Pieter Meindert Schreuder (17 October 1912 – 8 April 1945) was a Dutch resistance leader in the occupied Netherlands during 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 ...

Biography

Schreuder was born in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He was a sergeant in the Dutch army and later an owner of a drycleaning business, and joined the resistance movement after the German occupation in May 1940. In 1944/45 he was "chief of staff" of the Northern section of the Ordedienst (O.D.), a resistance group. The O.D. had ties with the Dutch government, at that time in exile in London, and was involved in spying, sabotage, theft and assassinations. Betrayal from within the group led to Schreuder's arrest on 7 February 1945. He was imprisoned in the infamous "

Scholtenhuis Willem Albert Scholten (6 October 1819 – 1 May 1895) was a Dutch industrialist and landowner. He established the potato starch factory Eureka in Foxhol which laid the foundation of an industrial empire. Scholten would own 24 factories in Europe. ...

" in Groningen, the headquarters of 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 ...

(S.D., a branch of the SS), where he was tortured and eventually shot and died in

Anloo Anloo is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Aa en Hunze, and lies about 10 km east of Assen. History The village was first mentioned in 1139 as Anloe. The etymology in unclear. Anloo is an ''esdo ...

, Netherlands at the age of 32.

Honors

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

(as Supreme Commander of

SHAEF Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF th ...

) commended Schreuder posthumously for "brave conduct while acting under his orders during the liberation of the country". On 15 December 1983 Schreuder was posthumously awarded the Resistance Memorial Cross, presented by

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

to his widow.

References

*Niemeijer, J.A./Mulder, A.A.J., ''Verzet in Groningen'', Wolters Noordhoff/Forsten, *Kerssies, I., ''Verzetsgroep Garrelsweer'', Profiel, *Jong, L. de, ''Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog/10B'', Sdu Uitgevers, *''Groninger Archieven, Systeemkaarten van verzetsbetrokkenen (OVCG), 2183'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Schreuder, Pieter Meindert Dutch resistance members Dutch torture victims Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Deaths by firearm in the Netherlands People from Groningen (city) Recipients of the Resistance Memorial Cross 1912 births 1945 deaths Dutch people executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm Royal Netherlands Army personnel