Johan (Han) van Lom (

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( ), pronunciation respelling, also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The munici ...

, 3 June 1918 –

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 ...

, 6 March 1945) was a Dutch lawyer who worked with the

Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

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 ...

and toward the end of the war collaborated with the Nazis, allowing them to arrest other members of the Dutch resistance in return for the freedom of a family friend. His betrayal of led to the arrest and subsequent execution of

Walraven van Hall Walraven "Wally" van Hall (10 February 1906 – 12 February 1945) was a Dutch banker and resistance leader during the Netherlands in World War II, occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. He founded the bank of the Resistance, which was ...

, banker and leader of the resistance. Van Lom himself was later executed by members of the resistance.

Life

Van Lom had trained as a lawyer but was unable to finish his studies during the German occupation. He found work with the lawyer Jan de Pont, whose firm, in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and Amsterdam, defended Jewish families and members of the Dutch resistance. In that capacity he met a number of high-ranking resistance members, including Wim van Norden, then publisher of the illegal newspaper ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

''. De Pont managed to get a considerable number of ''Parool'' people released after a trial, the so-called tweede Parool-proces (second ''Parool'' trial), before the German ''Obergericht'' (High Court) at

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

in 1944. After the trial, van Norden asked de Pont to assist him in setting up a pension fund for resistance fighters. De Pont declined because he wanted at all costs to avoid being associated with (illegal activity), directing him instead to van Lom, an idealistic and newly married young man. Why van Lom subsequently turned collaborator is a matter of contention among journalists and family members; one theory, subscribed to by

Loe de Jong Louis "Loe" de Jong (24 April 1914 in Amsterdam – 15 March 2005 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch historian who specialised in the Netherlands in World War II and the Dutch resistance. De Jong studied history and social geography at the University of Am ...

in his ''

The Kingdom of the Netherlands During World War II ''The Kingdom of the Netherlands During World War II'' () is the standard reference on the history of the Netherlands during World War II. The series was written by Loe de Jong (1914–2005), director of the Dutch Institute for War Documenta ...

'' and based on a confession that van Lom made when questioned by the Dutch resistance (the interrogation was led by

Wim Sanders Wim Sanders (9 August 1908 – 11 April 1995) was a Dutch politician and World War II resistance fighter. Biography Sanders grew up in Enschede. His father was a councilor and alderman on behalf of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherla ...

), is that van Lom had an affair with a friend of his wife and his wife's sister. According to this theory, van Lom gave up information that led to the arrest of a number of resistance members in exchange for the freedom of the young woman. He had negotiated with of the

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, "Security Service"), full title ' ("Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''"), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence ...

in Amsterdam that none of the people arrested were to be executed; Viebahn kept his promise, although he did not feel bound by it in the case of van Hall. Van Lom fled Amsterdam after the arrests in January 1945, and returned in March. After a meeting with a resistance member he was abducted and interrogated, and sentenced to die by poisoning. Either he refused to drink the poison or it did not have the desired effect and he was finally dispatched with a shot to the neck, his body dumped in the

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinseng ...

. He was 26 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lom, Johan van 1918 births 1945 deaths Dutch spies for Nazi Germany Executed Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany Nazis assassinated by the Dutch resistance People from Gorinchem People executed by the Netherlands by firearm 20th-century Dutch lawyers Vigilantism against Nazi collaborators and war criminals