George John Lionel Maduro (15 July 1916 – 8 February 1945) was a
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 ...
law
student who served as an officer in the 1940
Battle of the Netherlands and distinguished himself in repelling the German
attack on The Hague. He was posthumously awarded the medal of Knight 4th-class of the
Military Order of William
The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William (Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), is the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone (755–814), the first Prince of Oran ...
, the highest and oldest military decoration in the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
, national_anthem = )
, image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg
, map_width = 250px
, image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png
, map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale
, capital = ...
. His heroic acts are included in the
Canon of the Netherlands
The Canon of the Netherlands (; also known as the Canon of Dutch History) is a list of fifty topics that aims to provide a chronological summary of Dutch history to be taught in primary schools and the first two years of secondary school in the ...
.
The miniature city of
Madurodam
Madurodam (, opened 1952) is a miniature park and tourist attraction in the Scheveningen district of The Hague in the Netherlands. It is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities and large develop ...
is named after him, as well as the Maduroplein area in
Scheveningen, in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
.
Biography
George John Lionel Maduro was born on 15 July 1916 in
Willemstad
Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles pr ...
in the Dutch colony
Curaçao and Dependencies
The Colony of Curaçao and Dependencies ( nl, Kolonie Curaçao en onderhorigheden; pap, Kolonia di Kòrsou i dependensianan) was a Dutch colony in the Caribbean Sea from 1815 until 1828 and from 1845 until 1954. Between 1936 and 1948, the area wa ...
. He was the only son of Joshua and Rebecca Maduro, a couple of
Sephardic Jewish descent.
Maduro was 23 and a law student at
Leiden University when Germany invaded The Netherlands on 10 May 1940. By a
royal order
In Belgium, a Royal Decree (RD) or Royal Order () (Dutch), Arrêté Royal (French), or Königlicher Erlass (German) is a federal governmental decree exercising legislation, or powers the legislature has delegated to the King as secondary legisla ...
on 21 November 1939 Maduro had been previously appointed to second-lieutenant-reserve in the Dutch Cavalry.
In the
Battle of the Netherlands he was quartered with the Dutch
Hussars
A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely a ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
as a reserve officer. Under his command
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
ground troops stationed in
Rijswijk
Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water.
The municipality also includes t ...
were defeated and
parachutists were captured.
On 15 May 1940, upon the capitulation of the
Dutch military, Maduro was captured by German troops and jailed in the
Oranjehotel in Scheveningen.
When he was released a half year later, the German occupation forces had required that all Jews wear the
Star of David. Maduro refused to do so and joined the resistance movement. He became active in smuggling Allied pilots into the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
via
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. After much success Maduro was eventually captured by Nazi forces and placed in jail again.
Months later, after a daring escape he rejoined the Dutch resistance but was ultimately betrayed by a Belgian collaborator and captured again, this time by the German
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
, who jailed him first at
Saarbrücken. During an Allied bombing raid, Maduro's jail wing was directly hit, freeing him and several other prisoners from their cells. Instead of fleeing, Maduro rushed to the rescue of several injured prisoners that had been buried by rubble, likely saving their lives.
Months later, he was transferred to
Dachau concentration camp. In February 1945, barely three months prior to the
liberation of the camp by
American troops, Maduro died of
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
. It is presumed that he is buried in the cemetery of the camp.
Legacy
He is the only Dutch person of
Antillian descent to have been awarded the
Knight 4th-class of the Military Order of William, which was awarded posthumously.
After
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 opposing ...
, Maduro's parents donated the initial capital necessary to build
Madurodam
Madurodam (, opened 1952) is a miniature park and tourist attraction in the Scheveningen district of The Hague in the Netherlands. It is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities and large develop ...
, a
miniature city
A miniature park is a display of miniature buildings and models, usually as a recreational and tourist attraction open to the public. A miniature park may contain a model of a single city or town, often called a miniature city or model village ...
that opened in 1952 and which they meant to serve as a memorial in honor of George, their only son. In 1993, a scale model of Maduro's birthplace in Curaçao was built in the park. The entirety of net proceeds from the park are donated to various charities throughout the Netherlands.
A
documentary about Maduro's life was made in 2001 by
Alfred Edelstein.
Belgian artist Franky Drappier adapted his life into a 2016
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
.
On 1 September 2022 an opera about Maduro premiered in the Hague.
Publication
* Kathleen Brandt-Carey: ''Knight without fear and beyond reproach. The life of George Maduro 1916-1945''. Houten, Spectrum, 2016.
References
External links
George John Lionel Maduro, on "The Netherlands Antilles in WWII"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maduro, George
1916 births
1945 deaths
20th-century Sephardi Jews
Curaçao Jews
Dutch people who died in Dachau concentration camp
Dutch Jews who died in the Holocaust
Jewish military personnel
Dutch military personnel killed in World War II
Dutch resistance members
Knights Fourth Class of the Military Order of William
Leiden University alumni
Military personnel who died in Nazi concentration camps
People from Willemstad
Sephardi Jews who died in the Holocaust
Royal Netherlands Army officers
Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II
Spanish and Portuguese Jews