Ode to Truus Wijsmuller | “If you can help, you must help!”

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The statue for Truus Wijsmuller has a beautiful spot on the Gewelfde Stenenbrug in Alkmaar. It was unveiled on July 1, 2020. Why did Truus receive such an imposing statue in her hometown?

A little bust 
In 1965, Truus Wijsmuller also received a statue. Or rather: a bust. That was in Amsterdam, in the garden of the Prinses Beatrixoord, a children's pavilion near the Park Hospital, which Truus had helped to establish. For not only before or during the war were Truus' deeds great. Even afterward, she continued to dedicate herself to society. At the unveiling, Alderman J. Tabak spoke, “An indestructible love for all who suffer. Not only did she serve on the Amsterdam City Council, but also made herself very deserving with work for the Anne Frank Foundation, for the Foundation Blijvend Applaus (for impoverished artists), for Women's Aid for the Elderly and as secretary of the Beatrixoord.” All as a volunteer. And then the alderman forgot her wonderful work for the hospitals of Suriname and the Dutch Antilles, for vocational training for Jewish boys and girls who wanted to emigrate to Israel, for better schools and housing in Amsterdam, for the organization of volunteer work and women's emancipation, for the right to abortion. And then we are not complete. Engraved in the bust are three words: Bellatrix (combative), Vigilans (persevering) and Beatrix (loving).

Combative and persistent 
When Truus passed away on August 30, 1978, she could look back on a very well-spent life. Beatrixoord in Amsterdam was closed in the last years of her life. Houses had to be built and the bust was in the way. In desperation Truus took it home and put it in the hallway. The City of Amsterdam no longer showed any interest in it. Truus had not only made friends. It was precisely her “bellatrix” and “vigilante” characteristics, combative and persistent, that sometimes caused clashes in the politics of the Amsterdam city council. The later PvdA mayor Wim Polak, for example, is known to have made a detour in the city hall if he saw Truus approaching at the end of the corridor. Were people glad to be rid of Truus and her statue?

But her family rightly thought it too crazy for words, that this public tribute (who gets a bust from the government when he lives?) had ended up in the hallway of Truus' flat in Buitenveldert. A new location was offered. The statue was allowed to go to the Bachplein after all, where it was placed in early December 1978. But whether that went smoothly? 

In De Telegraaf of December 13, 1978, a large article appeared with the disturbing headline, “Disappointment surrounding statue of ”Aunt Truus.” And the first paragraphs throw a spanner in the works: “The friends of the deceased Amsterdam VVD city council member ‘Tante Truus’ Wijsmuller are deeply disappointed. They find the way the statue of this legendary woman was unveiled on the Bach Square below standard.” How so? Well, no official invitations had been sent, complained the chairman of the VVD Amsterdam branch. He happened to live on Bachplein himself, which is how he found out what was about to happen. The ambassador of Suriname also expressed surprise that he had to find out about it via via. Of course he wanted to say something about the woman, who was affectionately called the “real queen of the Netherlands” in Suriname, because of her fine work for the destitute hospitals there. And then Mayor Wim Polak hadn't thought it worth appearing. He disliked Truus, but yes, now she was dead and couldn't bother him anyway. His replacement, Alderman Kuijpers, reported that Truus would have been so proud of the silver medal of the city of Amsterdam. While her friends shamed that her rescue work for thousands of children, including many from Amsterdam, had apparently not been worth its weight in gold. Amsterdam in those years was a formidable stronghold of the PvdA. Did party political squabbles play a role in the “undervaluation” of critical VVD member Truus Wijsmuller, one openly wondered in the newspaper? 

She proved too strong even for the Gestapo 
Truus Wijsmuller was not a public personality before World War II. Her bold and brave work on behalf of Jewish refugee children was known only to a small circle of those directly involved. During the war, she continued her courageous, life-threatening actions on behalf of those in hiding and starving children. Because of her firm action and her sometimes simply brutal attitude, she proved too strong even for the Gestapo. Immediately after the war, she was asked to join the emergency city council of Amsterdam. In the twenty years that followed, she was always elected to the city council on the basis of preferential votes. And when help was needed at home or abroad, Truus was prepared to go to extremes for the good cause. In this way she was able to accomplish an impressive amount. She was a much discussed phenomenon in the media, in hundreds of newspaper articles from all over the country from the period of 50-60-70 her actions are discussed and praised. Her fierce political stance is also widely covered, not always with appreciation.

After her death in 1978, things quickly go quiet around her. In 2020, she seems completely forgotten. When in 2018 we start to raise donations with the action for a statue for the year, 2020, that commemorates “75 years of freedom,” there are few people, who still know her name. Even a fine article about Truus in Oud Alkmaar in 2015 did little to make her known. But that has now changed. Her biography “No time for tears,” now also available as an e-book, the novel “Sara, the girl who went on transport,” the documentary “Truus' Children,” the American novels “Last train to London” (“Last train to freedom,” by Meg Waite Clayton) and “The wind knows my name” (by Isabel Allende), the plays “Aunt Truus and Mommy Mies” and “Why Truus? “ and the street name for Truus in a beautiful, new, child-rich, Alkmaar residential neighborhood have given her name a familiar ring again. 

A fitting tribute 
In that atmosphere we can always and especially on every April 21, - her birthday - , remember Truus with the new statue in the heart of Alkmaar. We will enjoy its powerful charisma, urging us to stand up for children who need help.

In Alkmaar, we will look upon the statue of Aunt Truus. We will love her like a daughter of Alkmaar, combative, persistent and loving. And we hear her say to us, what she received in her upbringing: “”IF YOU CAN HELP, YOU MUST HELP”.
 

Leen Spaans, former president Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer Foundation

Zie voor meer informatie:

•    Wikipedia on Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer
•    Facebook-page Tante Truus is hier!