Wim van Norden

Wim van Norden
Van Norden at the age of 95.
Born	13 June 1917 Bussum, Netherlands
Died	29 May 2015(2015-05-29) (aged 97) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Occupation	Journalist
Nationality	Dutch

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.

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. Van Norden went to study economics at the Netherlands School of Commerce, precursor to the current Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Van Norden became member of a group of friends which included Max Nord, Simon Carmiggelt and his wife Tiny.

When the Netherlands was occupied in World War II by Germany in May 1940 Van Norden and his group of friends decided on resisting the occupation forces. He, Nord, Carmiggelt and their families all lived in the Reguliersgracht in Amsterdam. In autumn 1940 he became involved in spreading the illegal Nieuwsbrief (English: Newsletter) of Pieter 't Hart, the war pseudonym of Frans Goedhart. In 1941 he became contributing editor to the newsletter after being invited by Goedhart. Van Norden also worked on the duplicator which produced the stencils on which the newsletter was made.

During the war the Nieuwsbrief became Het Parool. Even though Van Norden had several war pseudonyms and identity papers he was arrested with most of the editorial staff of the newspaper in late 1942. He was locked up for six months in the Oranjehotel () jail in Scheveningen. The Germans could not prove his involvement with Het Parool and Van Norden was eventually released.