Born: 29 August 1923, Netherlands
Died: 18 June 2016
Country most active: Netherlands
Also known as: Truus Menger-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.
Truus Menger-Oversteegen was a Dutch sculptor and painter. During the Second World War, she played a significant role in the anti-Nazi Dutch Resistance alongside her sister, Freddie Oversteegen, and Hannie Schaft.
Schaft and Truus Oversteegen planned to eliminate NSB member and policeman Fake Krist on October 25, 1944. However, fellow Haarlem Resistance fighters killed him before they could. On March 1, 1945, they executed NSB police officer Willem Zirkzee near the Krelagehuis on Haarlem’s Leidsevaart. On March 15, they wounded Ko Langendijk, linked to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). Langendijk survived, testified in Amsterdam in 1948, and played a role in the conviction of Nelly Willy van der Meijden. In 1949, Langendijk received a life imprisonment sentence for his actions.
Efforts to free Jan Bonekamp from German custody and the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam were unsuccessful.
After Schaft’s March 21, 1945 arrest, Oversteegen tried to rescue her while impersonating a German nurse. Schaft, however, had already been executed, a fact unknown to Oversteegen at the time.
After the war, Truus married Piet Menger in November 1945. They had four children, naming their eldest in memory of Schaft. Truus shared her wartime experiences through speaking engagements at universities and schools, addressing topics like wars, antisemitism, tolerance, and indifference. Her 1982 book, “Not then, Not now, Not ever,” recounted her wartime experiences.
Yad Vashem recognized Truus Menger-Oversteegen as Righteous Among the Nations on May 10, 1967. In 1998, she became an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau on her 75th birthday. On April 15, 2014, Truus Menger-Oversteegen and her sister received the Mobilization War Cross from Prime Minister Mark Rutte.