During the recent period, Jan Steman (his WT operator) had experienced difficulties transmitting in The Hague. He had been direction-found by the Germans on several occasions, but despite a house search, he had remained out of their hands. Steman therefore considered it advisable to stop transmitting in The Hague. Using one of the Marechaussee’s cars, Steman and his transmitters were transported to Zoetermeer.
When the Landwacht carried out a raid at Steman’s lodging address—searching for the son of the house, who played a leading role in the BS (Dutch underground army) Zoetermeer—Steman was arrested, with a pistol in his possession. The pistol belonged to the son of his lodger and Steman was just cleaning it. The day after the arrest, Mr. Reinder Zwolsman (a business man) and I immediately went to see Jan Haakman (Nazi supporter working for the SD) in an attempt to secure Steman’s release from prison. I explained the circumstances of the arrest to Haakman, who replied that, with the best will in the world, it was impossible for him to do anything for Steman, since he would be regarded as a terrorist and would unconditionally be shot.
I then pointed out to Haakman that if he did not ensure that Steman was released from prison as soon as possible, I would have to withdraw my support from him, as after the liberation I would no longer be able to offer him any guarantee, given that contact with the other side had been severed. This made a deep impression on Haakman, and he considered what means he might employ to free Steman. Through a “game” with the leader of the Abwehr, Hinkfusz, he succeeded in obtaining Steman’s release. On April 18th 1945, Steman was set free.
Introduction to T. Biallosterski
Adriaan de Back, foreign affairs commentator of the B.C. News, continued his work. Discussions regarding the policy to be followed took place regularly with de Back at the home of the Bangma family in Santpoort, where he was in hiding. There he met Tobias Biallosterski, who was active in the national distribution of Het Parool in Amsterdam.
Through Tobs, with whom relations were excellent, de Back and the reporter (Cock van Paaschen) became acquainted with Mr. de Groot, one of the editors of Het Parool. This acquaintance led to a pleasant cooperation between the two papers, including the exchange of important and principled articles and the drafting of certain rules of conduct to which the underground worker was expected to adhere. This cooperation later developed into more regular contact between the larger underground newspapers of the Netherlands.
Departure of Biallosterski for England
In the summer of 1943, Biallosterski informed the reporter (van Paaschen) of his plan to cross over to England. He asked the reporter to join the group, which would consist of about twelve men. However, the reporter was of the opinion that he could better remain in Holland and continue his resistance work there.
Biallosterski then requested as much detailed information and documentation as possible about the underground press in the Netherlands, so that upon arrival in England he could inform the relevant authorities as fully as possible about the wishes and concerns of the Dutch underground press. The reporter agreed and provided him with the most comprehensive instructions possible.
It was not until October 1943 that Biallosterski succeeded in leaving the Netherlands. His safe arrival was confirmed some time later by the broadcast of a previously agreed slogan via the BBC.
Activities for the BBO London.
Return of Tobias Biallosterski.
When Biallosterski returned to the Netherlands at the beginning of April 1944 with a special assignment for the underground press, it was very easy for him to supply the press with the documents and funds he had received from his principals in London. He handed Adriaan de Back the printing plate containing the message of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, as well as 50,000 guilders intended to support the press (for the accounting of this sum, see elsewhere in this report).
The editorial staff of Je Maintiendrai then produced several impressions from the original plate, which were distributed to the newspapers through the “Perskern.”
Meanwhile, Biallosterski contacted the reporter and asked him to assist in his duties as liaison officer. He requested that he act as his representative to the Perskern, take charge of Plan BONZO, establish a technical organization for radiographic contact with London, and gather intelligence of all kinds for the benefit of the Allied war effort.
The reporter’s first assignment was to dig up and transport the materials that Biallosterski and his operator Jan Steman had concealed at the dropping site. Biallosterski would accompany the reporter to indicate the location. When they arrived at the dropping site on the evening of 8 April 1944 (near Zundert), several farm laborers were found digging in the field close to the spot in question.
Biallosterski considered it advisable to take one of the laborers into confidence. The man selected, who turned out to be the owner of the land, was completely deaf. He referred them to his son, about seventeen years old. However, the young man proved to be illiterate, and it was impossible to make him understand what needed to be done.
Biallosterski then decided to look for lodging for the night, but this failed. It was decided to spend the night in the open air and keep watch over the place where the dropped package was buried. After curfew (“Sperrtijd”), Biallosterski and the reporter began digging by hand. An area of approximately nine square meters was turned over to a depth of sixty centimeters, but the only thing that emerged was a tuft of coconut fiber.
Around 2 a.m., these efforts were abandoned, and it was decided to rest for a few hours and, early the next morning, borrow a spade and try again. This too produced no result. Only a small jute sack was recovered as the fruit of their strenuous labor.
Biallosterski and the reporter were completely disheartened. In their view, the laborers must have discovered it earlier (had the SD been involved, they would certainly have left a guard posted in the vicinity). However, there was no indication whatsoever in that direction. Several farmers from the surrounding area were thoroughly questioned, but this investigation yielded no positive result.
The loss of this package meant that Tobias Biallosterski was unable to carry out his assignment of acting as permanent representative between the Dutch Government and the Dutch underground press. The only course now open was to find another transmitter through which new materials could be requested. Since the dropped agents operated individually, the chances of success were very small. Therefore, Biallosterski decided to return to England by a short route known to him.
Meanwhile, the reporter made efforts in Eindhoven to obtain a transmitter. He was indeed successful, thanks to one of his L.O. contacts, Dick Bolhuis. However, Steman found that the set had insufficient power, making it unsuitable for the intended purpose.
The reporter then introduced Biallosterski to Mr. Harry Holla, Leeuwensteinlaan 23 in Vught, as he knew that Holla was involved, among other things, in arranging the return of Allied pilots to England. Within a few days, Holla succeeded in setting Biallosterski on his way to Paris (via the so-called “Monastery Line”) through Father “ELZA” in Reusel (North Brabant).
Before his departure, Biallosterski instructed the reporter to act as his deputy and to continue efforts to establish telegraphic contact with London. Furthermore, should this succeed, a dropping site was to be selected immediately and a reception committee formed, as Biallosterski intended to parachute back during the same lunar period.
A week later, the reporter heard from Father “ELZA” that Biallosterski had safely crossed the Belgian–French border.
The “LIPS” Case.
During a meeting that Tobias Biallosterski and the reporter had with Mr. Holla, when they sought his assistance, the conversation turned to a certain Max Lips, a manufacturer of ship propellers in Drunen (North Brabant). Lips was said to have made highly valuable discoveries in this field and to possess knowledge of practically all German covered submarine bases along the western and northern coasts of Europe.
The Germans had consistently shown great interest in the Lips patents, but Lips had managed to mislead them by ultimately supplying propellers that were completely unusable. He had also had a large quantity of copper buried on his factory grounds, but this was betrayed. He then attempted to flee to Switzerland, but was arrested by the Gestapo at the Franco-Swiss border and, after many transfers, was imprisoned in Scheveningen. Through various maneuvers, Holla succeeded in securing his release.
Since LIPS was considered highly valuable to the Allies, Holla asked Biallosterski to make efforts to have Lips travel to England by a short route. Biallosterski found this proposal entirely acceptable and, during a second conference at which Lips himself was present, promised to arrange for him to be sent to England by special courier.
Because of the long duration of Biallosterski’s return journey to England, the special courier only reported to Holla shortly before the liberation of the southern Netherlands.
Contact with London.
Approximately ten days after the departure of Tobias Biallosterski, Holla informed the reporter that Dick Bolhuis had run into a pair of English agents whose luggage had largely been lost during the drop, but who had nevertheless managed to salvage an intact transmitter from the dropping site. However, the agents did not possess the necessary crystals. Steman, on the other hand, had managed to retain his.
It was agreed with the operator of the pair ST. JUDE, who was staying with Dr. van Willigen, a physician in Buurmalsen, that Steman would use his transmitting equipment and request new materials for both parties. Indeed, after a few days he succeeded in contacting London. In his own code, he informed London of everything that had occurred since the drop.
J.A.U.M. VAN GREVENSTEIN.
Following Biallosterski’s departure, the reporter found himself compelled to engage a close associate to handle the necessary technical work. He selected Jan van Grevenstein, Koningin Wilhelminalaan 47, Voorburg, who had already been active in the resistance for several years and therefore possessed many important legal and illegal connections that could be of great value in building up the agency.
The reporter instructed Van Grevenstein to prepare a number of transmitting addresses in The Hague. These efforts were indeed successful, but produced no immediate results because the materials from England had not yet arrived. The best transmitting location was found by Van Grevenstein in the building of the Haagse Courant, which Mr. A. Sijthoff Jr. spontaneously made available. Dr. E. van Doorn, Anna Paulownastraat 71, The Hague, made his home available and was also engaged by Van Grevenstein to assist in transporting the ST. JUDE transmitter.
Reception Committee – Heezerheide Dropping Ground.
Jan van Grevenstein subsequently organized a reception committee consisting of Karel Nort (Johan Geradtsweg 181, Hilversum, temporarily residing in Eindhoven), Jan Hoekstra (Uiverlaan 1, Eindhoven), and OTTO of the B.I.
A well-situated dropping ground was found on the Heezerheide, behind Heeze Castle. The site was approved by London, but unfortunately nothing was ever received there. An aircraft that was scheduled to arrive was shot down before reaching its destination. A second consignment also failed to arrive because, at the critical moment, Steman had to discontinue his transmissions, as ST. JUDE (Herman Leus) departed for the eastern part of the country.
When the assignment brought by Tobias Biallosterski from Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, together with the first 50,000 guilders for the press, was handed over to the Perskern, Würthrich promised that additional materials would be supplied and requested the newspapers to make their wishes known to him.
The newspapers were full of enthusiasm at these first tangible signs of interest from London after four years of occupation, and expectations were understandably high. The disappointment over Biallosterski’s partially failed mission was great. However, when prompt contact with London was nevertheless established via ST. JUDE, there was good reason to assume that smooth communication with London on press matters would soon be achieved.
Yet the continued failure of the promised consignments to arrive somewhat undermined confidence in the institution of the “Press Courier.”
The following day, a meeting took place between the C.N.B., Mr. BREISTER (Jhr. GROENIX VAN ZOELEN), who was to act as liaison officer between the CNBS and the national press, Mr. Hiemstra, Head of the C.I.D. and current head of the detective service of the Bureau for National Security in Scheveningen, and the reporter, with Biallosterski present as introducer.
The CNBS opened the meeting with an address in which he emphasized that the time had come to stimulate the “Paper Resistance.” In his view, the organized resistance (manual resistance) should be engaged for this purpose, since it was practically organized in every town in the Netherlands. Through this channel, distribution could be made far more intensive and effective. Furthermore, he proposed the establishment of a BS Press Bureau, in cooperation with the C.I.D., whose task would be to supply the press regularly with informative and resistance-oriented articles. According to him, this was of eminent importance and certainly achievable.
The reporter replied that, on the basis of his experience with the leading press organs, he could not conceal a certain pessimism regarding the CNBS’s plans. Since mid-1942, and more particularly since early 1943, a large part of the press had increasingly oriented itself toward post-war issues. It had retained its resistance character, but encouragement to open resistance had become sporadic.
New newspapers had appeared (among others De Ploeg, De Toekomst, etc.) which concerned themselves exclusively with the Netherlands after the war. The press, which could in some measure claim to represent the oldest form of resistance in underground history, had already counted countless victims. The risk involved in distributing the papers was very great, and printing them also entailed serious dangers.
Experience had meanwhile shown that every merger, every closer cooperation between editorial boards, had often ended in catastrophe. Moreover, the editorial staffs displayed a strong tendency toward independence; qualitatively speaking, their democratic character stood very much in the foreground. Whether this press would allow directives to be imposed from above was highly questionable.
The possibility was then examined of publishing a newspaper of their own, which could be edited entirely according to their own views. The objection to this was that, at the eleventh hour and under the most difficult circumstances, they would have to begin operating a paper.
Thereupon the CNBS instruct Groenix van Zoelen to study the matter further and to develop it in cooperation with the reporter, who would then establish himself with his staff in Amsterdam. The reporter, however, rejected this proposal, but promised to send within a very short time a competent representative who, together with Groenix van Zoelen, would elaborate and concretize the plans. The two of them would also consult leading figures in the press in order to obtain a clear picture of the wishes and desires of the press in this field.
The reporter’s refusal to move with his staff to Amsterdam was due to the fact that he did not consider it right to contribute to a certain over-centralization of the resistance in the capital. He had solid contacts in The Hague, whereas in Amsterdam one had to turn to the “centralized resistance” for accommodation, transmitting addresses, and food supplies.
Second Dropping of Tobias Biallosterski – Introduction to Dr. X
A few weeks after Biallosterski’s second drop, REERINK (Dr. H. Veeneklaas, Stadionkade 68, Amsterdam) and Dr. Relie Felix of Amsterdam visited the reporter on his behalf to inform him of this development.
In mid-October, the reporter (van Paaschen) went to Amsterdam to see Biallosterski and discussed various problems with him. As the press was beginning to show some revival, the reporter considered it desirable to request new consignments from London. Biallosterski then proposed that these deliveries take place via his own dropping fields, thus sparing the reporter the effort and dangers connected with maintaining a field of his own.
They also agreed that the further care of Frankie Hamilton would be undertaken by Biallosterski and GUUS (Frank Hamilton), now that the latter had gone to North Holland on 4 October. Furthermore, Biallosterski stated that he would appreciate regular consultations between himself and the reporter on matters of policy and on problems which the reporter, owing to the fact that he had not received training in England, could not easily resolve on his own.
The reporter, for his part, outlined in broad terms his own method of working and his objections to what often appeared to be a lack of effective cooperation from London.
Biallosterski in turn explained his own working methods and informed the reporter that he received considerable support from Dr. X, who, through countless connections and personal initiative, was capable of turning practically the impossible into reality.
Finally, Biallosterski stated that communication between himself and the reporter would, in the foreseeable future, be simplified, since the top leadership of the O.D. possessed an extensive telephone network and had promised him a personal line to the reporter.
WEGGUM.COM
Various reports by Cock van Paaschen, aka Pieter Dekker.