Yge van der Wal (1917-1988)
On the day of the theft, Yge is 25 years old.

In 1938 Yge goes to study in Wageningen. Initially he wants to become a biologist because he is a great nature lover, but he switches to animal husbandry. He also teaches at the Secondary Agricultural School in Hardenberg. Here he is in hiding after the raid.After initially being exempt from military service because he is 
studying, in the May days of 1940 he fights against the Germans as a non-commissioned officer in the Dutch army. Yge, like his three friends, join the resistance group The Wageningse Orde Dienst. He is a sub-commander of the OD from 1941. During the war he remains in the background, hiding in the Agricultural School in Hardenberg and in Wageningen.

After the liberation, Yge continues to teach at the Agricultural school for a short time and then takes on a job as secretary at the Overijsselsche Landbouw Maatschappij, where he works until his retirement. He serves for a long time in the Provincial Council of Overijssel. Yge has always refused the Resistance Memorial Cross; he does not want to be presented as a ‘hero’ to other people. At the age of 70 he dies after a short illness.

Henk Sijnja (1919-1997)
On the day of the theft, Henk is 23 years old.

In 1940 Henk starts studying Tropical Forestry at the Agricultural College in Wageningen and ends up in the student resistance. Henk receives information about Cornelis Iprenburg. This informant of the Sicherheitsdienst has infiltrated the Wageningen resistance. He betrayed several members of the resistance who ended up in a German concentration camp as a result. A first attempt to kill him (by another resistance member) fails, Iprenburg ends up in hospital. Henk, sub-commander of the resistance group, volunteers ‘to finish the job’. From surgeon Jan Boes, Henk knows in which room Iprenburg is staying. This time the liquidation succeeds.

In retaliation, Jan Boes is shot near his house a day later by the SD. This retribution for what he, Henk, has done will haunt him for the rest of his life.

After the war Henk Sijnja continues his studies. He is also active in the rowing club Argo. In 1951 he emigrates to New Zealand. In 1994 he receives the Mobilization War Cross.

On YouTube Henk tells his story about the theft of the population register: Diefstal Wagenings bevolkingsregister
See also: Mobilisatie-Oorlogskruis voor Henk Sijnja 1994