ARONDEUS

ARONDEUSThis play is based on a true story and about real people. I have undertaken extensive research both online and in person in Amsterdam. The bombing of the Population Registry by a Resistance Group in Amsterdam took place in 1943. The group was led by a middle aged man Willem Arondeus, a former artist and at the time of his involvement with the Resistance, a published writer. He was also along with some of his Resistance colleagues an openly gay person,

This play is based on a true story and about real people. I have undertaken extensive research both online and in person in Amsterdam. The bombing of the Population Registry by a Resistance Group in Amsterdam took place in 1943. The group was led by a middle-aged man Willem Arondeus, a former artist and at the time of his involvement with the Resistance, a published writer. He was also along with some of his Resistance colleagues an openly gay person, a fact which perhaps led to the Dutch Government hiding the fact of WillemÕs leadership of the group for many decades.

The aim of the play is to memorialise Arondeus and the other members of his Resistance group, to give them their rightful place in history and to explore what lengths people will go to in order to achieve their goals, both good and bad.
The words that Arondeus says at the end of the play ÒLET IT BE KNOWN HOMOSEXUALS ARE NOT COWARDSÓ are recorded as being his last actual words as he was executed.