Gerrit van der Veen (26 November 1902, Amsterdam — 10 June 1944, Overveen) was a Dutch sculptor. He was a member of the Dutch underground, which resisted the German occupation of Amsterdam during World War II. The historian

Robert-Jan van Pelt Robert Jan van Pelt (born 15 August 1955) is a Dutch author, architectural historian, professor at the University of Waterloo and a Holocaust scholar. One of the world's leading experts on Auschwitz, he regularly speaks on Holocaust related topics ...

wrote:

In 1940, after the German occupation, van der Veen was one of the few who re-fused to sign the so-called “Arierverklaring,” the Declaration of Aryan Ancestry. In the years that followed, he tried to help Jews both in practical and symbolic ways. Together with the musician
Jan van Gilse Jan Pieter Hendrik van Gilse (Rotterdam, 11 May 1881 – Oegstgeest, 8 September 1944) was a Dutch composer and conductor. Among his works are five symphonies and the Dutch-language opera '' Thijl''. Life Coming from a family of theologians, J ...
and the (openly homosexual) artist, art historian, and critic Willem Arondeus, van der Veen established the underground organization De Vrije Kunstenaar (The Free Artist). Van der Veen and the other artists published a newsletter calling for resistance against the occupation. When the Germans introduced identity documents (Persoonsbewijzen) that distinguished between Jews and non-Jews, van der Veen, Arondeus and the printer produced some 80,000 false identity papers.

He was arrested on 12 May 1944, together with publisher Tine van Klooster and his lover, dancer

Suzy van Hall Helena Suzanna van Hall (April 28, 1907 – July 1978) was a Dutch dancer. She was born in The Hague, the younger sister of sculptor Frits van Hall. In 1932, she married . Van Hall had a dance studio in Paris, performed there and also toured ...

. He was executed near Overveen. In 1945 his remains were reburied at

Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal The Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal, or Dutch Honorary Cemetery Bloemendaal, is a World War II final resting place in Zuid-Kennemerland National Park in Bloemendaal, Netherlands. Located on the top of a dune, it can be reached by a small path from ...

. On 9 March 2002, van der Veen was made Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. Also, in 1945, Amsterdam's Euterpestraat was renamed in honor of van der Veen's activities with the Dutch Resistance during the war.''Euterpestraat renamed Gerrit van der Veenstraat''
Anne Frank House. Retrieved 21 March 2017. In May 1946, he was awarded the Dutch Cross of Resistance, one of 95 people to receive that honor between 1946 and 1952.

Gallery

Gerrit van der Veen - buste W. Einthoven - 1933.JPG, Bust of Willem Einthoven (1933) Prins Hendrik Beschermheer.JPG, Monument to Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Prince consort Hendrik of the Netherlands, 1935) DeEendrachtVanHetLand Veen.jpg, Van der Veen's last sculpture, "Unity of the Country" (1940), now in Utrecht Gedenkteken voor koningin Emma - Baarn - 20365575 - RCE.jpg, Monument to Queen Emma in Baarn

References

External links

"Bamboozling Ourselves (Part 6)," The New York Times, June 3, 2009

"Wie was Gerrit Jan van der Veen?," Gerrit van der Veen College
1902 births 1944 deaths Artists from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch sculptors Dutch male sculptors Dutch resistance members Dutch people executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Deaths by firearm in the Netherlands Dutch Righteous Among the Nations Recipients of the Dutch Cross of Resistance 20th-century Dutch male artists {{Netherlands-sculptor-stub