Alida Bosshardt, 94; set up Salvation Army shelter in Amsterdam
Alida Bosshardt, 94, who spent more than 50 years working for the Salvation Army and established a center in Amsterdam’s red light district for prostitutes and drug addicts, died Monday of old age, the Christian organization said.
Bosshardt joined the Salvation Army in 1934 and was instructed to work with women in the city’s red light district shortly after the end of World War II. She established a “goodwill” center that eventually became a place where troubled people -- prostitutes and their children, the homeless and drug addicts -- came for shelter and social services.
She retired in 1978 at age 65 but continued volunteering and attending public gatherings until shortly before her death.
Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister of the Netherlands, praised Bosshardt’s “wisdom, love and compassion” on national television Monday, and the Royal House said Queen Beatrix was “moved” by her death.
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