Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Willem Arondéus

Queer Ancestor Spotlight
Written By White Rose Witching

Willem Johan Cornelis Arondéus was a Dutch artist and author who was part of the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War Two. He used his art and direct action to help protect Dutch Jews. He was openly gay and his last words before his execution were “Zeg de mensen dat homoseksuelen niet per definitie zwakkelingen zijn.” (“Tell people that homosexuals are not cowards.”)

Willem Arondéus on the island of Urk, circa 1921

Willem Arondéus was born in 1894 in Naarden. His early artistic career began as an illustrator and painter. In 1923 he was commissioned to paint a large mural for Rotterdam City Hall and illustrated poems by J. H. Leopold, Pieter Cornelius Boutens, and Martinus Nijhoff. Unfortunately, his career as an artist never took off.

My the mid-1930’s he had pivoted towards becoming an author where he eventually saw moderate success. In 1938 he published two novels, Het Uilenhuis ('The Owls House') and In de bloeiende Ramenas ('In the Blossoming Winter Radish'), which he also illustrated. His most notable work, a biography of Dutch painter Matthijs Maris titled Matthijs Maris: de tragiek van den droom ('Matthijs Maris: The Tragedy of the Dream'), was published in 1939.

In May 1940 the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. Two years later, Arondéus began publishing an underground newspaper called Brandarisbrief. This eventually merged with another underground publication called De Vrije Kunstenaar. This merger brought Arondéus into contact with Gerrit van der Veen who, in addition to being the editor of De Vrije Kunstenaar, specialized in forging identity cards. He quickly became a leader in the Raad van Verzet (Resistance Council), a secular and politically progressive wing of what would become the Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (Domestic Armed Forces), a government-sanctioned union of Dutch resistance groups.

Using his creative skills, Arondéus began creating forged documents to assist Dutch Jews and others attempting to evade the Gestapo. He worked closely with Frieda Belinfante, a Dutch cellist, conductor, and open lesbian. The biggest obstacle these forgeries faced was the Municipal Office for Population Registration. Their registration lists made it possible to cross-reference the forged documents and discover they were fakes. Arondéus and several others decided the best course of action was the destroy the office.

The attack took place on March 27, 1943. The group dressed as police officers and told the security guards they were there to check the building for explosives. Once inside, two members of the group who were medical students sedated the guards and hid their unconscious bodies in the adjacent Artis zoo. The remaining members of the group piled all the documents they could find on the floor and doused them with benzene. A series of timed explosions obtained from a munitions store set the building ablaze. Co-conspirators in the fire department delayed putting out the fire, and then completely doused the building in an attempt to cause additional water damage to surviving records.

Despite this attack only 15% of the records were destroyed. The group did manage to leave with 600 blank registry cards and 50,000 guilders (the Dutch currency at the time.)

Within a week most of the resistance group had been betrayed and turned into the Nazi-run government. Although Arondéus refused to name accomplices, investigators found a notebook in his apartment that listed additional names. Following a trial in June 1943 where he was found guilty, Arondéus was executed by firing squad on July 2, 1943.

In 1946, a commemorative plaque was affixed on the front of the building that previously housed the civil registry in remembrance of the assault and those executed for their role in it. In 1984, each member was awarded the Verzetsherdenkingskruis (Resistance Memorial Cross) by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

White Rose Witching
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