Tiny Mulder by SAYLOR BRADICICH

Overview

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-08 18:09:55 UTC

Tiny Mulder was a 19 year old girl living in Drachten with her parents when Germany invaded on May 10, 1940. Rather than accepting their defeat, Mulder, along with many other Dutch citizens, decided to work in the underground resistance. Her jobs in the resistance included delivering information for the Allies and rescuing and hiding airmen shot down by German fighters or anti-aircraft fire. When Allied forces arrived in 1945, Mulder worked as a translator for them. After V-E Day, she became a journalist for a Frisian newspaper, and later traveled to England, Canada, and the United States. In appreciation of her services, Tiny Mulder received the Medal of Freedom with the Silver Palm from the United States and the King's Medal from the British government. She became an author, publishing and translating many books including Tin iis or Thin Ice in English, which was her first book. Her books, as well as radio plays and stage plays, are based on her experiences and life growing up during World War ll. She died in 1921.

Her Books

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-08 18:48:44 UTC

Beginning with her debut Orange Umbrella in 1962, Tiny Mulder became a known poet. She also wrote and translated children's books, radio plays, and stage plays. Her first novel, published in 1981, was titled Thin Ice. Thin Ice is about a 14 year old girl, Klaske Janersma, living in the Netherlands during the Second World War. While her house becomes a refuge for those in hiding, Klaske decides to become active in the resistance along with her sister. As she gets more involved, she learns the consequences of choices she makes as she continues to resist. Thin Ice was written based on Mulder's one life during World War 2, including her involvement in the resistance and even a young Jewish girl hiding in their home that soon becomes more like a sister.

Impact

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-08 18:50:36 UTC

Although Mulder has saved the lives of about seventy airmen, she still looks back on the war wishing they had saved more Jews. Just as shes said, "No country lost more Jews than the Netherlands, according to their population. There were about 126,000 Jews and more than 100,000 did not return."

People Tiny Mulder Helped

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-08 18:51:50 UTC

Tiny Mulder helped over seventy Allied pilots that were shot down by German fighters or anti-aircraft fire. These men included Ed Pollock, Frank McGlinchey, Carl Spicer, and Merlin Verburg. After the war, as she traveled she reunited with all of the airmen that she had kept in touch with.

"I owe Tiny Mulder a lot. I was staying at another farm, but in the evenings, she would take me to her house and we would pop corn or have apples. I remember that her father would catch fish in the canal every Friday for a Catholic flier." -Carl Spicer (navigator of a plan shot down on October 8, 1943)

"Tiny came along and took me to her house, where I stayed for three months. I played chess with Mr. Mulder every night. They were wonderful people, and they risked their lives for us." - Ed Pollock ( a Boeing B-17 pilot)

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-10 02:36:32 UTC

"Tiny Shrugged. 'This was war. They didn't count lives.'"

Mulders Childhood

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-10 02:57:19 UTC

Tiny Mulder was the first child of Jan Mulder and Akke Salverda, both shopkeepers. In Tiny's youth, the Mulder family moved from Beesterzwaag in Friesland to Deventer, Doetinchem, Gorinchem, Assen and in 1933 to Drachten. Most of Tiny's primary school years took place in Assen. In Drachten she obtained her B-diploma at the Christian mulo. She went on to the Christian hbs in Leeuwarden and graduated there in 1939.

The Lady in the Green Hat

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-10 03:03:56 UTC

Mulder's first job after joining the resistance was to deliver ration cards, false papers, maps, and weapons for the Allies. During her missions, Mulder wore a green hat to identify herself, because as she said, "You never gave your name to anyone. What you don't know, you can't reveal".

Cited

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-12 14:53:27 UTC

Staff, HistoryNet. “Tiny Mulder: Teenage World War II Resistance Heroine.” HistoryNet, 9 Aug. 2016, www.historynet.com/tiny-mulder-teenage-world-war-ii-resistance-heroine/.

Kooman, Elizabeth. “Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland.” Resources, Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 25 Mar. 2024, resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/MulderTiny.

Najera, Eva. “Padlet on Tiny Mulder.” Padlet, 24 Apr. 2025, padlet.com/enajera12/padlet-on-tiny-mulder-xaxfw4a1qu4cdi7d.

https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/netherlands-greatest-number-jewish-victims-western-europe/

https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/netherlands-historical-background.html

https://v1.padlet.pics/1/image.webp?t=ar_1.3333333333333333%2Cc_lfill%2Cdpr_1%2Ce_trim%2Cg_auto%2Cw_508&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet-artifacts.storage.googleapis.com%2Fab50a779913d8359ee65e226cedb96a814be10e4%2Fc699a7a327de00976c14ee02c4ba4031-h-2ae9d0a0de9999c431db273b3088d149.jpg

https://www.tresoar.nl/literatuur/uitgelicht/tiny-mulder/audiomateriaal

https://www.archieven.nl/nl/zoeken?mivast=0&mizig=317&miadt=158&miview=ff&milang=nl&misort=last_mod%7Cdesc&mizk_alle=tiny%20mulder&micode=0021&minr=875312&miaet=14#:~:text=AV0038FVM%20%C2%A0What%20remains%20is%20the%20story.%20Mrs.%20T.%20Mulder%20%2C%201999

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/4417141.Tiny_Mulder

Her False Identity and Going into Hiding

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-12 15:32:36 UTC

Tiny Mulder was known to often be wearing a green hat to identify herself because she never gave her real name to be identified by. For this same reason, when she would help airmen to England, she wore four identity cards under the names Tiny Eringa, Rixt Inia, Anne-Marie ten Oever, and Helena Hendrika van Straaten.

After she stopped working at the distribution office for safety reasons in 1944, Mulder had to go into hiding. Her parents, who were involved in hiding people in their home, also went into hiding. During the last six months of of the war, she lived at about twelve different addresses.

The Netherlands During the Holocaust

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-12 16:58:04 UTC

140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands when the country was invaded in May 1940. Soon after the occupation, anti-Jewish decrees were enacted. In the summer of 1943, deportation to death camps happened regularly, mostly to Auscxhwitz and Sobibor. By the time the last transportation left in September 1944 total of 107,000 Jews had been deported, while only 5,000 of them returned after the war. More than 75% of Dutch Jews perished in the Holocaust.

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-13 15:26:40 UTC

After the War

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-13 22:47:40 UTC

In 1949 Mulder married Jilbert Sudema, a journalists for the Leeuwarder Courant. Together they had two children, Rixt (1951) and Teake (1953). The family lived in Lekkum, Goutum, and Jellum. Mulder continued to write, while translating other books and also working as a reporter for the FD. In 1983, Mulder retired after writing the columns 'Ventweg' and 'Midstwa' for eight years.

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-13 23:01:18 UTC

Videos of Tiny Mulder

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-14 02:18:30 UTC

The link above goes to a video of Tiny Mulder speaking to a class of students, telling them about the Second World War. She uses the theme: Choosing and sharing. Although she is not speaking English, there is a summary to the side of the video so you can read along. Exploring this website will show you more videos and information on Tiny Mulder.

How she helped Evelign

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-14 13:23:56 UTC

Although Mulder mainly helped airmen, she was also involved in hiding a seven year old Jewish girl by the name of Evelijn Roos. Evelijn posed as being the daughter of Jan and Akke Mulder and the younger sister of Tiny for two years until the war was over. Although the girls parents feared that Evelijn would stand out among the blond and blue eyed citizens, she blended in with the Mulder family perfectly, seeing that Tiny herself had dark hair. This secret was completed with fake records of the Mulder's having a third child. This didn't only save her life, but Evelign was Even allowed to go to school. Even though after the war Evelijn was reunited with her parents, Tiny still believes that "She is still [her] sister."

Other Books Translated or Written By Tiny Mulder

saylorbradicich — 2025-05-14 14:43:46 UTC

Although Thin Ice was one of Mulders most poular books, she also wrote Gevaarlijk Ijs, Op slack fan tolven, and De beste fryske ferhalen. Along with these books, she translated Stalin: het hof van de rode tsaar, Tot De Laatste Man: Hitlers Duitsland, Warschau 1944: de gedoemde opstand van de Polen, Keerpunten: tein beslissingen die de tweede wereldoorlog voorgoed veranderden, Woestijndieren: Tekenen stap-voor-stap, and even Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in West Frisian.