At the Fritz Conijntunnel in Alkmaar, a panel was unveiled yesterday afternoon on which the story of the resistance fighter after whom the bicycle tunnel is named. The panel was unveiled by Doeko Bosscher, a relative of Conijn who did not survive his resistance work during the Second World War. Media partner Alkmaar Central was at the unveiling.
The panel for Conijn is the final piece of a new resistance hero route in Alkmaar.
In various places in the municipality, stories are now being told through the panels about the suppression of the German occupier and the resistance against it. The idea came from the previous acting mayor Emile Roemer, after the city council had expressed the need for a memorial for the murdered resistance fighter Bram Daalder.
The first panel about Bram Daalder was placed on May 7 last year in the Spoorbuurt. The route is completed with the panel about Fritz Conijn. On the website ‘Alkmaar on the map‘ is a route along the panels to download.
Most Dangerous Jobs
Fritz Conijn was 22 years old when he was trapped in a resistance action. Conijn was active in resistance groups in Alkmaar and provided help to people in hiding. He took part in robberies on arms and receipt transports. Conijn took on the most dangerous jobs because he didn’t want others who already had a family to be arrested if things went wrong.
He was arrested on August 29, 1944 while attempting to ransom the imprisoned Henri Scharrer in Amsterdam. On September 6, 1944 he was executed in Vught. After the war he was posthumously awarded the Resistance Cross. The tragic, but at the same time admirable history of the Alkmaar resistance hero can be read on the panel on the lawn near the bicycle tunnel.
“I am happy that we can contribute to the commemoration of the people who died as a result of their resistance work. With these panels we make history tangible,” said Mayor Schouten in a short speech at the unveiling.