Truus Menger-Oversteegen

On 1 March 1945, NSB police officer Willem Zirkzee was executed by Schaft and Truus Oversteegen near the Krelagehuis on the Leidsevaart in Haarlem. On 15 March, they wounded Ko Langendijk, who worked for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). He survived the attack and, in 1948, testified in Amsterdam on behalf of his Velser girlfriend, the traitor Nelly Willy van der Meijden. In 1949, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. An earlier attempt on Langendijk by Jan Bonekamp had also failed. Schaft and Oversteegen tried in vain to free Jan Bonekamp when he was arrested by the Germans and taken to the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam. After Schaft was arrested on 21 March 1945, the Resistance assumed that she had been imprisoned at the Weteringschans. Disguised as a German nurse, Oversteegen tried to free her with a story that she had to take Schaft for medical examination. She cried a lot to convince the people there. Schaft, however, turned out to have been on the Amstelveenseweg and had already been executed. After the war, Truus married Piet Menger in November 1945. The couple had four children, the oldest of whom she named in remembrance of Schaft. She was regularly a guest speaker at universities and secondary schools about wars, antisemitism, tolerance and indifference. Menger-Oversteegen's book about her experiences during the war, Not then, Not now, Not ever, was published in 1982. On 10 May 1967, Yad Vashem recognized her as Righteous Among the Nations. At her 75th birthday in 1998, Menger was invested as an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau for her services. On 15 April 2014, Truus Menger-Oversteegen received the Mobilization War Cross with her sister from Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Places of work recorded in the authority are Rotterdam. Works named in the authority record are Vrouw in het verzet. Work by Truus Menger-Oversteegen is recorded in the collections of CODA Museum and Dutch Resistance Museum. Distinctions recorded are Mobilisation War Cross, Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau and Righteous Among the Nations.

• Name — Truus Menger-Oversteegen • Born — 29 August 1923 • Birthplace — Schoten, Netherlands • Place of death — Grootebroek, Netherlands • Citizenship — Dutch • Known for — Dutch resistance member during World War II • Spouse — Piet Menger • Children — 4 • Relatives — Freddie Nanda Dekker-Oversteegen (younger sister)