I am not sure what to make about the photograph above. It is either extremely brave and heroic, or naive, perhaps even arrogant. The photo is of Pierre Coronel, operating a radio transmitter during World War II, while in hiding. It is one from a set of pictures. Listening to an illegal radio could result in severe punishment if caught. Operating an illegal radio for broadcast purposes was punishable by death. Taking photos of it meant risking them to be used as evidence. It may not have been the wisest of actions.
However, the actions by Pierre Coronel can only be described as heroic. He was born in Ouder-Amstel, the Netherlands on 26 December 1914. Pierre was the son of Salomon Haïm Coronel and a non-Jewish mother. He was a radio operator. During the war, he took part in the resistance, operating an illegal broadcasting station hidden in the hospital ‘Onze Lieve Vrouwen Gasthuis’’
He trained as a radio operator in the 1930s and worked for Radio-Holland for some time. During the war, he lived alternately in Utrecht and Amsterdam. In 1942, Coronel was forced to work in Ostfriesland (Germany)
On October 12, 1942, he tried to travel home by train with a forged identity card but was caught during a check and transferred to a prison in Oldenburg. He returned to work after a captivity of several months, and managed to escape on March 15, 1943, to return to the Netherlands. There he provided assistance to Jewish people in hiding.
After being arrested several times for labor deployment and escaping, in September 1944, Pierre Coronel became a wireless operator for the illegal Channel Eagle.
He exchanged messages with England and the already liberated city of Eindhoven. For safety, this happened from different locations, including the attic on the Eerste Leliedwarsstraat 21 and in the Our Lady’s Hospital (OLVG) laboratory. In those days when there was a shortage of power supply, the hospital was still able to obtain electricity through aggregates. After the channel was discovered, there was a raid by the Security forces and police. Coronel was armed and shot two men dead, but he was also killed. In the OLVG there is a memorial stone placed in memory of the resistance activities that took place there.
He was shot on February 25, 1945, which was only a few weeks away from liberation. After the war, Pierre Coronel was buried in the field of honour in Overveen. A street in Amsterdam was named for him—Coronelstraat.
Sources:
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/523913/about-pierre-antoine-coronel
https://www.geni.com/people/Harry-Coronel/6000000038502305873
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=203970
https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/personen/29277/pierre-antoine-coronel
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