Boy Ecury (CultuurClub) ^CultuurClub

A monologue, written by Paulette Smit, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the death of Boy Ecury on the Waalsdorpervlakte. This performance is performed by young Arubans living in the Netherlands and highlights the important story of the Aruban resistance hero Boy Ecury.

On November 6, 2024, it will have been 80 years since Boy Ecury was murdered on the Waalsdorpervlakte. A young man - of color - from Aruba who came to study in the Netherlands at the age of 15. Boy comes from a wealthy family, although his grandmother was born into slavery. His father, a talented entrepreneur, made his fortune in the 1920s with the rise of the refineries on Aruba. The Catholic family has thirteen children, of which Boy - already boisterous and freedom-loving as a child, is the eleventh. The intention is for Boy and his brother Nicky to go to the American military academy in Santo Domingo. Once there, there is suddenly no more room for the boys. (The management realized too late that they are boys of color) It is certainly not the last time that Boy encounters racism. The boys subsequently go to the Netherlands to study, Boy in Brabant at Oudenbosch.

Boy is charming, intelligent and fiery, the reason why his father wanted him to go to the military academy first. When he and his brother Nicky witness the bombing of Rotterdam, he knows what to do. The Germans are the ultimate racists and must be fought at all costs! He dives deep and impetuous into the resistance, blows up a train track near Boxtel, saves Jewish people and pilots. Uses his color to distract the attention of others. Together with friend Louis Delannoy who is arrested at some point, also released again. When Boy goes to mass in Rotterdam, he is recognized and betrayed. He betrays no one, and is shot the next day, November 6, by the Germans on the Waalsdorpervlakte. To receive an honorary burial in Aruba in 1947. With the words on his statue: in my father's house there is no place for traitors. He was 22 years old.

Together with Theaterwerkplaats voor Ouwe Rotten and SOL, we are organizing a morning in which people aged 65 and over will work together with singing, dancing and theater teachers to learn more from each other and from art and culture.