Gerhard Badrian was a Jew who had fled Germany. He was an art photographer. He owned a SS uniform which he used for resistance activities, for example when freeing prisoners. He also used it on 29 April 1943, during the attack on the General Government Printing office in The Hague, during which thousands of blank identity cards were seized.
When the resistance leader Gerrit van der Veen was wounded and arrested during an attack on the Remand centre at the Weteringschans in Amsterdam, Gerhard Badrian became one of his successors as leader of the Identity Card centre (PBC). On 30 June 1944, Gerhard Badrian was caught in the Rubensstraat 26 in Amsterdam. During his arrest, he shot an SD officer down the stairs and ran off, but was shot himself. He died on the pavement.
NIOD, Erelijst Verzet en Koopvaardij, database made by J.W. de Leeuw;
B. Braber, Zelfs als wij zullen verliezen. Joden in verzet en illegaliteit in Nederland 1940-1945 (Amsterdam, 1990) 116, 123, 126
In the Netherlands Gerhard Badrian worked as an assistant for the photographer Meijboom. According to tradition he looked like the 'prototype' of a German and he used this to his advantage for his resistance activities.
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After the war, Gerhard Badrian was reburried at the Field of Honour cemetery at Loenen. In memory of Gerhard Badrian a plaque was hung at the frontage of Rubensstraat 26 in Amsterdam. The radiodocumentary 'NN 16001' about Gerhard Badrian was broadcasted on 24 December 1978.
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In June 1944 Gerhard Badrian shot a member of the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung dead.
H. Wielek, De oorlog die Hitler won (Amsterdam 1947) 331
This person is commemorated on a memorial in Amsterdam. More information on this memorial can be found (in Dutch) on the website of the Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei.