After the end of the 1940-45 war, there was a rapid need to award a decoration to civilians who had shown particular courage in the resistance against the German occupiers. Although civilian decorations already existed alongside military decorations, the government considered it necessary to establish a special decoration system for the resistance. In a number of other countries in a similar situation, a special bravery decoration had already been introduced for acts of resistance.
A Council for Distinction and Honour was therefore established and tasked with developing a proposal for a special civilian decoration that would exist alongside the Military Order of William, the Bronze Lion, the Bronze Cross, the Cross of Merit and the Pilot’s Cross. This was done in consultation with many bodies, including the Grand Advisory Committee on Illegality.
It then took a great deal of effort before the decision was made to establish a Resistance Cross. The choice to award this decoration both to living persons and to those who had fallen in the resistance was a particular sticking point.
Be that as it may, on 29 April 1946, the government submitted a proposal to this effect to Queen Wilhelmina and, despite opposition from, among others, the leaders of the Landelijke Knokploegen (LKP), she signed this decision. This made the Resistance Cross, together with the Military Order of William, the highest award for bravery in the Netherlands.
Ceremony
Once the government had decided to establish the Resistance Cross in this way, the problem of nominations arose. In accordance with good Dutch custom, a broad committee had to decide on this, which reported the following to the government in its proposal:
“In the nominations, an attempt has been made to include all aspects of the resistance. Thus, in addition to clergy, professors and doctors, printers and publishers, a courier is also on the list, while in addition to the care groups and the large resistance organisations, more specific groups such as the identity card centre, artists’ resistance and resistance among political prisoners have not been forgotten. The various shades of the illegal press are also included in the list.”
I am in possession of a booklet in which the above is described in detail. It also contains a list of all the people to whom this award was given, with a brief description of their lives.
In total, the Resistance Cross was awarded 94 times, 93 of which were posthumous.
While writing this chapter, I leafed through the book again. I must admit that most of the names meant little to me, but with people like Campert (Remco’s father), Bernard IJzerdraat, Wiardi Beckman, Johannes Post and a few others, I immediately recognised them.
Three people from the communist resistance were nominated, namely L. Jansen, G.W. Kastein and J.J. (Hannie) Schaft.
The award was presented for the last time in 1955 to Bernard IJzerdraat, the great man of the Geuzen resistance.
The first series of awards was presented at the Palace on Dam Square on 9 May 1946. As a direct relative, my mother was invited and, together with about fifty others, she was presented with the cross by Queen Wilhelmina.
I have enclosed a few copies of the correspondence from those days.
