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Willem Arondeus was born on August 22, 1894 in Naarden, Netherlands. He was one of six children and the youngest son. When Willem was 17 he left home and never spoke to his family again. It is speculated that he argued with his family about his sexuality which is why he left home and severed contact with them.  He began writing and painting in the 1920s.

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Willem struggled with his job painting posters and writing poetry. In 1923 he was commissioned to paint a mural at Rotterdam City Hall. In 1935 he began to write. He wrote and illustrated two books. In 1938 he wrote a biography of Matthijs Maris, a painter and activist, this was his most successful work.

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When the Nazi's invaded in the 1940s, Willem and his friend Frieda Belinfante were some of the first to join the resistance. He was also a member of the Resistance Council. He fought against forced registration of Jews and encouraged artists to help by publishing illegal work. His group mainly forged documents for Jews, but Nazis began checking with public records. Because of this on March 27, 1943, Willem's group bombed the the Amsterdam Registry Building, destroying thousands of records. Five days later the unit was betrayed. Willem and 11 others were executed that July.

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Before Willem was executed he asked his lawyer to tell the world that, "Homosexuals are not cowards."  Because Willem was openly gay and lived with his boyfriend he was not given much acknowledgement until the 1980s.

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To learn more about Willem Arondeus go to:
http://queerportraits.com/bio/arondeus

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TYSK  People Edition 2018   01 Willem Arondeus