Page 9 - AHATA

A11
LOCAL Saturday 6 July 2024
Meet Aruba’s biggest hero

Boy Ecury

(Oranjestad)—This past May 4th, active again in the big cities.
Aruba as well as The Netherlands Eventually, he proved himself right.
commemorated those who sadly On November 5th, 1944, Boy Ecury
perished during the Second World was arrested by German soldiers.
War. As is known around the globe, He was placed in the “Oranje-
this chapter in world history is one hotel” prison in Scheveningen, The
of the most tragic yet, and many Hague, where he was questioned.
soldiers and rebels have died on Despite being given away by an
the frontline during this time. acquaintance, he himself never
gave away the names of his com-
One of those rebels who have rades. Famously, he told his cell
fought against the Nazi regime, mate: “I will die with a smile on my
was an Aruban named Segundo face.”
Jorge Adelberto “Boy” Ecury. Born
in Aruba on April 23rd, 1922, Boy On November 6th, 1944, Ecury was
spent his childhood on the island, executed. He was only 22 years
before being sent to The Nether- old.
lands by his father when he was
15 years old to continue his stud- Ecury was buried with military hon-
ies abroad. This was in 1937, three or. In 1949, the Aruban Govern-
years before WWII broke out. ment erected a monumental bust
of him in front of what is now the
During the war, he actively partici- linear park trail, and in 1984 he re-
pated in the rebellion in The Neth- ceived the Resistance Memorial
erlands against the Nazi regime, Cross postmortem.
but his rebellious streak and con- sion. helped people go into hiding, as
stant drive to fight for justice began well as opened fire against allies Boy’s life motto was this: “In my fa-
even before the war broke out. Be- After seeing the horrific bomb- of the Nazi regime. In these oper- ther’s house, there is no place for
ing a person of color with a Haitian ings of Rotterdam first-hand, he ations, Boy really stood out for his a traitor.”
heritage living in The Netherlands decided to join the resistance. At cold bloodedness.
made him vulnerable to discrimi- the same time, he was still study- Source: “De Kolibrie op de Rots (en
nation, and this inspired him to be ing and living with family in Tilburg. In 1943, he received a notice to be meer over the geschiedenis van
an activist, to stand up and fight It was there where he met people placed for work in Germany. This Aruba)” by Evert Bongers.
against discrimination and oppres- who printed and distributed the he refused, of course, and went
rebellion newspaper. This would into hiding using multiple address-
be the first of three rebellion group es in multiple cities. Because he
that he would join throughout his was a wanted man, he of course
4-year service to the resistance. could not continue to be active
as a rebel. However, stubborn and
Boy’s primary task as member of naturally rebellious as he was, he
the group was to distract the Ger- always tried to join in on the opera-
man soldiers while others ran into tions regardless.
hiding into alleyways. This he was
able to do because of his skin color In 1944, after his friend Luis de Lan-
and confronting demeanor. Boy noy, a fellow rebel from Curacao,
also participated in the multiple was arrested and executed, he
sabotaging operations against moved to Delft, where he joined
the German military occupying his third and last group in Rotter-
The Netherlands. These included dam. During this time, he wrote a
bombings on German military goodbye letter for his family, pos-
trucks and trains. The group also sibly knowing the risks of him being

Prohibited by law: leaving the island with seashells, white sand or

corals

(Oranjestad)—Often times, the ists, which is unacceptable. our environment. Stop collecting
customs department at the air- seashells, white sand and corals
port intercepts many tourists leav- Upon confiscation at the airport, from our shores and stop buying or
ing the island with seashells, white you can also face a fine that they accepting these from local sellers
sand and/or corals as souvenirs. have to pay before leaving. This is or companies.
surely not a pleasant experience
Conforming to the international for the tourist. This also leads to a We want our future generations
treaty of CITES and our local law negative reaction which can put and visitors to enjoy the beauty
which protects our Flora & Fauna, it our tourism in a negative light. of our beaches, shells and corals
is absolutely prohibited to take any shells, coral and amount of sand in a sustainable way, without de-
seashell, sand and coral outside of confiscated is very strange and it is Though we love to accommodate stroying or disrupting the Aruban
Aruba. This is to protect our envi- suspected that our own locals are our visitors, let’s all give nature the ecosystem. Help us protect what is
ronment. The high number of sea- the ones selling these to the tour- respect it deserves by protecting ours!