The Resistance Monument in the Drenthe village of Zuidlaren is a memorial commemorating the Dutch resistance during the Second World War.
The monument consists of a bronze male figure, depicted as if standing before a firing squad, mounted on a tuff stone pedestal. The sculpture was created by Dutch artist Johan Dijkstra.
The day after its unveiling, Dijkstra described the sculpture as depicting “a young male figure with his upper body exposed at the moment he receives the bullet, as if standing before Eternity.” The figure’s almost expressionless face conveys a sense of surrender to death. The sculpture deliberately avoids dramatic gestures or outward displays of emotion. Its restrained design, according to Dijkstra, gives the monument its impact, with its powerful underlying meaning and carefully rendered details.
