Hannie Schaft

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Hannie Schaft
Hannie Schaft on a postage stamp from the GDR Deutsche Post (1962)
Hannie Schaft, bronze statue by Truus Menger, b. Oversteegen, built in 1982 in Kenaupark, Haarlem

Jannetje Johanna "Jo" Schaft (born September 16, 1920 in Haarlem ; † April 17, 1945 in Bloemendaal ) was a fighter of the communist resistance against National Socialism in the Netherlands during the Second World War . The German occupiers called her "the girl with the red hair" ( Het meisje met het rode hair ). Her code name in the resistance movement was Hannie .

Family, studies, first actions against the National Socialists

Jannetje Johanna Schaft, called Jo or Jopie, was born as the youngest daughter of the teacher Pieter Schaft and his wife Aafje Talea Vrijer, a Mennonite , in 1920 in Haarlem near Amsterdam. Her father was a member of the socialist teachers 'association and the Social Democratic Workers' Party of the Netherlands (SDAP) . Jo Schaft, who began studying law at the University of Amsterdam in 1938 , was friends with two Dutch Jewish students who were also close to the party and who informed them about the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany . Already shortly after the beginning of the Second World War with the attack on Poland , she supported Polish officers in German captivity with packages. After the German occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, which was followed by reprisals against the Dutch Jews in the autumn of the same year - her fellow students Philine Polak and Sonja Frenk had to give up their studies - she became more and more active in the resistance movement by writing political articles for wrote the university newspaper, printed and distributed leaflets against the German occupation, found hiding places for persecuted Jews, and organized identification papers and food stamps. She also stole ID cards for Philine and Sonja and helped them go into hiding when the Dutch Jews were forced to wear “ Jewish stars ” in 1942 . When Shaft finally refused to sign a declaration of loyalty to the National Socialist university administration at the beginning of 1943, she was denied further studies - she had already earned her bachelor's degree; she moved back to her parents in Haarlem and turned to the militant resistance.

Work in the communist resistance

Under the cover name Hannie, she became a member of the Raad van Verzet , a resistance group linked to the Dutch Communist Party . Especially with Truus Oversteegen , who participated in the communist resistance at the age of seventeen, and her younger sister Freddie Oversteegen , she carried out mostly successful attacks on high representatives of the German occupation such as cadres of the Gestapo , responsible Dutch collaborators and "traitors" from their own Ranks out.

After a sub-unit of the Raad van Verzet in Velsen had killed a farmer without authorization from the group's leadership, Schaft gave a list of those involved to their superiors. Later the list was sent to the "security service", which meant death for these people. After the end of the war, the matter was investigated by a special commission.

Arrest and Execution

Hannie Schaft was hated by the German occupiers because she was involved in militant actions until shortly before the liberation of the Netherlands. When she was arrested in late March 1945, she was carrying several copies of the communist underground newspaper De Waarheid and a pistol on a bicycle . Although towards the end of the war there was an agreement between the German occupiers and the inland Strijdkrachten not to execute women, she was shot under torture on April 17, 1945 in the dunes of Bloemendaal after interrogation.

Honors

Honorary gravestone of Hannie Schafts in Bloemendaal

After the war ended, the remains of 421 men and Hannie Schaft were found in the dunes. She was buried on November 27, 1945 with the participation of Princess Juliana and her husband Prince Bernhard in the Bloemendaal Cemetery of Honor . Since then, a memorial service for Hannie Schaft has been held in Haarlem every last Sunday in November.

In 1982 Princess Juliana unveiled a bronze figure in the Kenaupark in Haarlem, created by the resistance fighter and sculptor Truus Menger, née Oversteegen, which is reminiscent of Hannie Schaft. Hannie Schaft was also honored with the Verzetskruis , as Righteous Among the Nations and a US award.

A number of schools and streets are named after her. In memory of her and other resistance heroines, a foundation was set up, the Stichting “Nationale Hannie Schaft-herdenking”.

Hannie Schaft in books and films

Several books and films were made about them. It inspired Harry Mulisch to create the character in the novel, Truus Coster, in his 1982 novel Das Assentat . Monique van de Ven took on this role in De Aanslag , the film adaptation of the novel (directed by Fons Rademakers ) . Ineke Verdoner wrote a song about her. The writer Theun de Vries wrote her biography, which was the basis for Ben Verbong's film Het meisje met het rode hair from 1981, in which Hannie Schaft was portrayed by Renée Soutendijk . In 2015 Het meisje met het rode hair will be performed as a musical in the Netherlands.

literature

  • Theun de Vries: The girl with the red hair . Henschel, Berlin 1960, DNB  455326223 (Dutch: Het meisje met het rode hair . Translated by Eva Schumann, Roman).
  • Ingrid Strobl : “Never say you're going the last way.” Women in the armed resistance against fascism and German occupation. Fischer TB, Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-596-24752-7 , there chapter Netherlands. “Never forget that you are human”. Pp. 105–134, especially about Truus Oversteegen as well as Freddie Oversteegen and Hannie Schaft.

Web links

Commons : Hannie Schaft  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Linda Kotzian: Hannie Schaft. In: NiederlandeNet of the University of Münster . April 2013, accessed December 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Hannie Schaft. In: Revolutionary Women . Münster 2011, p. 60
  3. ↑ see: Truus Oversteegen (nl)
  4. ↑ Truus Oversteegen was in charge of this female group of three; the actual leader, who gave the instructions, headed a group of five, to which the three women belonged. Source: Ingrid Strobl: "Never say you are going the last way": Women in the armed resistance against fascism and German occupation. Frankfurt a. M. 1989, p. 105ff
  5. ↑ Righteous Among the Nations Honored by Yad Vashem by 1 January 2019 - THE NETHERLANDS on yadvashem.org (PDF)
  6. ↑ a b M. M. Warning: Schaft, Jannetje Johanna (1920–1945). In: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland , 2. 1985, accessed on December 27, 2018 (Dutch).
personal data
SURNAME Shank, Hannie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schaft, Jannetje Johanna; Shaft, jo; Het meisje met het rode haar (girl with the red hair)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch fighter for the communist resistance during the Second World War
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Haarlem
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1945
Place of death Bloemendaal