]:.

- ---2nd FAREWELL LETTER---
*****
By the time you get this letter it will all be over, tomorrow morning we are going to be shot. Leaving is so easy; there is no sadness or fear anymore within us; once one has come as close to death as we have now, it loses all its horror. What remains is but a sense of wonder at the ease with which one can lovingly depart this life; so happy at what one is leaving behind . without any sense of bitterness. I have known much bitterness, but that.s all over. Dear Hets, I.d like to thank you again for all the good and wonderful things you.ve brought into my life, for the loyalty and affection with which you.ve always stood beside me. It has been good and wonderful.

*****
[Now all of the above text in the original Dutch.]
.Op zondagmiddag 27 juni 1943 ontvingen de twaalf veroordeelden postpapier en een potlood voor het schrijven van hun afsecheidsbrieven. Aan Zus van der Masch Spakler, die hij tot zijn enige erfgenaam maakte, gaf Arondius opdracht zijn boeken en zijn geld onder zijn vrienden te verdelen.. - ---1e AFSCHEIDSBRIEF--- ***** 27 juni .s middags 2 uur Beste Zus, Zoeven kwam de commandant ons papier, potlood en enveloppen brengen; dit betekent dat wij morgenochtend moeten sterven. Wij besteden nu eenige uren om aan onze vrienden te schrijven en daarna zullen wij de laatse avond zoo blij en sterk als ons mogelijk is met elkander doorbrengen--- Je bent mijn eenige erfgenaam. Geef aan Willem de Boer, Nieuwe Zijds Kolk 113 de som van f500, aan Meynema (Biet) de som van f300. Help verder zoo goed als in je vermogen is de weduwen van de agent Roos en Halberstad[t]; Jan Evertsenstr. 64 en Bors[s]enburgstraat 24. Ook voor later moeten deze geholpen worden. Breng ook f500 aan Jan Tijssen --- Ruimzichtlaan 13, Apeldoorn. ***** .De ontroerendste afscheidsbrief was die welke Arondius aan Hetta van der Masch Spakler [.Hets.]:. - ---2e AFSCHEIDSBRIEF --- ***** Als je deze brief krijgt is alles voorbij, morgenochten vroeg worden wij gefusilleerd. Het is zoo licht om heen te gaan; er is in ons geen enkele droefheid meer of angst; als je eenmaal zss dicht bij den dood gekomen bent als wij nu zijn, dan verliest het alle verschrikking. Er is alleen maar de verwondering omdat het zoo licht is om in liefde van het leven te scheiden, zoo blij is om wat je achterlaat zonder bitterheid te kunnen gedenken. Ik heb veel verbittering gekend, maar dat is alles voorbij. Lieve Hets, laat ik je nog eenmaal danken voor al het goede en mooie dat je in mijn leven gebracht hebt, voor je trouw en genegenheid waarmee je steeds naast me gestaan hebt. Het is goed en mooi geweest.
------------------------------
From: Dean Hutchinson bvgay@yahoo.de
Subject: Fwd: Holland 1943: Arondéus Immortalized in Spielberg's "Survivors of the Shoah"

[Please pardon me, Alan Reid, for forwarding this e-mail to the Silverfoxesclub, but am sure others might be interested in the additional, stateside info on Arondius.]

Hello Alan,
Hartelijk bedankt / danke schvn / thanks so much for your kind words! It's encouraging to hear how much Arondius' life struggle - in the face of such overwhelming oppression - means to you. Subconsciously - way deep down inside - I think most gay people, no matter how politically active or apolitical they might happen to be, are able to identify with Arondius' struggle for freedom from tyranny, and most should be able to draw a certain of inner strength from the courage he evinced. Steven Spielberg has helped insure that this important chapter of gay history does not fall into oblivion by including Willem Arondius' life story in his "Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation." Material on Arondius is also available in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Hugs,
Dean

--- alan reid alanreid01@hotmail.com

schrieb: Hello Dean,
Just a quick note to say many thanks for the fascinating piece on Willem Arondeus and his Dutch Resistance unit -- these men were so courageous, it's extremely inspirational!!
Much appreciated,
Alan xxx
------------------------------
From: Dean Hutchinson bvgay@yahoo.de
Subject: Commemorating Willem Arondéus at the Homomonument in Amsterdam, 1995

Hi everyone!
Here's a pic my lover, Jorg, took of me back in 1995 (placing flowers and an illustrated dedication to Dutch Resistance fighter Willem Arondius) at the tip of one of the pink triangles of Amsterdam's Homomonument, which "commemorates all women and men who were ever oppressed and persecuted because of their homosexuality." (The pic was taken long before my hair went all gray.) This third pink granite triangle extends directly into the Keizersgracht canal --- which tourists from all over the world inevitably pass by on their obligatory "canal sightseeing tours." (A wonderful, in-your-face monument, especially for the astonished, open-mouthed, hopelessly incorrigible 'phobes who happen upon it.)

Hugs,
Dean
------------------------------
From: Doug Whitfield dwhit@island.net
Subject: Homomonument

Thanks to Dean for the photo at the Homomonument. It reminded me of the several tearful visits I made to it while in Amsterdam for the Gay Games in 98. I found it, in form, setting and meaning, terribly moving. Someone told me that the spot where Dean kneels has never been without flowers since it was created.
------------------------------

End of silverfoxesclub-digest V1 #294/5
************************************

RETURN TO DIGEST INDEX