Persons from Dutch WW II History: Hannie Schaft, The Girl with the Red Hair

Jannetje Johanna (Hannie) Schaft; Haarlem, 16 September 1920 - Bloemendaal , 17 April 1945

Hannie Schaft was a Dutch Communist and resistantance fighter during World War II.
She was born as the daughter of Peter Schaft, a teacher who felt strongly related to the SDAP (Social Democratic Labour Party), and Talea Aafje Freer who was a Baptist.
She attended High school and in 1938 she started to study rights at the Municipal University of Amsterdam. Here she became befriended with her Jewish fellow students Philine Polak and Sonja Frenk, who both later during the war went into hiding at Hannie's parents home. Because of this she felt, when the war began, personally touched by the persecution of the Jews.

As a student after she had refused to sign the declaration of loyalty*, she went back to her parents. She took an increasingly active part in the resistance and helped with hiding stolen ration cards and identity cards. Her pseudonym became Hannie and her nickname was the girl with the red hair. Eventually she joined the Council of Resistance (RVV), an organization that, by its close links with the CPN (Communist Party Netherlands), who were greatly distrusted by other resistance movements. Along with Freddie and Hilda Oversteegen she committed several attacks on Germans, collaborators and traitors.
*The declaration of loyalty was a declaration that students had to sign in 1943. In that statement they had to promise that they would "refrain from any action directed against the German Reich”. The statement was introduced by the Germans on 13 March 1943, the students had until April 10 the time to sign the declaration. Those who did not sign, could no longer follow any college.

On June 8, 1944 she with resistance fighter Jan Bonekamp committed, at Heemstede, an attack on the NSB (National Socialist Movement) member and confectioner Peter Faber. He died six days later. Schaft and Bonekamp then committed on June 21, 1944 an attack on W.M. Ragut . Here Bonekamp became mortally wounded, which made Hannie Schaft to decide to went into hiding. On September 5, 1944 ( Dolle Dinsdag / Mad Tuesday ) an attack of Hannie Schaft and Jan Heusdens on policeman Willemsen failed. Hannie Schaft and Hilda Oversteegen had planned to liquidate Fake Krist on October 25, 1944, but other Haarlem resistance fighters killed him before they could execute their plan.

On March 1, 1945 NSB policeman William Zirkzee was shot by Hannie Schaft and Hilda Oversteegen. This took place near Krelagehuis at the Leidsevaart in Haarlem. On March 15 Hannie Schaft and Hilda Oversteegen committed an attack on Ko Langendijk . This was the barber from Ijmuiden who started to work for the Sicherheitsdienst. A previous attempt on him in January by Bonekamp had failed.

Hannie was hated by the Germans, because at the end of the war she commited many, in their eyes, senseless attacks. She was, on 21 March 1945, arrested at a roadblock at the Jan Gijzenkade near the Mauermuur (Haarlem) when she was carrieing underground papers and a weapon. At the police station of Haarlem the Germans discovered with whom they were doing. It was Emil Rühl who brought Hannie Schaft from Haarlem to the House of Detention on Amstelveenseweg in Amsterdam.

Although at the end of the war, an agreement existed between the occupiers and Interior Forces (BS) to kill no women, Hannie, three weeks before the end of the war (on April 17, 1945), commissioned by Willy Lages, was shot in the dunes of Bloemendaal. Here she, after a glancing shot, coolly would have said: "I shoot better", which made member of the SD Maarten Kuiper to empty his machine gun at her.

On 27 November 1945, her remains were reburied with military honors at the Honour cemetery Bloemendaal at Overveen . Queen Wilhelmina, Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard were also present. For her fight against the Nazis Hannie was in 1946 posthumous honoured with the “Resistance Cross 1940 - 1945” and the “Medal of Freedom”, an American special award.

Because Hannie Schaft could serve as a political symbol of communist resistance for the Dutch Communists, which many did not like, her name lost much of its luster during the Cold War. In 1951 the government even went so far to deploy police and army - including four armored vehicles - to make the anniversary of her death impossible. Much later, when the communist hate had died down Princess Juliana unveiled on 3 mei 1982 a bronze statue, made by Truus Menger-Oversteegen, in the Kenaupark in Haarlem.

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Photo: Noord-Hollands Archief