Aunt Truus’ Tote Bag
From the collection of the Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam
h 23 cm x w 45 cm
1942-1945
In 1942 Truus Scholten joined the resistance in the Dutch province of Limburg, bordering on Germany. As a midwife, she was respected by both the Dutch and the Germans. Her line of work exempted her from the imposed evening curfew and she was allowed to keep her car.
Using this doctor’s tote bag, which was always with her because of her profession, ‘Auntie Truus’ could operate as a spy and smuggle weapons and explosives. She was also an important link in an escape route for downed pilots, mostly Canadians. She moved the men disguised as local ‘mine workers’. On top of that, because her movement was not restricted, she was able to report back to the Allies on all sorts of enemy activities. She even gave people who needed a hiding place refuge in her home in the village of Schaesberg. Due to all these heroic acts of resistance she was also called ‘The Angel of Schaesberg’.