Heidema, Roelof

Date of birth:: March 24th, 1920 (Leek, the Netherlands)
Date of death:: March 10th, 1945 (Camp Neuengamme, germany)
Nationality:: Dutch

Biography

Before the war, Roelof served in the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. In early 1942, he joined the Vermeulen Resistance Group, which operated in the fields of intelligence and espionage. His group was connected to the Packard Group, a Dutch intelligence group that maintained contacts with the government in London. Later, he also became the leader of the Blauwe Rinus Group and a member of the Belgian-Dutch intelligence group Wim.
Roelof stayed at various addresses during these years to avoid endangering his family. He used aliases, including Roelof Hogewaarden and Roelof Haeck. Roelof's sister, Alberta Heidema (Bep), was also in his resistance group; she was a courier.
On November 12, 1944, a raid took place in the municipality of Stroobos, on the border with Friesland. They arrested Roelof Heidema. During a search, they found a business card with a false name. An identical business card was found during a house search in Groningen. What follows is a more intense interrogation at the Scholtenhuis, after which Roelof is transported to Germany.
Roelof Heidema was murdered in Neuengamme on March 10, 1945, at the age of twenty-four.

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