[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13628]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        TONY GELDENS: DUTCH RESISTANCE FIGHTER, AMERICAN PATRIOT

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Tony Geldens was a Dutch boy when on 
May 10, 1940, the Nazis invaded and occupied the Netherlands. 
Persecution of the Jews began immediately by the occupiers. Jews were 
required to wear yellow Stars of David on their clothing. Jews were 
shot, beaten, and sent to concentration camps.
  Tony and a few of his Boy Scout friends joined the Dutch resistance. 
Tony began a 4-year career of being the Robin Hood of the Netherlands. 
He would steal supplies and food from the Nazis and give them to local 
Jews and citizens, much to the risk of his own safety. He hid Jews and 
helped rescue American and Allied pilots that had been shot down over 
the Netherlands. He would help the pilots through the Dutch underground 
and help get them safely to England.
  Tony was arrested, beaten, and imprisoned numerous times by the 
Nazis, only to escape. He was on trial by the Nazis when the Canadians 
liberated his hometown. Numerous Jews and Allied pilots lived because 
of Tony Geldens.
  Tony moved to America in 1967, married Anna, had five kids, and 
finally became a U.S. citizen in 2000. He wore the American flag lapel 
pin every day of his life.
  He was an architect and political and community activist. My very 
good and personal friend Tony Geldens died yesterday in Kingwood, 
Texas, at the age of 90. Tony will be missed deeply. He was quite an 
individual.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________