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Photographer: Andrew Ruppenstein
Taken: June 18, 2017
Caption: Bet van Beeren Portrait Displayed in the Window of Café 't Mandje
Additional Description: Making a lot of money from the pub, van Beeren was known for her charitable works, helping the poor, children and the elderly. She also claimed to have paid for one of the crosses atop the Nicholaas Church. Among her other legendary deeds, she allowed the bar to be used as an arms depot for the Dutch resistance during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. While homosexual men became targets of the Germans, van Beeren's pub was off-limits to German troops because of its reputation as a red-light district establishment. The use of the term "owl" for heterosexuals has been attributed to a device van Beeren used when the bar was being raided or when homophobic patrols were sweeping the area. She had a light installed in a plaster owl, which was lit to warn her customers. She hung neckties and souvenirs from patrons from the ceiling, held dances on Queen's Day where same sex couples could dance together, and on Fridays would let the Salvation Army band come in to raise funds for charity. - Wikipedia
Submitted: July 7, 2017, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
Database Locator Identification Number: p388251
File Size: 1.585 Megabytes

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