Artigenda
Hannie Schaft Commemoration
When: annually, the last Sunday in November.
On the last Sunday in November, Dutch resistance fighter Hannie Schaft is commemorated in the Dutch cities Bloemendaal and Haarlem. This commemoration takes place at “De Eerebegraafplaats Bloemendaal” (the Bloemendaal Honorary Cemetery), in PHIL Haarlem and at the monument “Vrouw in Verzet” (Woman in Resistance) in the Kenaupark in Haarlem. Schaft was murdered by the Germans on April 17, 1945. Her reburial took place on November 27, 1945.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Jo or Jopie
The name Hannie Schaft wasn’t the name she used in daily life. Since her full name was Jannetje Johanna Schaft, people used to call her Jo or Jopie. The name Hannie was a pseudonym.
"Raad van Verzet"
Schaft was born on September 16, 1930 in Haarlem. She would rise to fame as a member of the Dutch resistance. However, this was after she died in 1945 and not before her name would gradually disappear from history books because of her political beliefs. Schaft was part of the communist resistance. That was a problem in post-war Europe. Tensions between East and West made her connections to the “Raad van Verzet” (Council of Resistance)(RVV) a problem. This part of the Dutch resistance was linked to the Dutch communist party (Communistische Partij Nederland, CPN).
Joining the resistance
During her studies (Ethnographic Law at the University of Amsterdam), she was involved in the Amsterdam Female Student Association. Her friendships with Philine Polak and Sonja Frenk, both of Jewish descent, made her feel strongly about the persecution of Jews. In 1943, she refused to sign the declaration of loyalty and this caused her to end her studies at university. Together with Polak and Frenk, she left for Haarlem. The two friends went into hiding with her parents.
In Haarlem, Schaft joined the RVV and she adopted the pseudonym Hannie. This also earned her another nickname: the girl with the red hair. Later, a film with that name would be made about the last period of her life. She joined a part of the resistance that was distrusted by another part of the Dutch resistance because of its relationship with the communist party.
Having committed several attacks on Dutch collaborators, she was forced into hiding on 21 June 1944 after the attack on the police commissioner and NSB Willem Ragut. Fellow resistance fighter and her friend, Jan Bonekamp (19 May 1914 – 21 June 1944) was killed in this attack. A few months later, on 25 October 1944, she and Cor Rusman (25 March 1907 – May 1970) committed an unsuccessful attack on Willem Meindert Willemsen. The aim was to then kill Fake Krist, who was also a policeman, on the same day. He was only caught under fire by another resistance group.
Arrest
Because Schaft spoke good German, some other resistance groups wrongly assumed she might be a double agent. This aroused suspicion, only it was soon clear to the Germans who they were dealing with during her arrest on 21 March 1945. She was picked up at a roadblock. During a check, illegal magazines and a weapon were found. Once at the police station in Haarlem, it became clear that she was a wanted resistance fighter. Thereupon, she was transferred to the House of Detention in Amsterdam.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The murder of Schaft
Three weeks before the end of the war, on 17 April 1945, Schaft was murdered in the Bloemendaal dunes at the behest of Willy Lages. This went against the agreements made between the Germans and the Internal Armed Forces (BS). The murder was unnecessary and was also later found to be incorrectly described in the report. The autopsy would later show that Schaft was killed from a short distance by two bullets. This did not correspond to stories that she was killed from a long distance. Stories that an attempt failed to kill her the first time were also incorrect.
Cold War: commemoration impossible
It is a fact that Schaft was a member of the RVV, which indeed had close ties with the CPN. As a result, she may have been considered less important than other members of the resistance during the Cold War. Before this happened, her reburial took place on 27 November 1945. She was reburied with military honour at the Bloemendaal Cemetery of Honour in Overveen. In addition, she posthumously received the Resistance Cross 1940-1945 on 7 May 1945. She also received the American Medal of Freedom and the Resistance Memorial Cross. Only then did it become known that she was a member of the communist part of the resistance?
In 1951, four armoured cars, along with a police and army force, made a commemoration impossible. More information is available on this this archived Dutch website. It would not be possible to commemorate Schaft in a normal way again until the 1980s.
An initial impetus was given through a statue, which was unveiled on 3 May 1982 in the presence of Princess Juliana of The Netherlands. The location of this statue is the Kenaupark in Haarlem.
More information
There is a lot of information about Hannie Schaft available. The information is only available in Dutch.
