Valstar, Leendert Marinus, born 10-08-1908 in Naaldwijk, 
the son of Fulps Vincentinus Valstar and his wife Johanna, born de Zeeuw. Leendert was married with Neeltje Dekker, born on 01-10-1904, in ‘s-Gravenzande. Leendert had two brothers, Leendert Marinus Valstar who died 10 month old, Martinus Valstar and 2 sisters; Anna Klazina Valstar and Trijntje Valstar.
During the May days of 1940, after the invasion by Adolf Hitler‘s Germany on May 10th 1940, Valstar served with the Mounted Artillery 
but did not see action. He kept in touch with his fellow servicemen and with others who were willing to resist. From August 1942, he and his wife also took in people in hiding.
In the spring of 1943, the National Organization for Assistance to People in Hiding (LO)
sent a representative to Naaldwijk to discuss the possibilities for accommodating people in hiding. This resistance man Hendrik “Henk” Veldhuis (alias Foxie) 
met Valstar at the home of Leendert’s brother Tinus, who was active in distributing the illegal newspaper Trouw. 
Henk Veldhuis, age 22, was executed six days after his arrest in Vught. In August 1944, his name, as well as that of the resistance lady Loes van Overeem’s 
son and other executed individuals, appeared on the front page of Trouw, under the headline: ‘Faithful unto death’.
Veldhuis informed Valstar about a gang in Meppel that was involved in robbing distribution centers and population registers. Following Meppel’s example, Valstar then formed his own group, the Westland Knockout Squad, 
with whom he carried out a successful raid on the Bureau for Wartime Food Supply in Naaldwijk. However, betrayal prevented planned raids on population registers. Valstar had to flee to avoid arrest.
From July 1943, Valstar led a nomadic existence as ‘Bertus de Vries’, dedicating himself entirely to illegal work. In August 1943, the regional activities of the various fighting groups were combined into the National Fighting Groups; along with resistance man Izaak van der Horst 
and Hilbert van Dijk 
from Kampen, Liepke Scheepstra 
from Arnhem, and Theo Dobbe 
from Naarden, Valstar joined the national leadership. His area of operation became the recruitment and organization of strike forces throughout West and Central Netherlands.
Izaäk van der Horst was a son of Karel Simon van der Horst and Reintje, born Turksma. He married Johanna Geertruida Velderman in Amsterdam on 07-04-1929, from whom he was divorced on 25-11-1931. Isaac came from a family of seven children, three of whom survived the war. His other siblings, namely Meijer, Alida, and Simon, perished during the Holocaust. Izaak was excecuted, age 35, on Vught, 04-09-1944. Hilbert van Dijk was ececuted in Overveen, 16-07-1944, age 36. Liepke Scheepstra survived the war and passed away in Amersfoort, 5-09-2002, age 83.
In addition to his national work, he remained active as the leader of his 15-man gang. With his gang, he committed robberies in places including Capelle aan den IJssel, Lopik, IJsselstein, Alphen aan den Rijn, Broek op Langedijk, Krimpen aan de Lek, Zwammerdam, Doesburg, Naaldwijk, and Delft. The aim of the raids was either to destroy personal records (including for the benefit of the Arbeitseinsatz) or to seize distribution coupons, which were distributed among people in hiding thru the LO. Police stations were also ‘broken into’ to obtain weapons. In an operation in October 1943, the group freed Trouw employe resistance man Cornelus Willem “Kees” Streef 
from the ‘Kriegslazarett’ in Den Bosch. Kees Streef survived the war and passed away five days after his 71st birthday and was quietly cremated on 11-02-1991. His resistance name was Kees de Lijster.
On 15-05-1944, ‘Bertus de Vries’ visited his wife who was hiding in Delft. A few days earlier, he had heard that she was pregnant with their first child after fourteen years of marriage. On the way back to the station, Valstar had an urgent need and relieved himself in the Westplantsoen. A patrolling officer picked him up there because a sexual offense was said to have taken place earlier. The policeman wanted to take him to the police station. However, Valstar had personally participated in a “gun robbery” of that office three months earlier. Near the police station, he shot the officer and fled. However, he didn’t get far because another officer managed to apprehend him anyway.
At the police headquarters, he was recognized as being involved in the Delft ‘weapon robbery’ in February of that year. That same evening, he was taken to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) 
in Rotterdam. He was soon identified as Leendert Valstar, wanted for a robbery in Naaldwijk and suspected of involvement in more illegal activities. The SD ordered increased surveillance and Valstar was taken to the cell complex in Vught concentration camp. 
Outside the camp, everything was tried to save Valstar from a death sentence. Leendert’s father was convinced in mid-August 1944 that his son would not be sentenced to death. “Don’t worry about Leen; he’ll get life in prison instead of the death penalty,” he told his pregnant daughter-in-law, Nelie.
Death and burial ground of Valstar, Leendert Marinus, alias Bertus de Vries.
However, the course of the war worked against the prisoners in Camp Vught. In mid-August 1944, Allied forces broke thru in Normandy and advanced rapidly toward Belgium and the Netherlands. Brussels was liberated on September 3rd, and Antwerp on September 4th. In a hurry, the Germans drew up an evacuation plan for Camp Vught. Shortly before, a Adolf Hitler order had also come into effect stating that “terrorists” were to be killed without trial, the so-called Niedermachungsbefehl. Based on this, 450 resistance fighters were executed at the shooting range near the camp just before and during the evacuation; this is known as the Deppner executions, after Research Chief Erich Deppner, 
a German SS officer, SS Sturmbannführer, and war criminal. Leendert Valstar was executed on 04-09-1944, age 36, along with Izaak van der Horst, Jacobus Johannes “Jacques” de Weert, age 23 
and sixty others. Of the approximately 3,500 prisoners transported to Sachsenhausen during this period, virtually none survived the war. In the Verzetswijk in Almere, 
a street has been named after Valstar in honor of his contribution to the resistance. Valstar, Leendert Marinus, alias Bertus de Vries. was cremated and buried in the Asputten Kamp Vught in Vught. 
The mobile incinerator found in October in which the bodies were burned, with ash remains in the foreground.
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