written by Ina Brethouwer.

Joop der Weduwen gave a deeper meaning and content to the word charity, which meant a lot to people in the region. From the summer of 1944 onwards, he worked intensively with Clemens Driessen for the Red Cross Aalten, an illegal resistance organization, in addition to the other organizations in which they were involved.

Ina Brethouwer wanted to know more about them, collected information over the past two years and spoke to war witnesses. In this way, she gained more and more insight into a web of assistance and personal resistance. Through the various stories and documents, she was able to increasingly color the lives of these two men in wartime, their friends and kindred spirits.

This varied series of building blocks forms the mosaic of the meaning and position of Joop der Weduwen and Clemens Driessen as beacons of the regional resistance.

Ina Brethouwer, born in Barlo-Aalten, coordinates the research into the lives and choices of ordinary people in unusual times at the National Hiding Museum. In 2022, her first book ‘That sacrifice has been great’ was published for the Warnsveld World War II Commemoration Committee and the Warnsveld Village Council.

The book is published by Fagus Publishers and was created in collaboration with the National Hiding Museum. The official book presentation is on April 22, from April 23 the book will be for sale in the museum shop of the National Hiding Museum.