Aad van Schoten

Aad was just 16 when German troops marched into the city. Living above the Dutch National Bank, where his father worked and quietly aided the Resistance, he witnessed one of the most daring bank raids of the war. Resistance fighters stormed the building, helped by inside information his father had risked everything to provide. Their home became a refuge for Resistance leaders on the run. His father was twice arrested and deported to Germany, narrowly surviving Allied bombings and escaping across the Rhine. After months in hiding, he returned—on his son’s 17th birthday. Their courage helped shape the very freedom we honour today.

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Almelo