Waals Antonvander

Dutch spy for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) who had more than eighty victims. Antonius (Tom) van der Waals was the youngest child of Gerardus van der Waals (24 October 1875, Rdam - 21 March 1962, Rdam), a house painter and Adriana Wouterina Cranendonk (12 July 1868, Zevenbergen - 7 Dec 1945 Rotterdam). He had a brother Frans van der Waals (28 June 1897, Rdam – 22 March 1981, Rdam), sister Dirkje (Dit) van der Waals (22 March 1899, Rdam – ?) and two other brothers: Gerardus van der Waals (24 April 1900, Rdam - ?) and Johannes Cornelis van der Waals (29 October 1904, Rdam – 10 Jan 1990, Zwijndrecht). The father had temper tantrums and was in the winter unemployed. The family moved often in the neighbourhood, to get some cheaper rent. The mother earned money with sewing. Because of bad health of the mother and the hard hand of his father, his sister Dirkje cared for him. At the primary school he was an anxious and often bullied child, staying sick at home often, playing with his meccano box or reading books. Nevertheless, he did relatively well at school and the family hoped that he would be as genial as the brother of his grandfather Frans van der Waals (18 April 1851, Leiden – 12 March 1928, Zwammerdam), who was the Noble Prize winner Johannes van der Waals. So he got a special position in the family and they considered him as Wunderkind. After two years ULO secondary school, without obtaining diploma, he got a job a age 16 Stokvis as youngest clerk. He played with a radio receiver and motor bikes. At age 19 he was allowed to follow the technical Ambachtschool in Dordrect, but the results were poor and he left school in February 1932. During the crisis he helped his father, who was often ill. But he did not like the house painting work and did not dress like a house painter. On 12 December 1934 he married the docile Francina (Francien) Goedhart (14 Sept 1914, Rdam - ?). She stopped working and Anton worked as a a painter or illegal mechanic, when being without work. He also got involved in criminal activities, and got and eventually slept with a gun and brass knuckles under the pillow. Francina asked her sister to find out what Anton was doing, and it turned out that he was a member of a National Socialistic (NSB) gang. Francien decided to leave him and divorced on 6 May 1936. Anton moved several times for economic reasons, but also because he had enemies, and made an advertisement for a house maid. Johanna (Jopie) Hendrika Groos (5 March 1916, Rdam- ?), an orphan, applied and on 20 May 1936, he married her. On 14 February 1937 he got a new job as electrician at Electrotechnisch Bedrijf N.V. A. de Hoop. He had pimped his c.v. for this with certificates he never earned. Augustus 1937 Jopie got a son, but Anton refused to adopt the child. He believed that Jopie slept with other men. He even sent a mate to her to test her loyalty. She was loyal, but on 8 June 1939 they divorced. On 8 November 1939 he married Aukje Grietje Harkina Smits (10 Jan 1911, Marum), the daughter of a sea captain. His sister Dit refused to come to the wedding. She felt that he treated women as house furniture: “Zo haal je er wel een dozijn”. He had told Aukje that he was only married once before for a few days. That he also had a son, she found out later that month. But unlike Anton, she cared for him when he was ill. After the outbreak of WWII in September 1939, the harbour of Rotterdam became invaded with spies. Anton, who was not called to arms (unli Read less