Aleida Mathilde (Ada) van Keulen (13 January 1920, in
Aalsmeer
Aalsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (''aal'') and lake (''meer''). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water o ...
– 25 January 2010, in
Laren, North Holland
Laren () is a town and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the Gooi region, it is the oldest town in the area. Together with its neighbor Blaricum, Laren is one of the most affluent towns in the Netherlands.
...
) was a Dutch woman who took part in the
resistance during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Van Keulen headed a boy scout group in
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...
, the Heidepark Group, which became illegal during the war and carried out work for the resistance. She was also a courier for Hessels en Van Wilgenburg. On June 13, 1944, she was betrayed and arrested together with 27 other resistance fighters in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
. Among others, they included Jo Hessels, Hendrik van Wilgenburg, and
Joukje Grandia-Smits, all of whom were imprisoned. Of the 27, only seven survived the war.
She was sent to
Vught concentration camp and in September 1944 deported to
Ravensbrück. In October, she was transferred to
Dachau, where she was employed in the
Agfa-Commando.
On April 30, 1945, van Keulen was freed by the Americans during the
Wolfratshausen evacuation march.
References
Mededelingen van C.B.- L.O. en Afwikkelingsbureau L.K.P., 3 augustus 1945: ''Een koerierster keerde terug!'' Interview met Ada van KeulenWebsite Van Ommen VerzetUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum: ''Oral history interview with Joukje Grandia-Smits''
Further reading
*Atwood, Kathryn J. ''Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue''. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2011.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keulen, Ada van
1920 births
2010 deaths
Dutch resistance members
People from Aalsmeer