Hannie Schaft by Alyssa Fisher

Hannie Schaft

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-25 16:46:16 UTC

Jannetje Johanna (Jo) Schaft was a remarkably brave woman who was a dutch resistance fighter during WW ll. She became known as the girl with the red hair. Her secret name in the resistance was Hannie. Jo was born on September 16, 1920 to her mother,Aafje Talea Schaft, and her father,Pieter Schaft, in Harrlem, North Holland. Her mother was a Mennonite and her father was a teacher.

From an early life Jo talked about social justice and politics with her family. This encouraged her to pursue a career in law and become a human rights lawyer. During her time at the University of Amsterdam she became friends with Jewish students Sonja Frenk and Philine Polak. Being friends with them made her feel strongly about the things happening to Jews. In 1943 students at her university had to sign a deceleration of allegiance to the occupation authorities. When she refused to sign the document she couldn't continue her education, so she moved back with her parents taking Frenk and Polak with her and they went into hiding.

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-26 12:06:47 UTC

Resistance work

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-26 15:17:41 UTC

Schafts resistance work started with small things like stealing ID cards for Jewish residents. When she left university she joined the Council of Residence. She didn't want to be a courier, she wanted to work with weapons. She had the responsibility of sabotaging and assassinating various targets. She assassinated Germans, Dutch Nazis, collaborators and traitors.

Not a Monster

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-26 15:20:31 UTC

Schaft didnt always accept her assignment. She refused to kidnap and attack the children of a Nazi official. If the kidnapping was unsuccessful the child would have to be killed. Schaft felt that was too similar to the Nazi's acts of terror.

Identified

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-26 15:31:34 UTC

Hannie was seen at a location of an assassination and identifed as "the girl with the red hair". She was put as " the girl with the red hair" on Nazis most wanted list. June 21, 1944, Schaft and Jan Bonekamp , a friend from the resistance, carried out an assassination in Zaandam on a Dutch police officer and collaborator Willem Raugt. Schaft fired first and hit Raught in the back. Raught shot Bonekamp in the stomach before killing him. Critically wounded, Bonekamp fled the scene but was arrested shortly after and taken to the hospital. There he inadvertently gave Schafts name and addres to dutch Nazi nurses fighting to be resistance workers. Germany authorities kidnapped Scahfts parents and put them in a concentration camp to try and get her to confess. The grief from Bonekamps death and the stress of her parents kidnapping forced her to stop her resistance work for awhile. Her parents were released after 2 months.

Recovery

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-27 02:39:52 UTC

Schaft dyed her hair black and wore glasses to hide her identity. She returned to her resistance work assassinating and sabotaging people. She also did courier work and transported illegal weapons and newspapers. On March 1st 1945 Hannie Schaft and Truus Oversteegen killed a NSB officer, Willem Zirkzee. On March 15 they wounded Ko Langendijk, a hair dresser who worked for Sicherheitsdienst (SD) a Nazi intelligence group.

Death

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-29 18:29:05 UTC

On March 21 1945 she was arrested at a military check point while distributing the illegal communist newspapers which was a cover story. She was actually transporting secret documentation for the resistance. Schaft was brought to a prison in Amsterdam. There she went through much interrogation, torture, and solitary confinement. A former colleague, Anna A.C., confirmed Schafts identity by the color of the roots of her hair. Jannetje Johanna Schaft was killed by Dutch Nazi officials on April 17, 1945, 3 weeks before the war was over in Overveen.

" I shoot better!"

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-29 18:34:54 UTC

Schmitz shot her in the head at close range. However, the bullet only grazed Schaft. She allegedly told her executioners: Ik schiet beter "I shoot better!", after which Kuiper delivered a final shot to her head

Her legacy

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-29 18:41:28 UTC

A number of schools and streets were named after her. For her, and other resistance heroines, a foundation has been created: the National Hannie Schaft Foundation. Many books and movies have been made about her.

alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-29 18:42:42 UTC

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alyssafisher6758_ — 2023-10-29 18:50:35 UTC