Sunday, September 21, 2014

Hannie Schaft



Hannie Schaft 

Johanna Jannetje Schaft was a resistance fighter in Holland during World War II.  She became known as "the girl with the red hair." Her secret name in the resistance movement was Hannie.

After the German occupation of the Netherlands, university students were required to sign a declaration of allegiance to the occupation authorities. When Hannie refused to sign the petition in support of the occupation forces, she was not allowed to continue her studies.  She moved back in with her parents and became more and more active in the resistance movement.  

She was eventually arrested at a military checkpoint on April 17, 1945. She was shot dead three weeks before the end of the war; two men took her to the beach of Overveen and one shot her at close range, only wounding her. She supposedly said to her executioners: "I shoot better than you", after which the other man delivered the final shot.


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