The purpose of this page is to provide researchers with the list of persons who received the Verzetsherdenkingskruis, the Dutch Resistance Memorial Cross, after WWII. The following is the introduction to the Wikipedia article on the subject:
“The Resistance Memorial Cross or Resistance Commemorative Cross (Dutch: Verzetsherdenkingskruis) is a medal awarded in the Netherlands to members of the Dutch resistance during the Second World War.”
“The medal was instituted by Royal Decree (No. 104) on 29 December 1980, after the 35th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. It is worn after the War Memorial Cross and before the Medal of Order and Peace. The cross is only awarded at the request of a person eligible to receive it. Approximately 15,000 have been awarded, recorded in the Gedenkenboek verzetsherdenkingskruis.”
To read the full article, click on the following: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_Memorial_Cross.
The following, provided to me by the Dutch Embassy in Washington, D.C., is what the decoration looks like:
Verzetsherdenkingskruis (Resistance Memorial Cross). Image from Dutch Embassy, Washington, D.C.
The pdf files listed below contain the list of some 15,000 to 16,000 persons who received the Verzetsherdenkingskruis. It appeared originally in the Gedenkboek Verzetsherdenkingskruis waarin opgenomen Register Dragers Verzetsherdenkingskruis, published by Samson Uitgeverij 1985. My thanks to the publisher Wolters Kluwer Nederland B.V., successor to Samson Uitgeverij, for permission to publish it. There are 11 pdf files making up the list plus two more pdf files containing the errata. Where a listing of names beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet ends on one page and the next letter begins on the same page, that page appears on both pdf files. Illustrations that appeared in the book have not been included. That accounts for there seeming to be some pages from the book missing.
The list should prove useful to persons researching Resistance activities in The Netherlands and aid given to Allied airmen for three reasons: (1) It may help confirm the spelling of a person’s name, (2) the date of birth is included, and (3) a copy of the file on the person that was the basis for awarding the decoration may be available.
Up until July of 2017, the files were located at the Ministry of Defense. But within the next few months they will be transferred to the Nationaal Archief in The Hague. At that point, it will be possible to “consult” the files but obtaining actual copies of the files will not be possible until 2025, the archivists said.
To get some idea of what will be required in viewing documents or, beginning in 2025, actually obtaining copies from the Nationaal Archief, see http://www.gahetna.nl/en/q-and-a/how-this-website-works/order-reproductions.
In searching the list, take into account how Dutch spellings of some words may mean a name will not be where an English-speaker would expect it to be. For example, a name containing “ij” is treated as containing a “y” and placed where you would expect a name spelled with a “y” to be. A surname like van Broekhoven will be under Broekhoven. De Haan will be under Haan. And so on.
The names of the Resistance Cross recipients appear in the pdf files listed below. Be sure to allow sufficient time for a file to open (one to two minutes), otherwise it may appear that some pages are missing until the loading has finished. Once finished, the pages should be quite readable.
- Aa – Bouwman: aa-bouwman-pg-65-83
- Bouwman – Duijveman: bouwman-duijveman-pg-84-101
- Duijvenvoorde – Gijswijt: duijvenvoorde-gijswijt-pg-102-118
- Haaf – Hullu: haaf-hullu-pg-119-133
- Hulsbeek – Konig: hulsbeek-konig-pg-134-149
- Konig – Maas: konig-maas-pg-150-164
- Maas – Oever: maas-oever-pg-164-179
- Oever – Roorda: oever-roorda-pg-180-196
- Roorda – Teelen: roorda-teelen-pg-198-218
- Swan – Verpalen: swan-verpalen-pg-218-230
- Vertregt – Zijtvelet: vertregt-zijtvelt-pg-232-253
- Errata sheets: errata-sheets
- Supplemental errata sheet: supplemental-errata-sheet
It was shortly after the war that the major Dutch decorations were distributed. Grade 1 and 2 decorations, the highest, were presented to recipients for the most part in September 1946, Grade 3 mainly the following November, and Grade 4 in January and March 1947. To view the names of these recipients, their award grade, and date of presentation, click here. For another copy containing only the highest award grades, click here. It appears from the Gedenkboek Verzetsherdenkingskruis that presentations of the Resistance Memorial Cross took place well after the war, including at Maasluis (14 Dec. 1981), Haarlem (16 Dec. 1981), Washington, D.C. (6-8 October 1982), The Hague (10 Dec. 1982), and Gouda (15 March 1984).
This website has lists of Dutch helpers of Allied airmen. To see them and related information, click here.
To see a related website with information on WWII awards and decorations, see http://en.ww2awards.com/.
WWII Netherlands Escape Lines 