Albertus de Raaf, known as Bertus, was born on 28 June 1924 to a farming family in Emmer-Compascuum, near the German-Dutch border. He was the fourth of five children in the family and had the closest relationship with his brother Albert, who was two years older than him and was only called Ab by the family.

Ab de Raaf was active as a resister against the Germans, forging identity documents among other things. His younger brother followed his example. Albertus de Raaf went into hiding with a group of other resistance fighters on a farm in Smilde, south of Assen. The members of the group were arrested on 2 June 1944. Although weapons were also hidden on the farm, the exact reason for the arrest is unclear. The group was initially taken to Assen prison, but a few days later, on 8 June 1944, Albertus de Raaf was registered as a prisoner of the Amersfoort police transit camp. The reason given on the registration form for his imprisonment was not resistance, but Albertus de Raaf's refusal to work.

Letters from Amersfoort
While most of the other members of his resistance group were transported to Germany after a short time, Albertus de Raaf remained in the camp for exactly three months for reasons that are unclear. He was deployed as forced labour in the forest areas around the camp. He had the opportunity to write letters to his family from the camp. The official letters had to pass German censorship, and only a letter smuggled illegally out of the camp in July 1944 gives an idea of the difficult working conditions. Albertus de Raaf decided to write the letter with the words "So wait for another letter and don't give up hope. Bertus."

Via Neuengamme to Lerbeck
On 8 September 1944, three months after his imprisonment in Amersfoort, Albertus de Raaf left the Netherlands on a prisoner transport to Neuengamme concentration camp. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to the newly established Lerbeck satellite camp, where he was forced to work on the construction of the Klöckner aircraft engine factory. The letters from Amersfoort were the last sign of life to his family. On 10 December 1944, Albertus de Raaf died in the Lerbeck satellite camp at the age of 20.

The search 
Albertus de Raaf's death did not leave his family for decades. His mother and his brother Ab still talked about him on their deathbeds. After lengthy research and with great support from the town of Porta Westfalica and the Porta Westfalica Concentration Camp Memorial and Documentation Centre, the family was able to locate the grave in the Lerbeck cemetery in 2010. After a DNA analysis confirmed his identity, his family had Albertus de Raaf's mortal remains reburied. On 29 July 2010, he was buried in the grave of his brother Ab de Raaf in Heiloo, south of Alkmaar.

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