workingclasshistory

On this day, 1 July 1943, gay Dutch anti-Nazi resistance fighter Willem Arondeus was executed by occupation forces. His resistance group falsified identity papers for Jews, and in March they attacked the Amsterdam registry, destroying thousands of records against which false papers could be checked. Tragically the unit was betrayed and most members were arrested. Alongside Willem, 11 others were executed. Before his execution, Willem asked a friend to testify after the war that “homosexuals are not cowards”. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1464323977086081/?type=3