The city of Amsterdam is refusing to name a bridge in honour of one of the most famous Dutch resistance heroes who fought the Nazis in World War II because the responsible commission prefers selecting names from women and people of non-Dutch descent.
A special advisory board from the city rejected to name a bridge in honour of Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, because it would not fit within the diversity policy.
Roelfzema was a student when the Nazis invaded and became involved in the Dutch underground. He escaped to England and flew with the elite RAF Pathfinder Force whose job it was to guide the Bomber stream of the RAF night bombers. He completed 72 operational sorties, including 25 missions over Berlin.
Apart from the fact that the key World War II resistance fighter was neither a woman nor a member of a minority group, Amsterdam’s Advisory Council on Naming of Public Spaces (ANOR), also cast doubt over Roelfzema merits towards the city of Amsterdam itself, despite him having been in hiding there during the war.
No new name has yet been chosen for the bridge in question, ANOR confirmed to the newspaper.
A spokeswoman of Amsterdam added that they try to avoid naming streets and bridges to World War II resistance fighters, citing oversaturation.
“There are over 650 streets, bridges and squares names in Amsterdam named after people within the category of ‘freedom struggle & emancipation’. Almost half relate to World War II,” the spokeswoman said.
Gijs Tuinman, State Secretary of Defence and, just like Roelfzema recipient of the Military Order of William—the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands— reacted negatively to the decision by Amsterdam.
“The open and diverse character of our capital would not have existed without the sacrifices of heroes like Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema,” he wrote on X.
“Resistance heroes remind us that freedom is not free, but requires sacrifices every day. Big and small, from all of us.”
Het open en diverse karakter van onze hoofdstad had niet bestaan zonder de offers van helden als Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema. Verzetshelden herinneren ons aan het feit dat vrijheid niet gratis is, maar elke dag offers vraagt. Groot en klein, van ons allemaal. https://t.co/ukBOXfzia6
— Gijs Tuinman (@DefensieStas) October 2, 2024
Marco Kroon, another recipient of the Military Order of William, said “Amsterdam should be deeply ashamed for rejecting the naming after Hazelhoff Roelfzema because he is a white man.”
“He didn’t become famous because he was white, but because of his courageous actions for the Netherlands in fighting against the German oppressor,” Kroon said.
“Thanks to him, we now have freedom and can talk about black and white people.”
Since 2021, the city of Amsterdam has made consistent efforts to have ‘diverse’ street names.
Sixty-one per cent of new names went to people who did not have Dutch nationality. Fifty-three per cent went to women.
People like American jazz singer Nina Simone and Surinamese pianist Majoie Hajary got a street in their honour, just like the American modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe.
Louis Botha Street, originally named after a South African politician associated with apartheid, was renamed Albert Luthuli Street in honour of an anti-apartheid activist.
Critics say the new policy names streets after individuals who lack a connection with the city and the people of the city.
Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema was a student when the Nazis invaded and became involved in the Dutch underground which led to him becoming a political prisoner for a short period. He lived in hiding in Amsterdam from April 1941 to June 1941
He escaped to England and contributed to intelligence-gathering operations, helping Allied airmen escape Nazi-occupied Europe, and carrying out dangerous missions against the Germans.
Later he joined the RAF, and despite poor eye vision, he was awarded the gold cufflinks on graduating his training course given to the best pilot cadet in the training group. Roelfzema flew with the elite Pathfinder Force whose job it was to guide the Bomber stream of the RAF night bombers.
His aircraft was unarmed and relied on its speed and luck.
In the Pathfinder Force crews initially were required to complete 60 sorties but later this was reduced to 45. Roelfzema completed 72 operational sorties, including 25 missions over Berlin, the most heavily defended city in the Reich. For his efforts, he received numerous medals and national honours.
Roelfzema’s memoir, Soldaat van Oranje (Soldier of Orange), which detailed his wartime experiences, further cemented his heroic status. The book was later adapted into a highly successful Dutch film directed by Paul Verhoeven.
