It is said that the qualities which one attributes to a Dutchman are doubly true of a Frisian: independence, stubbornness and seriousness. Titus Brandsma was very much a Frisian . Even people who knew him only casually remembered him as a hard worker, a tireless organizer and a wonderfully cheerful person.

As a university scholar and teacher, Titus was seen as a true individualist, but always one with the heart of a child. He certainly did not appear, at first, to be the sort to confront the Dutch Fascists over human rights or patriotism. Yet that is what he did. His death in Dachau made him a symbol of national resistance for the Dutch people.

The cause for his beatification has advanced because he exemplifies what one individual can accomplish with personal determination and fidelity to Christian principles, but especially because his personal holiness was deepened and enhanced by his sufferings.

This article will treat the points of opposition between Titus Brandsma and the Nazis, especially insofar as he felt it necessary to block attempts to draw Dutch society into a Fascist way of thinking.