Date of birth:

February 16th, 1912 (Rotterdam. the Netherlands)

Date of death:

March 23rd, 1945 (Vosbergen-Eelde, the Netherlands)

Buried on:

Dutch War Graves Northern Cemetery
Plot: 1. Row: 18. Grave: 8.

Nationality:

Dutch

Mr. and Mrs. De Groot, those were the aliases of Gerrit Boekhoven and his girlfriend Dinie Aikema. Their house at Nassauplein 33 was the headquarters of the De Groot Group and thanks to the work of a carpenter friend, all sorts of things could be hidden under the floor in the simple house; from people in hiding to ration cards to illegal printing. Weapons were not part of that, however, because the resistance of the De Groot Group was decidedly non-violent in nature.
Boekhoven was the manager of the Noord-Nederlandse Clichéfabriek, where, among other things, stamps were manufactured. After he was approached in 1942 to help print and distribute the illegal magazine De Vonk, Boekhoven started resistance activities, which expanded as the war progressed. The De Groot Group had about thirty members. His brother Gerard, the later mayor of Groningen, also helped, as did the pacifist student Anda Kerkhoven who became a courier. Member Dinie Aikema quickly became Boekhoven's right-hand man and the two became a couple.
From September 1944, the De Groot Group also supported the national railway strike. Boekhoven himself had gone to the station in Groningen to encourage the strike. The De Groot Group helped railway workers and their families with material and financial resources.
Due to a mysterious coincidence, Anda Kerkhoven was met at home by four members of the Sicherheitsdienst shortly after Christmas 1944 and arrested. Despite severe torture in the Scholtenhuis, she did not give any names or addresses. Another member, Hindrik Lommert, was arrested more or less by chance and unsuspectingly gave important information to a cellmate, who turned out to be an informer. The Sicherheitsdienst then quickly rounded up most of the De Groot Group. Dinie Aikema and Gerrit Boekhoven were arrested together on 12 January 1945. Both were interrogated and tortured, after which Aikema broke down and gave various names and addresses to the SD. Gerrit Boekhoven and Anda Kerkhoven were shot with twenty others on 19 March, Dinie Aikema suffered the same fate five days later. The pacifist resistance group had been torn apart by violence.

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• Photo 1: J.Niemeijer "Hoe Groningen streed".
• Photo 2: Bert Deelman
• - Gerrit Boekhoven - Wikipedia
  - Bladeren
  - Gerrit Jacobus Boekhoven | Oorlogsgravenstichting
  - Het ongewapende verzet van Groep de Groot › Groningen4045
  - Sterfdag Anda Kerkhoven en Gerrit Boekhoven
  - Groep de Groot: verzet in Groningen › De verhalen van Groningen
  - Gerrit Jacobus Boekhoven (Rotterdam, 16 februari 1912 - Eelde (gr)/de Vosbergen, 19 maart 1945) - Netwerk Oorlogsbronnen
  - Gerrit Jacobus Boekhoven | Erelijst van Gevallenen 1940-1945
  

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