Bernardus IJzerdraat (1891 – 13 March 1941) was a Dutch resistance fighter in the

Second World War 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 ...

. A tapestry restorer from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, he became involved as early as 1936 in the ''Eenheid door Democratie'' movement which opposed

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

and

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. Immediately after the bombing of Rotterdam during the German invasion in 1940, he set up the first Dutch resistance group, ''De Geuzen'' "The Beggars", and published the ''Geuzenbericht'', a resistance pamphlet, on May 15th, the day after the bombing of Rotterdam. He was arrested together with other members of his group when the Germans discovered a list of names and addresses at his home. After a show trial, he was shot at

Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is po ...

on 13 March 1941 together with 17 others, including three Communists involved in the

February Strike The February strike ( nl, Februaristaking) was a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II, organised by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defence of persecuted Dutch Jews and against t ...

. Bernard IJzerdraat's gravestone in Loenen Field of Honour He was posthumously awarded the Resistance Cross which his widow received in 1955. IJzerdraat was buried at the

National Cemetery of Honours Loenen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Apeldoorn, about 10 km southeast of that city. Loenen was a separate municipality until 1818, when it was merged with Apeldoorn. National Cemeter ...

Loenen Loenen () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was in the ''Vechtstreek'' area. On January 1, 2011, Loenen merged with Breukelen and Maarssen to form Stichtse Vecht. Population centres The former municipa ...

References

External links

Bernardus IJzerdraat from the Dutch National Archives
Retrieved 13 April 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:IJzerdraat, Bernardus 1891 births 1941 deaths Resistance members from Rotterdam Recipients of the Dutch Cross of Resistance Dutch people executed by Nazi Germany Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm Deaths by firearm in the Netherlands