Alexander Leendert Aronson (20 December 1934 – 15 December 1975) was a Dutch

aid worker Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian a ...

who was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Aronson, who was of Jewish descent, was imprisoned in

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he studied in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to become a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. He migrated to Israel in 1955 and traveled the world for six years as an aid worker, before returning to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1962. He married in 1964 and fathered a son the same year. In the late 1960s, he worked in service of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

in several countries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and later in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. From August 1974 onward, he organized aid for the

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

in northern Iraq. On 25 March 1974, he was arrested by the regime of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

and charged with

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

on behalf of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

criminal possession of a weapon Criminal possession of a weapon is the unlawful possession of a weapon by an individual. It may also be an additional crime if a violent offense was committed with a deadly weapon or firearm. Such crimes are public order crimes and are consider ...

and possession of

classified documents Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...

. The Revolutionary Court found him guilty of these accusations. On 3 November, news broke that Aronson had been

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

, but this proved false. In March 1976, it was announced that he had been executed on 15 December. He was buried on the

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' (house of s ...

Muiderberg Muiderberg () is a village in the municipality of Gooise Meren in the Netherlands. It lies about 6 km north of Bussum and 2 km west of Naarden, adjacent to the Naarderbos. Geography Muiderberg is in the east of the municipality of ...

on 21 May 1976.

References

Aronson, Alexander Leendert (1934 - 1975)
VPRO.nl (in Dutch)
Alex Aronson, Volunteer Medical Worker and Humanitarian
McMaster
From Bergen-Belsen to Baghdad - The letters of Alex Aronson, read online or download for e-readerWebsite about Aronson by his son
(in Dutch and English) * Mulder, Robert; Siepe, Lejo ''De dood in Bagdad: het leven van de Nederlander Lex Aronson'',

: Arena, 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, Alex 1934 births 1975 deaths Dutch nurses Dutch Holocaust survivors Dutch people executed abroad Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivors People from Amsterdam 20th-century executions by Iraq Dutch expatriates in India Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch expatriates in Israel Dutch expatriates in Iraq