Wonder Woman of the Week: Evie Pottieray

Evie Pottieray’s life is a story of unlikely crossings—between nations, empires, and allegiances. Born in the Dutch East Indies, she came of age in a world where colonial hierarchies shaped daily life. When World War II engulfed Europe, she left the tropics for the Netherlands, only to find herself plunged into a new struggle. As Nazi occupation gripped the country, Pottieray joined the underground resistance, smuggling documents, sheltering Jewish families, and serving as a courier. For a young woman from Southeast Asia, her presence in the clandestine world of occupied Europe was remarkable, and her bravery in the face of constant danger left its mark on those who survived because of her.

Yet Pottieray’s convictions did not end with the defeat of Germany. When the war was over, she turned her eyes back to her birthplace, where a different kind of battle was underway. In Indonesia, the cry for independence rang out in the streets, challenging the colonial system that had shaped her childhood. Pottieray aligned herself with the republicans, lending her voice and skills to the movement against Dutch reoccupation. The woman who once risked her life against fascism in Europe now stood with Indonesians demanding sovereignty, bridging her dual identities in ways that few of her contemporaries dared.

Her journey reveals the tangled legacies of empire, loyalty, and liberation. To the Dutch, Pottieray was a heroine of wartime courage; to Indonesians, she symbolized solidarity in their fight for freedom. Straddling two worlds, she embodied the contradictions of a generation caught between colonial power and nationalist awakening. Today, her story is less well-known than those of male leaders and fighters, but her life underscores a broader truth: history is carried forward not only by the loudest voices, but by those who move between worlds, reshaping them from within.