These patches are about 8”x14” and are printed on heavy black canvas by The Gloo Factory. The patch depicts Willem Arondeus and his final words.
Willem Arondeus (1894-1943) was a Dutch author, illustrator, and anti-Nazi resistance fighter from the Netherlands. He was also openly gay and lived with his boyfriend Jan. He designed posters and illustrated poetry for a living until the Nazis invaded the Netherlands in 1940.
He then, along with a bunch of his friends, joined the resistance movement. Although Willem himself was not Jewish, he spoke out against the forced registration of Jews before forced registration was widely viewed as a danger. Willem and his unit then spent most of their time falsifying identification papers for Dutch Jews and others targeted by the Nazis.
On March 27, 1943 Willem and his unit attacked the Amsterdam Registry building, destroying thousands of files so that the falsified papers they created couldn’t be checked against official records, and so that the Nazis would lose lists which identified Jews and others target by the Nazis
Days later, Willem’s unit was betrayed and turned in to the Gestapo. Willem was interrogated and tortured, but refused to give up other comrades in the resistance.
Willem and his friends were executed on July 1, 1943. Before he was executed, Willem wanted the world to know that gay people fought to stop the Nazis, so he asked a friend to pass on a message and to let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.
These patches are about 8”x14” and are printed on heavy black canvas by The Gloo Factory. The patch depicts Willem Arondeus and his final words.
Willem Arondeus (1894-1943) was a Dutch author, illustrator, and anti-Nazi resistance fighter from the Netherlands. He was also openly gay and lived with his boyfriend Jan. He designed posters and illustrated poetry for a living until the Nazis invaded the Netherlands in 1940.
He then, along with a bunch of his friends, joined the resistance movement. Although Willem himself was not Jewish, he spoke out against the forced registration of Jews before forced registration was widely viewed as a danger. Willem and his unit then spent most of their time falsifying identification papers for Dutch Jews and others targeted by the Nazis.
On March 27, 1943 Willem and his unit attacked the Amsterdam Registry building, destroying thousands of files so that the falsified papers they created couldn’t be checked against official records, and so that the Nazis would lose lists which identified Jews and others target by the Nazis
Days later, Willem’s unit was betrayed and turned in to the Gestapo. Willem was interrogated and tortured, but refused to give up other comrades in the resistance.
Willem and his friends were executed on July 1, 1943. Before he was executed, Willem wanted the world to know that gay people fought to stop the Nazis, so he asked a friend to pass on a message and to let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.
