Bernardus IJzerdraat (1891 – 13 March 1941) was aDutch resistance fighter in theSecond World War.
A tapestry restorer fromRotterdam, he became involved as early as 1936 in theEenheid door Democratie movement which opposedFascism andCommunism. Immediately after thebombing of Rotterdam during theGerman invasion in 1940, he set up the first Dutch resistance group,De Geuzen "The Beggars", and published theGeuzenbericht, a resistance pamphlet, on 15 May, the day after the bombing of Rotterdam.[1][2]
He was arrested together with other members of his group when the Germans discovered a list of names and addresses at his home. After a show trial, he was shot atScheveningen on 13 March 1941 together with 17 others, including three Communists involved in theFebruary Strike.
He was posthumously awarded theResistance Cross which his widow received in 1955. IJzerdraat was buried at theNational Cemetery of Honours inLoenen.[3]
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