Expo Commemoration 100th birthday anniversary George John Lionel Maduro open on July 15, 2016

(July 15, 1916 – February 9, 1945)

The Maduro Library was proud to display documents from the library collection and museum items belonging to George in the exhibition “Herdenking 100 Jaar George Maduro” in honor of this Curaçaon war hero.

George John Lionel Maduro was born on July 15, 1916 in Curaçao. He was the only son of Joshua and Rebecca Maduro. George was a law student at Leiden University when Germany invaded The Netherlands on May 10, 1940. Under his command German troops stationed in Rijswijk were defeated and parachutists were captured.

On May 15, 1940, upon the capitulation of the Dutch military, George was captured by German troops and sent to prison in the Oranje Hotel in Scheveningen. He was released a half year later and joined the resistance movement. He smuggled Allied pilots into the United Kingdom via Spain. George was captured by Nazi forces and placed in jail again.

This time he escaped and rejoined the Dutch resistance, but was captured again by the German Gestapo. He’s been imprisoned at Saarbrücken and transferred to the Dachau concentration camp. In February 1945 George died of typhus, three months prior to the liberation of the camp by American troops. In 1939 George had been previously appointed to second-lieutenant-reserve in the Dutch Cavalry and he’s been posthumously awarded the Knight 4th-class of the Military Order of William for his acts of bravery and loyalty during the World War II.

After the war, George’s parents donated an initial capital to build Madurodam in the Hague, a miniature city in memory of George that opened in 1952. After George’s demise, his family donated to Ena Dankmeijer-Maduro his sword and other objects, which for many years have been exposed in Landhuis Rooi Catootje. George Maduro’s father, Josua Levy Maduro (1891-1964), was a cousin of Mongui Maduro.