July 1, 1943: Dutch artist, author and Resistance fighter Willem Arondéus is executed by the Nazis in Haarlem, the city in the Netherlands that gave its name to the famous black neighborhood in New York City. He was 48 years old.
He was born on August 22, 1894 in Naarden, the Netherlands. He started working as an illustrator, designer of posters and tapestries and a painter. In 1923, he was commissioned to paint a large mural for Rotterdam City Hall. During that same period, he illustrated poems by writers J.H. Leopold, Pieter Cornelis Boutens and Martinus Nijhoff. He decided he could write as well as anyone he was working for. In 1938, he published Het Uilenhuis (The Owls House) and In de bloeiende Ramenas (In the Blossoming Winter Radish).
The Nazis conquered the Netherlands on May 17, 1940. In 1942, Arondéus began publishing the underground newspaper Brandarisbrief. (This translates as "Brandaris' Letter." Brandaris is the oldest lighthouse in the country, overlooking the Wadden Sea since 1594.) In 1943, the Brandarisbrief merged with another publication called De Vrije Kunstenaar (The Free Artist). Through this work, he met other members of the Dutch Resistance, and set his skills toward forging identity documents to help protect Jews against deportation and death.
But the forgeries could be checked against the Municipal Office for Population Registration to determine legitimacy. So, on the night of March 27, 1943 -- the day my father was born -- Arondéus and some friends disguised themselves as policemen, knocked the security guards out, dragged them to safety (they didn't want to kill any Dutch people), and went in.
They piled registration cards, and soaked them in benzene. They stole some blank cards to make more forgeries, and also some cash, then set their time bombs and got out. The firefighters put the fire out quickly, but the water damage ended up helping the Resistance cause: About 15 percent of the total cards were destroyed, probably saving many Dutch Jews from certain death.
The Nazis put up a reward, and someone ratted Arondéus out. He was arrested a month later. He refused to name anyone else involved in the plot, but the Gestapo found his notebook, and 13 others were arrested. All 14 were sentenced to death. Arondéus pleaded guilty and took all the blame, which resulted in two of his accomplices being granted clemency.
Arondéus was openly gay, at a time when few people were, even in the comparatively liberal Netherlands. His last words were to Laura Mazirel, his attorney and a fellow Resistance fighter: "Tell people that homosexuals are not cowards."
Many of those involved in the bombing, including Arondeus, were later honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for their efforts to save Jews from the Holocaust.
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July 1, 1943 was a Thursday. Stage composer Jeff Wayne was born that day.
These baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at League Park in Cleveland. Al Smith (not to be confused with the later White Sox outfielder or the former Governor of New York) outpitched Charles "Butch" Wensloff. Tribe shortstop and manager Lou Boudreau went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Yankee right fielder George "Tuck" Stainback went 3-for-4. Most of the Yankees' big names, including Joe DiMaggio, were serving in The War.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 10-9 at Ebbets Field. In the top of the 12th inning, Dain Clay singled Eddie Miller home, and Lonny Frey got Ray Mueller home on a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the 12th, Bobby Bragan walked with the bases loaded to get a run home, but the Brooks could get no closer.
For the Reds, Miller went 4-for-6 with 2 RBIs, Frey went 3-for-7 with a home run and 3 RBIs, and Eric Tipton went 3-for-4 with 2 walks and an RBI. For Dem Bums, Joseph "Arky" Vaughan went 4-for-5 with 2 walks and 5 RBIs; and Mickey Owen went 3-for-5 with a walk.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 6-5 at Braves Field in Boston.
* A doubleheader was split at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won the opener, 6-1. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the nightcap, 2-1. Over the 2 games, for the Phils, Ron Northey went 5-for-9 with an RBI, and Babe Dahlgren went 4-for-9 with 2 RBIs.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. For the Red Sox, Leon Culberson went 4-for-5, and Jim Tabor went 3-for-5. Hank Greenberg of the Tigers and Ted Williams of the Red Sox were unavailable.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 2-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Bill Dietrich pitched a 4-hit shutout, outpitching Early Wynn, who would later be the White Sox' ace. Luke Appling went 2-for-3 with a walk.
* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 2-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Browns catcher Joe Schultz, later to be a coach on the 1964 and 1967 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals and the manager of the infamous 1969 Seattle Pilots of Ball Four fame, singled Vern Stephens home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Bob Muncrief of the Browns and Don Black of the A's both went the distance.
* And the New York Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals moved their game scheduled for this day to the previous day, making for a doubleheader. (They played again on July 2, so wartime travel restrictions had nothing to do with it.) The Giants won the 1st game, 4-3. Buster Maynard hit a sacrifice fly to score Sid Gordon with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. former Cubs catching star Ernie Lombardi went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs, then got the 2nd game off.
The Cards won the 2nd game, 5-0. Howie Pollet pitched a 6-hit shutout. Over the 2 games, Gordon went 3-for-9 with an RBI, Mikey Witek went 4-for-8 with a walk, Giant right fielder and manager Mel Ott went 0-for-7, but did draw 2 walks, and Stan Musial went 4-for-9 with an RBI.
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