Ruizendaal Kees “Cornelis”.

Ruizendaal Kees “Cornelis”, born 17-05-1909  in Maarssen, Netherlands, his resistance name was Zwarte Kees, Black Kees and was the son of Melis Ruizendaal (19-01-1870, in Eemnes –27-04-1934, in Zuilen) and Anna Alida, born Heek (06-05-1871, in Eemnes – 15-04-1922, in Maarssen). Married in Vlissingen to Adriana Lucia de Kam (born Vlissingen 1907, died Koudekerke 1989). Sailor-cook in the Dutch Navy. Kees entered service in the Army in November 1937: cook with the 8th Infantry Regiment in Arnhem, where he served for six years…

Kees was Aalten Municipal Police Officer from 15-07-1942, to 01-03-1943, in Aalten (Marechaussee), later becoming a senior sergeant (post commander). Ruizendaal quickly became active in the resistance. In his position, he received a great deal of information about impending events, enabling him to warn people in time, particularly Jews. Because Aalten sheltered many people in hiding from all over the country, he helped find shelter, supply false identity cards, and ration cards. Despite his position as post commander, in mid-1943 he joined the illegal resistance organization Knokploeg-Aalten (KP), which was then led by Hendrik Jan Wikkerink, alias “Uncle Jan,” and Willem Wikkerink from the other resistance family. Hendrik Jan survived the war and passed away 18-01-1981 (age 84)

The National Resistance Groups, or LKP, is the name for a resistance organization founded by the National Organization for Assistance to Hiders (LO). The people in hiding who received assistance were in dire need of all kinds of provisions, such as identity cards and ration cards, which they naturally couldn’t obtain under their own names. To this end, independent Resistance Groups were already operating here and there, usually distributing their loot among their own supporters.

Fighting for justice was his primary motivation. Kees organized and participated in numerous robberies, such as those targeting distribution offices in Eibergen, Borculo, and Andelst. The planned robberies of the offices in Dinxperlo, Neede, and Winterswijk failed. Zwarte Kees knew his way around all the hamlets of Aalten and the surrounding villages. He could stay overnight and sit down for pancakes anywhere. His wife and four children remained in their house in the center of Aalten.

Ruizendaal was betrayed and forced to abandon his post. In July 1943, he went into hiding. He was then officially declared “missing” and ordered to surrender his weapons (official report from 11-09-1943). He didn’t surrender his weapons but from that moment on dedicated himself entirely to the resistance, staying at different addresses and becoming the leader of the Aalten Resistance Group. The Aalten Resistance Group was active in the Achterhoek region, extending to Zutphen and Arnhem, but also nationwide and collaborating with the Twente Resistance Group.

Zwarte Kees’s closest KP members included: Jaap Allersma, a former professional artillery non-commissioned officer, works as a customs official in Aalten; Jan Ket: former Marine, also a customs agent in Aalten, alias zwarte Jan/black Jan, he passed away in Amersfoort, on 20-07-1985, age 71;

Feitze de Vries, alias Gerrit, former Marine and customs agent in Aalten, he passed away age 41 on 29-10-1965, in Utrecht; Gerrit Wiechert Kleisen, alias Walter/Gijs, non-commissioned officer in the infantry, customs official in Werhout, goes into hiding in Aalten in 1943; Gerrit’s fate was his participation in a resistance action on April 20-04-1944, when the KP-Aalten in Doesburg fell into a trap set by collaborator Willem “Willy” Markus in collaboration with the occupying forces. Kleisen, age 26, was arrested and transferred to Camp Vught. He was sentenced to death and executed on 06-06-1944, in the dunes near Overveen, on D-Day.

After the war, Kleisen feigned insanity while in prison and underwent a lengthy process of incarceration in psychiatric institutions. He was initially sentenced to life imprisonment. This sentence was commuted to 18 years in December 1952, with credit for pre-trial detention. Markus was released in November 1956. The died age 76, on 24-03-1902 in Doetinchem, on his birthday.

Death and burial ground of Ruizendaal Kees “Cornelis”.

The resistance group is in dire need of weapons. Infiltrator Willy Markus manages to gain the resistance group’s trust. An agreement is made for the delivery of weapons. Then things go wrong. On 20-04-1944, Kees Ruizendaal is murdered during a shootout with the SS in Doesburg, he, age 34, was killed in a rabbit hutch.. Due to the actions of traitor Markus, a total of over 70 people are arrested and executed by the occupying forces.

Kees Ruizendaal was buried on 04-10-1947, at Berkenhove Cemetery in Aalten. He was a man with a sense of justice and great courage who helped people in difficult circumstances. Standing up for others ultimately cost him his life.

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