Boy Ecury (23 April 1922 – 6 November 1944) was a member of the Dutch Resistance in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

He was born in

Oranjestad, Aruba Oranjestad ( , , ; literally "Orange City") is the capital and largest city of Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country. In the local language ...

, an island of the

Dutch Antilles Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People ...

in a large family. Ecury was born the seventh of thirteen children. His father was a wealthy businessman. His given name was Segundo Jorge Adelberto Ecury, but he went by the nickname Boy and it is by that name that he is remembered. After a brief stint at a military academy in Puerto Rico, together with his brother, he was sent to study in the Netherlands. Ecury graduated in 1937 with a diploma in commerce from the Brother of St. Louis School in

Oudenbosch Oudenbosch () is a town in the municipality of Halderberge in the west of the Dutch province of North Brabant. Oudenbosch is well known for its 'Basiliek', a Catholic church that is a smaller copy of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. History The vi ...

, and he did a lot of travelling around the Netherlands. He lived there when

started in 1939 and witnessed first hand the Nazi invasion in 1940. While in the Dutch city of Tilburg, Ecury became friends with another young man, , also from the Antilles, who was part of an underground resistance group in the city. The group carried out sabotage operations, planting bombs on German trucks and roads. Members of the underground movements also went out of their way to help injured Allied troops and civilians who needed help. Ecury sometimes went along and helped out on covert operations and later became a member of the Resistance Council in Oisterwijk. Like his resistance colleagues and because of the colour of his skin, Ecury had to live a life in hiding, and lived in various places around the Netherlands, working on a number of missions. In 1944, he was in hiding with the underground in the Hague and planning an assassination of an NSB member. Some members betrayed their colleagues, and many of them were captured by the Nazis, including Luis, who was imprisoned and tortured in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. Ecury tried, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to free his friend. On 5 November 1944, Ecury, who had been one of many betrayed by , was arrested in Rotterdam by the

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

(SD) and taken to the "

Oranjehotel The Hague Penitentiary Institution (Dutch: ''Penitentiaire Inrichting Haaglanden'') is a Dutch prison that is part of the Judicial Institutions Department (''Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen'', DJI) of the Ministry of Justice. It can accommodat ...

" (a former prison turned into detention and interrogation center). He was interrogated and tortured, but refused to betray his friends. On the following day, he was executed on the

Waalsdorpervlakte The Waalsdorpervlakte () is an open place in the dune area "Meijendel" (The Hague, Netherlands), where between 250 and 280 members of the Dutch resistance were killed by the Germans during World War II. After the liberation of the Netherlands, N ...

by a German firing squad. He was 22 years old. His body was discovered in 1947, and his father brought his son's body back from the Netherlands. He was given a funeral with military honours in Oranjestad. Two years later, a statue of the local hero was erected in the town and still stands today. He is also the subject of an exhibition in the town's war museum and his former family home houses the Archaeological Museum. Forty years after his death, Ecury was posthumously honored by the Dutch government and awarded a Resistance Heroes Commemorative Cross. Boy Ecury and his father's quest for the truth about his son's last years were subject of a book which was used as the basis for the 2003 movie ' by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

film director

Frans Weisz Frans Weisz (born 23 July 1938) is a Dutch film director. He has directed more than 30 films since 1964. His 1975 film '' Red Sien'' was entered into the 9th Moscow International Film Festival. His film '' Havinck'' was screened in the Un Cert ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecury, Boy 1922 births 1944 deaths Dutch people of Aruban descent Aruban emigrants to the Netherlands Dutch resistance members Executed Dutch people People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany People from Oranjestad, Aruba Dutch people executed by Nazi Germany Dutch people of World War II Aruban expatriates in the United States