#dutch resistance

[k-wame]

GIJS BLOM as Marinus van Staveren The Forgotten Battle (2020) • dir. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

[girlactionfigure]

Frieda Belinfante was a half Jewish lesbian who was a cellis, conductor and member of the Dutch resistance during World War 2.

She forged personal documents, arranged hiding places for Jews and helped bomb the population registry in Amsterdam, which destroyed thousands of files, hampering Nazi efforts to verify documents. Belinfante also spent months disguised as a man and was forced to cross the Alps on foot in order to escape Nazi persecution.

She's quoted as saying: “I have always done things for people… And I don’t understand people that can only live for themselves. I can’t understand it. Where do you get your happiness? Where do you get your satisfaction? What do you do with your life? What do you do with your strengths? There must be somebody who needs help. There always is. I’ve always helped people, whether they’re worth it or not comes out later. They haven’t all been worth my effort, but the effort was worth it.”

History Cool Kids

[liebgotts-lovergirl]

Fire On Fire: Chapter 12

Gallery II Tag List Application II Symbol Guide

(Ch. 11) . . . (Ch. 1)

Summary: "A turning point has just been reached. Maybe I'm not who I used to be."

A/N: Oh Alix, bby, I'm so sorry.

WARNINGS: Death, Angst, Murder, Emotional Blunting Via PTSD, Foxhunting Mention

Tag List: @latibvles @softguarnere @mccall-muffin @brassknucklespeirs @holdingforgeneralhugs @emmythespacecowgirl

Contemporary: September 17th, 1944. Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Alix had been working with the Dutch Resistance for less than a day on the outskirts of Eindhoven and already, she was about ready to strangle someone. 

"I'm telling you, Kristof, your information is wrong."

"And I’m telling you to back off, Adelina. Let the SOE handle this.”

Alix shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her trousers, clenching her fists in a vain attempt to stave off the sudden, powerful urge to wring the older man’s neck. 

Kristof was supposedly a good agent, one of the best…or so she’d been told. She wasn’t sure if she believed it. He came with the highest security clearance the SOE could offer but there was just something about him that Alix didn’t trust, especially not with an operation so sensitive. 

The information he was bringing back felt too good to be true and some of it simply didn’t make any logical sense. Why would the Wehrmacht leave only kids and old men to guard the doorway to Germany? Surely they couldn’t be that stupid. 

If the Nazis were as blissfully unaware of the Allied advance as the British agent claimed, if they were truly that tactically weak and woefully underprepared, the war should have been over already…right?

Alix thought back to the “Spot The Difference” puzzles in the game books that Gio would always bring home with him from school.

There were always two nearly-identical illustrations with the most minute of differences drawn in somewhere, just waiting for her to find them.

“Take your time,” Gio would coach her over her shoulder as they sat on the plush shag carpet of the parlor. “Go line by line if you have to.”

She would painstakingly comb through each of the drawings, tracing each detail with her finger, until she came across the item that didn’t belong. Sometimes it would take minutes, sometimes an hour, but she just couldn’t let it rest until she’d figured it out.

That’s what this feels like, Alix thought as she looked over Kristof’s report, noting each hidden hole and blatant inconsistency. Like another puzzle. 

Except this time, people’s lives hung in the balance.

“The SOE has been working with us for some time now,” Van Kooijk stated casually while he skimmed over some maps, as though that was all the proof Alix should require. “These are reliable reports, I would swear to it.” 

“Don’t bother.” 

Alix’s response was clipped but she didn't trust herself to say more without getting heated. 

The American OSS and the British SOE were receiving conflicting reports as to the size and strength of the German Army, which only intensified Alix’s belief that the rumors about a mole in the SOE were true. 

This had to be some sort of attempt at a disinformation campaign, planting false reports within Resistance movements who would then pass them on to the Allies. 

There was no other logical explanation for this many holes in an intelligence report.

Exchanging glances with Nixon, she could tell he was thinking the same thing but there was nothing either of them could do. The OSS was not in control of the espionage operations running concurrently with Market Garden; the SOE was. Like it or not, they were under British command this time and they would have to obey. 

"Everyone is clear on their orders, yes?" 

Van Kooijk was speaking to her in particular, watching her with his unsettlingly seaglass-green eyes as though he suspected she might do something to jeopardize the mission. 

Alix was ready to tell him exactly where he could shove his "suspicions" when she felt a cautioning, brotherly hand on her shoulder. 

"Watch it, Lina." Lieutenant Nixon had switched to Italian this time, keeping his voice low enough that only she could hear.

"We have about 3 hours tops before the rest of the 101st arrives. We don't have time for more enemies right now." 

Alix huffed but she knew her case officer was right. 

Boy, did it really irritate her when he was right.

"Fine," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Go coordinate the Airborne arrival. I just wanna get this over with." 

∆∆━━━━∆∆━━━∆∆━━━∆∆

The first targets on Alix’s list were Captain Bernhard Neumann and SS Lieutenant Klemens Kruger.

 As two of the highest-ranking officers in what the SOE assured them was an already-crumbling military force, eliminating both Neumann and Kruger would cut the Wehrmacht off at its knees and hopefully cause significant chaos among German troops. 

They had both been on Resistance radar for some time but were far too visible for untrained assassins to kill without being noticed. Which was where Alix and her handler came in. 

"Niccolò, this is Lina." She was whispering into the transceiver, her Italian coming out slightly garbled over the line. "Do you read me? Over." 

"Roger, Lina. Proceed as ordered. Out." 

As she nonchalantly made her way toward Neumann's secret residence, Alix's training took over.

"Locard's Exchange Principle," she remembered Nixon barking at her during the early phases of her SERE instruction. "What is it?" 

The first rule of tracking.

"Every contact leaves a trace, sir!"  she had answered just as loudly, the pair repeating the phrases back and forth until her voice went hoarse. 

And no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, it was Alix's job to find that trace. 

When she arrived at the address, noting the rolling fields behind the building, she crouched to examine the dark, slightly moist soil leading to the back door, which was telling her a story she didn't want to hear. 

German officers like Neumann and Kruger wore fancy boots with very recognizable tread patterns. They should have been the only two in the area among a sea of regular grunt-style Wehrmacht boots, but they weren't; on the contrary, the ground was littered with the tracks of several different officers leading in various directions. 

Like Alix had suspected, there were at least a dozen more officers than they'd been told in the reports, which meant there were more troops too. Whether on purpose or on accident, the SOE had miscalculated.

This was bad.

Alix couldn't risk radioing back her findings, not when she was this close to making contact. The Germans could track a radio signal in a matter of minutes now and there was no excuse for having a clandestine radio on her person, none at all. All she could do was wait behind the shop next door and hope that the news would get to the right people in time.

Alix leaned her head back against the cool brick wall as the time passed. She was steps away from the secret home base of German officers and the urge to burst in was killing her. But she had to wait.

When Neumann finally came outside, he wasn't alone but he wasn't with SS Lieutenant Klemens either.

Beside him was Ludwig Schreiber, a prominent member of the Hitler Youth and well-known errand boy for the Wehrmacht. The pair appeared to be in a hurry, probably to reconvene with reinforcements.  

And Alix couldn't let that happen. 

Slipping into the street a few feet behind them, she casually adjusted her gray cashmere sweater as she walked, keeping her eyes peeled for…

Oh there he was, thank God. 

Far ahead of them, a tall, rail-thin teenager with sandy blond hair was exiting a shop, nonchalantly adjusting his beaten bomber jacket for the autumn wind and lighting up a cigarette before he went on his way. 

He's been trained well, Alix thought as she watched him eye storefronts that he passed, checking their reflections to ensure the target was still behind him.

Alix knew the plan: Front & Follow surveillance for as many blocks as it took to isolate the targets. Diederik would be leading them. When the signal was given, Alix would eliminate the target and any present company, meaning Schreiber. 

No witnesses. 

No mercy. 

It had to be done. 

Out of the corner of her eye as she walked, Alix could see the quick glint of a gun barrel in the sunlight as it disappeared over a nearby rooftop. 

She knew better than to look; it would only draw attention to his position. 

Andries, their sniper, was lying prone above, waiting for someone's signal but she wasn't sure whose or, frankly, why. 

It wasn't as though she needed the back-up. It would be messy but she could still take care of this.

After about fifteen to twenty minutes, the last block was ending and she saw Diederik pause to discard his cigarette before ducking inside another shop.

It was time. 

Neumann and Schreiber turned the corner behind the last building and Alix quickened her pace, slipping behind them soundlessly as she too disappeared from view.

∆∆━━━━∆∆━━━∆∆━━━∆∆

Captain Neumann had been first. As he was the most capable target, Alix needed to ensure he didn't have time to react. Two bullets in the back of the head; he was dead before he hit the ground. 

Schreiber was a different story.

He had tried to make a run for it: a fool's error. 

As though he would get far. 

As though they weren't prepared. 

The second he tried to round the corner, he slammed smack-dab into the chest of John Van Kooijk, who had materialized out of the shadows like a spectre. 

In his faded jacket and sweater, he resembled more a schoolteacher than a viable threat, but the bright orange band around his sleeve had Schreiber recoiling like he'd accidentally singed his hand on a hot stove.

Van Kooijk said something in German, his tone soft yet mocking and Alix understood the gist of it: 

"Going somewhere, Ludwig?" 

The teenager began stammering in rapid-fire German as he looked fearfully from Alix to Van Kooijk and back to Alix, wild-eyed as he noticed the loaded gun in her hand.

"What is he saying?" Alix asked out of the corner of her mouth in French and Van Kooijk shrugged casually.

"Begging for his life, offering us money, nothing out of the ordinary." 

Alix wished she hadn't asked. The look of pure terror in the boy's eyes was stomach-churning enough as it is.

But he'd seen her face.

He could compromise them. 

He had to die.

Besides, if she didn't do it, Andries the sniper would, and she trusted her own hand more.

She would be gentle, Alix decided silently as she cocked her revolver. As gentle as Death could be. He was still a child.

Schreiber was trying to shrink away but his back hit the unforgiving brick wall behind him; there was nowhere to run. 

Alix wished to God she would go blind or her hands would shake or her heart would stop, something for her body to be in congruence with the stream of doubts clouding her mind. 

At the end of the day, Schreiber was still just a brainwashed kid who’d been manipulated and he would pay for it with his life. 

How was that fair?

How was that justice?

But despite her fervent wishes, her training betrayed her: her sight was clear, hand still, heartbeat steady.

This was her job.

This was her purpose. 

She’d read his file. Schreiber was a Senior Section Leader of the Hitler Youth, after all, and a runner for the Wehrmacht. Whatever information the eighteen year old was carrying could be vital and they would never get it from him alive.

But the frantic look in Schreiber's terrified eyes brought back an unwanted memory and Alix felt her chest tighten like a vise. 

╔══ •🖤🖤•🖤🖤•🖤🖤• ══╗

7 Years Earlier: November 24th, 1937. Susquehanna Hunt Club, Pennsylvania.

"Pull the trigger already," her father hissed from behind her. "Sbrigati, while it's still there."

Sixteen year old Alix gulped nervously as she stared down the barrel of her borrowed shotgun into the clearing ahead of them.

The slender, almost skeletal form of the flame-red fox was in full view, just steps away, as it bent gracefully to drink from one of the preserve’s many ponds.

The fresh, cherry stain of blood was visible on its muzzle so Gio had surmised that it must’ve made a recent kill, probably a rabbit or some other small, unfortunate forest-dweller it had happened across.

Alix's finger hovered anxiously over the trigger, her hands quivering so much that she could hardly aim properly.

As if sensing her hesitation, the canid froze before glancing up directly across the pond, its delicate nose twitching and ears pricked as it located the threat: Her.

Its sharp, pointed features and wide, fear-filled eyes seemed to stare into her soul and Alix was struggling to breathe, suddenly feeling as though she'd swallowed a boulder. 

Noticing his sister's discomfort, Gio let out a muffled cough into his elbow. It was barely audible but it was enough to startle the fox, which immediately darted back into the mottled green woods, disappearing from view as quickly as it had appeared.

Once it was gone, the tension in the sixteen year old's shoulders released but she was still shaking. 

“For God’s sake, figlia mia,” their father had fumed as the three of them made their way back to the car, the weight of his footsteps telling her exactly how pissed off he was.

“They’re vermin.”

“They're still living things!” Alix retorted incredulously. "Besides, if the club wanted them gone, they'd be gone!" 

"They're a nuisance is what they are," Emilio continued contemptuously, ignoring her as he yanked the car door open. "Your brother knows. He would have shot it, wouldn't you, Gio? Would've brought us home a nice fox pelt." 

"So she didn't shoot it, big deal," nineteen year old Gio replied, immediately jumping to his sister's defense and Alix gave her brother a wan smile of appreciation. 

As the family’s golden boy, Gio was the only person in the world who could get away with talking to their father like that.

"Alix isn't a hunter and she doesn't have to be. She's not me, Pa."

"I'm all too aware, believe me," Emilio replied acerbically, the barb in his tone stinging like the tears starting to slide down Alix's cheeks. 

Gio reached over and silently put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"He can go fuck himself," her brother whispered. "You just stay gentle, okay? It's who you are."

"Cavolo," their father swore under his breath with a roll of his eyes as they began the drive home. "Getting weepy over a damn fox. Pathetic."

╚══ •🖤🖤•🖤🖤•🖤🖤• ══╝

Contemporary: September 17th, 1944. Eindhoven, Netherlands.

“Tell him he’s free to go,” Alix said so quietly at first that it was barely audible.

“What?” Van Kooijk peered at her as though she’d sprung a second head, his brows furrowing. “Forgive me, I must have misunderstood.” 

The OSS agent gritted her teeth and repeated herself tersely once again, overenunciating each word so her French was impossible to mishear.

“Tell. Him. He’s. Free. To. Go.” 

"But he isn't," the Resistance leader maintained doggedly.

A strong look of contempt crossed his face and Alix wasn't sure whether it was aimed at her or Schreiber. 

"You realize he is Hitlerjugend, yes?"

Van Kooijk kept talking, not waiting for an answer. "I am telling you, letting him go would be a mistake."

"I'm aware. Tell him anyway." 

Despite what Alix could only assume were muttered curses, Van Kooijk grudgingly obeyed, addressing the boy in a clipped tone. 

 Schreiber's eyes went round with surprise and he broke into a toothy grin of relief.

He looked over to Alix but she couldn't meet his gaze, studying the ground intently instead as she tried to wrestle her misgivings under control. 

The handgun at her side felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

"Danke!" he kept repeating over and over. "Danke! Vielen dank!"

Van Kooijk didn't reply, instead spitting vehemently at the soil under their feet, seemingly the only act of displeasure he could think of that didn't include butchering the boy on the spot. 

 

Half-laughing with relief, Schreiber quickly turned to leave.

A fatal mistake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alix's OSS-issue suppressor ensured he never heard the shots. 

The first bullet hit him square in the upper back, the sheer force of it sending him lurching forward as though he'd been shoved. 

Crimson began to blossom through the back of his tan shirt, still neatly tucked into his uniform as he stumbled to his knees and Alix squeezed the trigger a second time, the final shot landing just behind his right ear, keeling him over entirely as his face met the earth. 

 

The agent tucked her gun back into the waistband of her trousers and took a couple steps toward the bodies before turning back to Van Kooijk.

Even he was still, leaning a shoulder against the building in stunned silence.

Alix felt bile rising in her throat at the sight of the two bloodied corpses at her feet but she forced her nausea back down, focusing instead on discarding her blood-stained sweater, tearing and scattering the pieces in the dirt with a frightening ferocity.

She was just in her undershirt and trousers now but she couldn't even feel the wind anymore. As quickly as the nausea had appeared, it vanished, replaced only by...a numbness.

"Hey John?”

The Resistance leader glanced up at the sound of his name and Alix met his gaze head-on, dark eyes boring into glass-green.

Any warmth in her tone was gone, her voice as cold and deadly as the winter chill.

“Don’t ever question me again.”

[20th-century-personalities]

Hannie Schaft was executed just a few weeks before the end of World War II in Europe. She had been arrested and sent to a prison in Amsterdam about a month earlier, during a random check in Haarlem, her hometown in the Netherlands, when she was found carrying a gun, as well as illegal newspapers and pamphlets from the resistance movement, in her bicycle bag. Initially it wasn’t obvious to the Nazis whom they had arrested, but it soon became evident that it was the woman they had been looking for, the woman known as the “girl with the red hair,” who had shot and killed multiple Nazis and collaborators.

[dirjoh-blog]

Waldemar Hugh Nods-Forgotten hero

I have been doing posts about World War 2 and the Holocaust since 2016. When I first started I reckoned I’d have enough material to last for a year, two years tops. Seven years on, I am still finding new stories on a daily basis. Stories like that of Waldemar Hugh Nods. He was born on September 1, 1908 in Surinam, South America, which was a Dutch colony at the time. His parents were some of the…

[quotesfrommyreading]

By late 1942 the situation for the remaining Jews in the Netherlands had become utterly desperate, so much that mothers were now leaving babies and young children on doorsteps in the hope that they would be taken in. The German authorites, aware of this trend, put out an official notice: from now on, all foundlings would be assumed to be Jewish and even those who had earlier been accepted and adopted by Aryan famlies were to be hunted down by the police. The group of young students could see only one solution. They would register Jewish babies as their own children, fathered by German soldiers. This would bring the certainty of safety, but also, of course, tremendous shame to the women themselves. Years afterwards, An de Waard retold the story of her experience at the register office, where she was made to wait on public view for a very long time. Eventually, under the clerk's contemptuous gaze, she was able to register the child as 'William', a royal name, which for her was a little gesture of resistance. Like the five other babies saved in this manner, William survived the war.

—   The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found (Bart van Es)

[elliepassmore]

Artifice review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: historical fiction, WWII stories, stories of resistance, art, heists

I was super excited when I found out Cameron was writing another historical fiction novel. I haven't read Bluebird, but I was already fascinated with the Podgórska sisters' story and loved how Cameron depicted it in The Light in Hidden Places. I think this book probably falls more in line with Bluebird since it's based loosely on real events but doesn't really deal too much with real people the way Light does.

The tension and danger are immediately apparent from page 1 of this book, and it's clear how much Isa is risking by selling forgeries. While this book isn't a thriller, there were a lot of heart pounding moments as Isa and her friends worked to avoid the Nazis and collaborators and did everything in their power to save the Jewish babies slated for execution. At the same time, this story isn't meant to be all action, and Cameron really drives home the tragedy of the situation and heart-wrenching decisions people had to make (such as, who decides which babies get saved? What does that decision look like?). And I really liked seeing the brave souls who put their lives on the line to make sure those decisions were worth it.

The art aspect of it is also really interesting. I have a basic art history education, largely grounded in archeology, but there's some modern stuff in there too, and I found the conversations and thoughts Isa had about the art she saw and needed to replicate really interesting. She knows so much about these artists and their technique, and I enjoyed getting to hear a more accessible interpretation of their work and technique than what you typically find in an art history class. Likewise, all the details about art forgery were really fascinating. There's so much work that goes into it, plus the fact that the forgeries Isa, her father, and van Meegeren are dealing in aren't forgeries of existing work necessarily but rather forgeries that could reasonably have come from the artist they're forging. It's such an interesting way to look at forgeries, yet so obvious at the same time.

Isa herself is not a member of the Resistance. She has her father to worry about and isn't able to leave him to work with the Dutch Resistance. That being said, she hates the Nazis. Like, with a glowing vengeance, and gets a great deal of pleasure out of tricking them with the forgeries. When Truus comes to her, Isa is hesitant, but also determined, even though it means risking her father and their art gallery. Considering Isa's characterization, it makes perfect sense that she'd want to help Truus not only evade the Nazis but help save lives. She also has a bit of a bleeding heart, which is one of the reasons she helps Michel, though that situation is a bit more give-and-take than Isa simply being nice. She's also using him to help with the forgery/baby scheme. All that being said, Isa not being in the Resistance means she's ignorant to some of the ways it works and some of the tricks the Resistance and the Gestapo uses (though really, I'd expect more of her re: the Gestapo). I definitely had moments where I was groaning internally at how careless Isa had been without even realizing, but at the same time, considering how little training she has in Resistance, she does a pretty good job.

Truus is obviously in the Resistance and very anti-Nazi, alongside her boyfriend Willem. She clearly has a fire in her and is willing to risk life-and-limb, and get her uninvolved friend involved, in order to rid the Netherlands of Nazis and save the Jewish babies she's been tasked with saving. Despite her understanding a great deal of the nuances surrounding the Nazis and the Resistance, Truus can be somewhat oblivious at times to the things her friend is going through and it takes her some time to recognize some of those things (i.e., Isa simply cannot leave her father alone for long periods to help). I think there are a lot of misunderstandings that happen there, on both Truus and Isa's side, but overall I liked Truus.

Willem was harder to get a read on and I didn't really like him for most of the book. At first he comes across as hard and antagonistic. Some of this is understandable since, as mentioned, Isa isn't in the Resistance and giving her information can put the entire group into jeopardy, but in other parts he's just hard. I began to warm to him a bit more about halfway through the book when we get to know him a little better and understand that Willem isn't just hard and distrustful, he also carries an incredible amount of guilt and pain. By the end of the book I was a full Willem supporter and I'm glad he and Isa ended up being buddies.

Michel is the Nazi soldier looking to defect who accidentally shows up at the gallery right when Truus and Willem do. Oops. Isa is determined to hate him from the get-go since he's a Nazi, but it turns out they actually knew each other from when they were younger and there's that fact that he's trying to prove to her that he genuinely wants to defect. Considering he can't defect until all the pieces are in place and since Isa comes into contact with the Nazis while trading art, it's somewhat hard to get a grasp on who Michel is when he's one person in private and an entirely different one when around his superiors. I actually did like Michel pretty quickly, but it was definitely hard to trust him and Cameron lays the groundwork of that mistrust well, since something is clearly afoot with the Resistance ring Truus and Willem belong to.

This story is so heartbreaking in so many different ways and it touches on the effects of Nazism on Dutch life, art both classic and modern, the Jewish community, and the queer community. From the beginning it's clear that Isa is haunted by the ghosts of the people she knew who were killed by the Nazi regime, and throughout the book it's made clear time and again the damage and awfulness of the Nazis stealing Dutch art and Dutch Jews. That being said, there are moments of peace and beauty in this book too. Times when Isa is able to find beauty in the sunrise or an old painting her mom or dad did. There are also times when solidarity and community are at the forefront, and not just with the little group here, but also in bigger moments, such as when a crowd of shoppers turns away after a Nazi is shot so the Resistance agent can get away and a Jewish family can be rehidden.

I really enjoyed this book and found the art forgery parts particularly interesting. There's a lot going on here with brutality vs. beauty as well, I think, with how we cannot know people's internal lives until they tell us themselves. Light in Hidden Places is better imo, but Artifice is definitely a good read!

[bargainsleuthbooks]

The Audrey Hepburn Estate by Brenda Janowitz #BookReview #NewBooks #HistoricalFiction

There's a new book out by #BrendaJanowitz that peaked my interest because of the setting: #TheAudreyHepburnEstate is based upon the house that was used in one of my favorite films, #Sabrina. #Bookreview #newbooks #audiobook #Graydonhouse #harlequinaudio

When Emma Jansen discovers that the grand Long Island estate where she grew up is set to be demolished, she can’t help but return for one last visit. After all, it was a place filled with firsts: learning to ride a bike, sneaking a glass of champagne, falling in love. But once Emma arrives at the storied mansion, she can’t ignore the more complicated memories. Because that’s not exactly where…

[vanwartime]

There has been a renewed surge of interest in the Dutch Underground in recent years. There was The Secret Diary of Arnold Douwes; Rescue in the Occupied Netherlands published by Indiana University Press for the first time in English in 2019. That same year, there was a Dutch documentary that aired on VPRO titled De erfenis van een verzetsheld which focused on the family of Johannes Post. And now, another documentary has appeared on YouTube, titled Nieuwlande - Onverzettelijk Onderduikdorp. Unfortunately, both of these films are in Dutch only, although you may be able to follow along somewhat with the subtitles turned on. Why mention these stories here on VanWartime? Well, Johannes Post was my great-granduncle! That is all!

[foppishflimflam]

Just watched Pastorale 1943 with my fresh Mubi account. I like the fumbling reality of regular folks struggling against the Nazis in The Netherlands. Rutger Hauer plays a Nazi for like 5 minutes at the end of the film and boy does his charisma pack a punch. I can see why they withheld his presence until the end.

[alanmalcherhistorian]

Leo Marks head of SOE Codes and Cyphers

Leo Marks head of SOE Codes and Cyphers

Left: Leo Marks (24 September 1920 to 15 January 2001) the head of SOE’s codes and cyphers based at Michael House Baker Street, London. Right: his adversary in the Netherlands Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) Lieutenant Colonel Herman Giskes who was responsible for the wireless deception resulting in many SOE agents from the Dutch Section and members of the resistance being captured and…

[kapilesque]

i had too much time in my hands (i didmt)

[aworldofpattern]

Floral-patterned Grand Super-Wax fabric by Vlisco

'A more exclusive version of Super-Wax, rich in colours and bubbling, and printed with a gloss finish. The most defining (and beloved) feature of a Super-Wax is its duo-colour “bubbling” print effect...

...Grand Super-Wax is a luxurious twist on the original, using Vlisco cotton satin. Grand Super-Wax is made using a highly-unique wax printing technique unlike any other in the world: every piece is created with an unequalled and extraordinary level of care and precision.

First, a design in liquid wax is printed on cotton satin. A base dye such as indigo soaks into the cloth around the wax, leaving behind a deep, intense colour. The magic of the ‘wax-breaking’ during the printing process results in a large, irregular pattern of vein-like bubbles throughout the design.

One single piece of Grand Super-Wax goes through an average of 27 total step before it receives a final gloss finish, and a select number of Grand Super-Wax fabrics are covered from edge-to-edge in transparent glitter.'

[aiiaiiiyo]

[20th-century-personalities]

Hannie Schaft was one of few women to take up arms during the resistance. She was a student when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands.

[dirjoh-blog]

Remembering 2 Dutch Heroes.

An estimated 1,800 Dutch citizens attempted to escape to England during World War Two. The majority chose to travel via neighbouring countries, while a minority went straight across the North Sea. Many different vessels were used and at least 204 people made the crossing successfully. Most of the attempts were made in 1941, when the Dutch coast was still somewhat accessible. One crossing from…