Gerardus Steen
Gerard Steen was born on January 26, 1925, in Dordrecht. He earned his MULO diploma in Amsterdam in 1941. In September of that year, he entered the Juvenate of the Brothers of Saint Aloysius in Oudenbosch, aspiring to become a teaching brother. However, he returned home later that year after realizing he was not suited for monastic life. In 1942, he became a trainee clerk at the Direct Tax Collection Office in Amsterdam. He was called up for six months of service in the Dutch Labor Service. In September 1944, Steen began engaging in illegal activities with the Knokploeg (armed resistance group) of the Domestic Forces in Amsterdam. He even resigned from his job to do so. His tasks included courier services, transporting weapons, and offering his room in his parental home for weapons instruction.
When the Sicherheitspolizei raided the home of a platoon commander, they discovered a large number of identity tags intended for use after liberation. The address had been betrayed by an arrested resistance member. This discovery led to multiple raids on members of the Amsterdam Domestic Forces. In Gerard Steen’s home, a Sten gun and ammunition were found. He was imprisoned in the Detention Center on Weteringschans and placed on a list of death candidates.
On April 15, 1945, Gerard Steen was executed in Sint Pancras along with nineteen other resistance members as a reprisal for an attack on a German train. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave in the dunes near Overveen. Today, he is buried at the Honorary Cemetery Bloemendaal in Overveen, in Section 211.
