Date of birth:

June 13th, 1916 (Tiel/Gelderland, Netherlands)

Date of death:

April 11th, 1945 (Zijpersluis/North Holland, Netherlands)

Buried on:

Dutch Honorary Cemetery Bloemendaal
Plot: 36. 

Nationality:

Dutch

Lived in Tiel. Son of J. Botterweg (shopkeeper) and D. M. van Hunnik. Dirk was not officially ‘married’ and therefore unmarried in the eyes of the law. Shop assistant/traveller. Dutch Reformed. Member of the resistance from 1941 under the pseudonym D. van Schijffelen.
In 1941, Dick Botterweg and others formed a resistance group in his hometown of Tiel. They transported weapons that had been found, they made and distributed copies of the illegal magazine Vrij Nederland and they forged stolen identity cards.
In mid-1942, he escaped arrest in Arnhem during a raid on his hiding place. On 9 December 1942, he and Speelman, the leader of Vrij Nederland, were arrested in the Parkhotel in Amsterdam. He was released after three months in the Oranjehotel prison in Scheveningen. According to Botterweg, this was thanks to Kriminalrat Harders of the Sicherheitspolizei, through whom he had previously managed to help imprisoned resistance members for a fee.
After this, Botterweg was distrusted by the resistance and in 1943 and 1944 his name and photo appeared in various illegal description sheets. They saw him as a V-man; a Vertrauensmann who infiltrated resistance groups to betray them. For fear of reprisals from the resistance, Botterweg stayed in the northern provinces for some time.
After his return to Amsterdam, he was recruited in August 1944 into the Reintje de Vos gang, under the name Bennebroek. Here he was involved in the food supply for members of the resistance. When his true identity was revealed, he was allowed to continue working after questioning.
On 27 March 1945, Botterweg took part in a meeting of Reintje de Vos in the home of the leader of the Knokploeg, Bons. Due to the betrayal of an upstairs neighbour, the Sicherheitspolizei raided the house. Botterweg was arrested with Bons and a number of members of the Knokploeg and taken to the prison on the Weteringschans. Here they were put on the list of Todeskandidaten (death candidates) who were eligible for execution in reprisal.
On 11 April 1945, he was executed by firing squad in Zijpe along with nine other resistance fighters, including Bons and four members of his fighting crew, as reprisal for the sabotage of a bridge deck in Zijpe. Their bodies were temporarily buried in a mass grave in the dunes near Overveen.

Do you have more information about this person? Inform us!

• Photo 1: Eerebegraafplaats Bloemendaal
• Photo 2: Arjo Eijgelsheim
• - Kooistra - Eerebegraafplaats Bloemendaal
  

Helaas geen map gevonden.