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 ...

– 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Van Keulen headed a boy scout group in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hil ...

, 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 ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. 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 , , german: Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch , location map = Netherlands , map alt = , map caption = Location of the camp in the Netherlands , coordinates = , known for = , location = Vught, Netherlands , built by = ...

and in September 1944 deported to Ravensbrück. In October, she was transferred to

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

, where she was employed in the

Agfa-Commando Agfa-Commando is the widely used name for the München-Giesing - Agfa Kamerawerke satellite camp of the Dachau concentration camp. By October 1944, the camp housed about five hundred women. They were used as slave laborers in the Agfa camera f ...

. On April 30, 1945, van Keulen was freed by the Americans during the

Wolfratshausen Wolfratshausen () is a town of the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, located in Bavaria, Germany. The town had a population of 19,033 as of 31 December 2019. History The first mention of "Wolveradeshusun" appears in documents from the year 1 ...

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''

References

Further reading