THE RESISTANCE Truus and Freddie Oversteegen

Freddie and Truus Oversteegen were just 14 and 16 years old when the Nazis invaded their hometown of Haarlem. Determined to do their part, the sisters joined the Dutch Resistance and began bombing trains, smuggling out Jewish children, and running refugee safehouses. But their most dangerous work was also their most unlikely: assassinating Nazi officers in broad daylight.

Olivia interviews guest Sophie Poldermans, author of Seducing and Killing Nazis, to discover this astounding true story of courage, camaraderie, and the fight to stay human in inhuman times.

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Truus Oversteegen, girl wearing a knee-length skirt and overcoat, smiles at the viewer while holding a military weapon — Truus Oversteegen with a gun sometime during the war.

Freddie Oversteegen in 1945. A young girl with dark hair weraing a light blouse smiles, looking off to the left of the viewer — Freddie Oversteegen in 1945
photo courtesy of North Holland Archives

Truus Oversteegen, their half-brother Robbie, Freddie Oversteegen
photo courtesy of North Holland Archives

Two teenage girls stand in front of a brick building with a large double door, smiling at the camera. Truus and Freddie Oversteegen, Haarlem. — Freddie and Truus Oversteegen at the hospital in Haarlem where they first met Hannie Schaft
photo courtesy of North Holland Archives

Hannie Schaft. A teenage girl with red hair and fair skin smiles directly at the viewer in a black and white portrait. — Hannie Schaft in 1943
photo courtesy of North Holland Archives

Two people stand talking in front of a building. One wears a man's coat and hat and looks like a teenage boy, the other wears glasses, a headscarf covering dark hair, and a bulky women's coat. — Truus Oversteegen dressed as a man and Hannie Schaft with her hair dyed and wearing glasses, preparing for a mission.

Hannie Shaft in prison, taken just before her execution
courtesy of North Holland Archives

German troops at Grote Markt, Haarlem, May 1940.
Courtesy North Holland Archives

Two women stand in front of a sculpture of a woman standing with arms extended, as if breaking through the walls surrounding her — Truus Menger-Oversteegen at the unveiling of her memorial sculpture to Hannie Schaft, with Princess Juliana (right) May 3, 1982
photo courtesy of North Holland Archives

Two older women and one young woman hold a wreath and smile at one another, standing alongside a man in formal ceremonial dress — Freddie Dekker-Oversteegen, Truus Menger-Oversteegen and Sophie Poldermans with Mayor Jaap Pop at the 2003 Hannie Schaft Commemeration ceremony.
newspaper photo, unknown photographer

Hannie Schaft's gravestsone reads Jannetje Johanna Schaft, 16 Sept 1920 - 17 April 1946 — Hannie Schaft’s gravestone
photo by Sophie Poldermans 2018

Sophie Poldermans is the author of the New York Post & Amazon best seller Seducing and Killing Nazis. Hannie, Truus and Freddie: Dutch Resistance Heroines of WWII (USA, 2019). She personally knew Truus and Freddie Oversteegen for 20 years and worked closely with them for over a decade as a board member of the National Hannie Schaft Foundation. Poldermans is the founder of “Sophie’s Women of War,” shedding light on women leaders in times of conflict, and a Dutch women’s rights advocate, author, public speaker, lecturer and consultant on women and war, human rights-related issues from a legal, historical and sociological perspective and women’s leadership. She has degrees in Dutch and International Human Rights and International Criminal Law (University of Amsterdam); Peace and Conflict Studies (UC Berkeley, USA); Human Rights and Democratization (EIUC, Venice, Italy; Vienna, Austria) and Women’s Leadership (Yale School of Management). She has work experience as a lecturer in Conflict Resolution and International Human Rights and Criminal Law at several (international) universities.

THE RESISTANCE Truus and Freddie Oversteegen

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