Anton Winterink

Around 1938, Winterink met the artist Riek de Raat, at the home of De Raat's friend, Rita Storck. After the General strike of 1941, Riek de Raat and Winterink moved in together, hiding at their house at 8 Oude Looierstraat. ==Career==

In 1933, Winterink was one of three officials that ran the Netherlands branch of the International Red Aid, a social organisation that helped displaced communists with food and accommodation. At the time, Winterink and many others members of the CPN were involved in raising aid money to buy food and clothing for communist refugees from Germany. In the 1930s, Winterink was an important functionary of Rote Hilfe in the Netherlands. In late 1936 or early 1937 (sources vary), Soviet GRU agent Johann Wenzel moved to the Netherlands, where he made contact with Daniël Goulooze and they discussed plans for the construction of a radio network in the Netherlands. Goulooze was director of the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and who acted as the main liaison officer between the CPN and the Communist International (Comintern) in Moscow. In late 1938, Wenzel again visited Goulooze to recruit potential candidates for work in Belgium. Goulooze recommended Winterink, who was taken to Brussels where he was trained by Wenzel in Soviet wireless telegraphy procedures and ciphers. Winterink was recruited to work in the Jeffremov group in Belgium and worked for the group for most of 1940. During that period Winterink made frequent trips back to the Netherlands where he established another espionage group. In later 1940, he was ordered to return the Netherlands and take charge of the network that operated under the name of Group Hilda. The most important members of the group were Maurice Peper who was the main courier between Winterink in Amsterdam and Jeffremov in Brussels, Adam Nagel and Wilhelm Voegeler who were radio operators along with Jakob Hillbolling, an agent who organised safehouse and accommodation and Hendrika Smith, the liaison to the Communist Party of the Netherlands. During the whole period of its existence, Group Hilda was controlled by Jeffremov in Brussels. From late 1940 to mid-1942, Group Hilda supported a two-way radio link with Moscow via the Soviet embassy in London with the help three radios. ==Arrest==

On 18 or 19 August 1942 (sources vary), Winterink was arrested by the Gestapo from the Sonderkommando Rote Kapelle, at a cafe in Amsterdam. Nine members of the group with two remaining radio transmitters were never discovered and continued to work. A total of 17 people from Winterink's group were arrested. Winterink was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp (Kriegs Wehrmacht prison) in Brussels, before being sent to Fort Breendonk. He was interrogated and tortured for two weeks by the Sonderkommando in Brussels, after which he agreed to work for the Abwehr. Winterink took part in a Funkspiel operation. His radio station, that was known as Beam Tanne, began transmitting in September 1943. In March 1944, Winterink's Funkspiel operation was abandoned. The German funkspiel operation was largely a failure. Four months later on the 5 July 1944, Winterink was shot at the Tir national firing-range in Brussels. where he was buried anonymously. The grave site is single grave 312 in row II. ==Bibliography==