Born: 6 September 1925, Netherlands
Died: 5 September 2018
Country most active: Netherlands
Also known as: Freddie Nanda Dekker-Oversteegen
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Freddie Nanda Dekker-Oversteegen was a member of the resistance during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II.
During WWII, the Oversteegen family hid a Jewish couple. Freddie and her sister Truus spread anti-Nazi leaflets, drawing the attention of Resistance leader Frans van der Wiel. With their mom’s approval, the girls, aged just fourteen, joined the Resistance.
Freddie, her sister, and their friend Hannie Schaft disrupted the Nazi presence in the Netherlands. They used explosives to disable bridges and railways. They also helped smuggle Jewish children out of the country and rescue them from concentration camps.
The Oversteegens and Schaft carried out operations against German soldiers. Freddie was the first to shoot a soldier while riding her bike. They also tricked soldiers, inviting them for a romantic stroll in the forest before eliminating them. Freddie approached soldiers in bars, enticing them to the woods.