Wim van Norden

Wim van Norden (13 June 1917 – 29 May 2015) was a Dutch journalist. He was one of the founders of the resistance paper Het Parool during World War II. He was jailed for six months by the Germans in 1942 but was later released due to lack of evidence for his involvement with Het Parool. Van Norden was active in the resistance for the remainder of the war. After the war he became director of the newspaper and although he originally planned to serve for only several months he kept his function until 1979. Van Norden was responsible for the founding of the publishing company Perscombinatie in which three newspapers worked together.

Biography Early life Van Norden was born on 13 June 1917 in Bussum in an artistic, politically leftist family. His parents were teetotallers and vegetarians who were inclined to send all of their children to university. At home the family discussed politics, society, Adolf Hitler and the rise of fascism. In autumn 1940 he became involved in spreading the illegal Nieuwsbrief (English: Newsletter) of Pieter 't Hart, the war pseudonym of Frans Goedhart. Van Norden also worked on the duplicator which produced the stencils on which the newsletter was made. Van Lom later betrayed the resistance, but was subsequently captured by them and ordered to drink poison. Van Lom refused and was shot dead. Van Norden was informed of Van Lom's death the next week while he was in hiding. In 2013 Van Norden still supported the resistance's decision.

Van Norden died on 29 May 2015, aged 97. Van Norden was also featured in two television shows, first in the biographical program in 2008. He also featured in the television show Na de Bevrijding in 2014.