History of Women

Because the past keeps poking fingers into the present

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They Seduced Nazi Soldiers and then Killed Them

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The remarkable story of the Oversteegen sisters

Truus and Freddie Oversteegen; image source: North Holland archives.

In Lysistrata, an ancient Greek comedy, women band together to end the Peloponnesian War in a most creative way — by denying sex to all the men in the land.

Spoiler alert: their ploy works and peace is restored.

Now, unlike this fictional comedy, World War II and the Holocaust were very real and anything but funny.

But seemingly, men are the same whether in fiction or reality, i.e., they are highly motivated by sex or lack thereof.

Instead of withholding sex like the women of Lysistrata, two courageous Dutch girls did their part for the Resistance by propositioning Nazi soldiers for a hookup and instead luring them to their deaths.

The Oversteegen sisters were raised by an independent, principled mother.

Freddie and Truus Oversteegen lived in Haarlem, Netherlands, and were primarily raised by their single, working-class mother.

From an early age, their mother instilled in them the importance of fighting injustice. And she didn’t just talk the talk. Before World War II started, the family sheltered Jewish refugees in their home.

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History of Women
History of Women

Published in History of Women

Because the past keeps poking fingers into the present

Liz Jin
Liz Jin

Written by Liz Jin

“I wake up in the morning with a desire to both save the world and savor the world. That makes it hard to plan my day.”

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