Karel August Pekelharing (

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

, 6 April 1909 –

Overveen Overveen is a village in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Bloemendaal. Overveen lies on the eastern fringe of the North Sea dunes. To the east it borders the built-up areas of Haarlem. A few kilometres to the west of the to ...

, 10 June 1944) was a Dutch dancer and choreographer who, when

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 ...

broke out, joined 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 ...

, and was executed by the German occupying forces in 1944. A gay man, in 1940 Pekelharing was a dancer with the Nederlandsch Ballet. Wanted in 1941 on charges of antifascism and communism, he fled to

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

, Germany, and found work as a translator and a streetcar conductor. When it was discovered he had engaged in sabotage, in 1942, he returned to the Netherlands, performing privately as a dancer and orator. He wrote poetry (a poem written before the war, "Harlekynade van den dood. Een oud lied op nieuwe wijs", was published under the pseudonym Karel de Hoogh in 1943) and a novel, and in 1943 he became a member of the armed resistance, by joining the group called '' Raad van Verzet'' group. One of his feats was participating in a raid that liberated Truus van Everdingen, the wife of resistance man Jan Hendrik van Gilse (1912–1944). He was arrested on 6 April (?) 1944 by the Sicherheitspolizei und SD (abbreviated ''Sipo'' in Dutch) at the American Hotel on the

Leidseplein Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans ...

, Amsterdam, and then jailed at the nearby jailhouse on the

Weteringschans Amsterdam-Centrum is the inner-most Boroughs of Amsterdam, borough and historical city centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands, containing the majority of the city's landmarks. Established in 2002, Amsterdam-Centrum was the last area in the city to be g ...

. He was sentenced to death on 10 June 1944 and executed the same day. He was reburied on the

Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal The Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal, or Dutch Honorary Cemetery Bloemendaal, is a World War II final resting place in Zuid-Kennemerland National Park in Bloemendaal, Netherlands. Located on the top of a dune, it can be reached by a small path from ...

, an honorary cemetery for victims of the Nazis. In 2021 a

Stolperstein A (; plural ) is a concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Literal translation, Literally, it means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling block'. ...

was installed in his honour, on Rombout Hogerbeetsstraat street, Amsterdam.

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Gays and Lesbians in war and resistance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pekelharing, Karel August 1909 births 1944 deaths Dutch resistance members People from Hoorn Dutch gay entertainers Dutch LGBTQ dancers 20th-century Dutch LGBTQ people Gay dancers Dutch people executed by Nazi Germany