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“It was a necessary evil, killing those who betrayed the good people.”

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Freddie Oversteegen When She Was Recruited

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Freddie Oversteegen When She Was Recruited

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The Resistance: Truus and Freddie Oversteegen - YouTube 

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The Resistance: Truus and Freddie Oversteegen - YouTube 

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THE RESISTANCE Truus and Freddie Oversteegen: What'sHerName Podcast Episode 64

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Freddie and Truus were given a socialist education, their mother was a convinced communist who taught her the importance of fighting against injustices every day. Their mother had divorced her husband, an unusual practice but very progressive for the 1940's, and was left alone to raise two girls. When the Nazis invaded, their family began to hide Jewish fugitives from Amsterdam and Germany.

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“We did not feel it suited us — it never suits anybody, unless they are real criminals. One loses everything. It poisons the beautiful things in life.”

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Since the 1970s, when the dominance of military histories of the World Wars ended, and social historical histories of conflict rose to prominence, women have come to play an increasingly important role in mainstream stories about the Second World War.

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Freddie was fourteen when a man came to their door asking if the two sisters would be able to enlist in the Dutch Resistance. After their mother had obliged, the two girls were told they would receive military training, they were taught to shoot and march in the woods. Together, they began delivering flyers and newspapers to try to convince the population to rebel. They started to hide the Jews, to assist them in escaping deportation, often leading them in the middle of the night towards the border.

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Hannie Schaft in prison, taken just before her execution courtesy of North Holland Archives

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Hannie Schaft in prison, taken just before her execution courtesy of North Holland Archives

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Truus Oversteegen dressed as a man with Hannie Schaft preparing for a mission.

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Truus Oversteegen dressed as a man with Hannie Schaft preparing for a mission.

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Once they had joined the Haarlem Resistance Group, the sisters were meant to sabotage bridges and railway lines. They were taught how to shoot Nazis and went on assassination missions alone. In at least one instance, Truus seduced an SS officer into the woods so that someone from the resistance could kill him. Later, they focused more on killing Dutch collaborators who arrested or endangered Jewish refugees and resistance members. An early assignment of theirs was arson, they burned down a Nazi warehouse and flirted with the guards as a distraction.

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During one of her missions, Hannie Schaft was caught carrying two resistance-friendly newspapers and a pistol during a police control. She was then arrested and forced to wash her hair, the Nazis knew who she was due to her red hair. She was then brought to the beach of Overveen and executed with a shot to the head on April 17, 1945.

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Not only did they help many Jewish children throughout the Netherlands along with running  Jewish safe houses, but they were also later recognized for their service by receiving medals of military service in 2014. Mark Rutte, the prime minister called these awards “an act of historical justice”.

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"I could shoot better!" Spoken to a German soldier after having been shot in her execution; the soldier subsequently emptied his machine gun into her.