Hanns Albin Rauter—Pure Evil

It is important how you report on history. No one expects things to be always 100% accurate, but facts that can easily be verified should always be correct. In the case of Hanns Albin Rauter, I have seen him described as the Dutch head of Police during World War II, this is not true, he wasn’t Dutch, but Austrian. On Wikipedia I had seen the date of his execution as March 24, 1949, this is also incorrect, the date is a day later March 25, 1949.

He was the highest SS and Police Leader in the Netherlands during the period of 1940-1945. He was responsible for the repression of the Dutch resistance and supervised the deportation of the Dutch Jews to the concentration and death camps. Some sites refer to the occupied Netherlands, I don’t like that term, because that is giving an excuse to many of the Dutch who also played a part in governing the country as part of the Nazi regime.

On March 29, 1943, an order issued by Hanns Albin Rauter was published in most of the Dutch newspapers, “As of 10 April 1943, Jews are forbidden to stay in the provinces of Friesland, Drenthe, Groningen, Overijssel, Gelderland, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, and Zeeland. Jews who are currently in the aforementioned provinces must go to camp Vught.”

Anne Frank wrote of the news in her diary: ‘Rauter, some German bigwig, recently gave a speech. “All Jews must be out of the German-occupied territories before July 1st. The province of Utrecht will be cleansed of Jews (as if they were cockroaches) between April 1st and May 1st, and the provinces of North and South Holland between May 1st and June 1st. These poor people are being shipped off to filthy slaughterhouses like a herd of sick and neglected cattle. But I’ll say no more on the subject. My own thoughts give me nightmares!”

As I said earlier there were many Dutch involved in governing the Netherlands during World War 2. One of them was the leader of the NSB, the Dutch Nazi Union. Anton Mussert. Seen above on the left standing next to Adriaan Anton Hanns Albin Rauter and Arthur Seyss-Inquart,

Rauter was the main instigator of terror through summary arrests and internment in the Netherlands. The SS set up a concentration camp named Herzogenbusch after the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch but located in the neighboring town of Vught gave the camp its name—Kamp Vught. In total this camp detained 31,000 people, of whom about 735 were killed.

Also, his SS manned a so-called polizeiliches Durchgangslager or police transit camp near Amersfoort, known as Kamp Amersfoort, in fact, a concentration camp, where approximately 35,000 people were detained and maltreated and 650 people (Dutch and Russian) died.

Rauter’s SS also managed the Kamp Westerbork (Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Westerbork), the place from which 110,000 plus Dutch Jews were deported to Nazi concentration and extermination camps, mainly Auschwitz and Sobibor.

75% of all Dutch Jews and Jews living in the Netherlands were murdered by the Nazis. Additionally, almost 20,000 Dutch people were arrested because of their work with the resistance, of which, two thousand resistance fighters were executed. Others were sent to detention centers or to concentration camps. Hanns Albin Rauter was one of the main architects.

On the night of 6 March 1945, Rauter was severely injured in a resistance attack. A day later, the Germans executed 263 political prisoners in retaliation. When the war ended, Rauter was still recovering in a German hospital, where he was arrested by the British. Rauter was handed over to the Dutch government by the British, in 1948, and was tried by a special court in The Hague. Rauter was sentenced to death on May 4th, 1948. He appealed to the Court of Cassation on May 12, 1948. The case was tried for the Bijzondere Raad van Cassatie (‘special court of cassation’) on October 20th and 22nd, 1948 in the building of the Hoge Raad (‘supreme court’) of the Netherlands. The death sentence was confirmed on January 12, 1949. He was executed on March 25, 1949.

Rauter, like several other high-ranking Nazis, had a scar on his cheek. This was not caused by the war but was as a result of dueling. These so-called dueling scars (or “Schmisse” in German) have been seen as a badge of honor since as early as 1825. Alternatively referred to as “Mensur scars,” “smite,” “Schimitte,” or “Renommierschmiss,” they became popular among upper-class Austrians and Germans involved in academic fencing at the start of the 20th century. Consequently, many of these same upper-class men who fashioned them found themselves wearing German army uniforms in both World War I and II. German military laws permitted men to wage duels of honor until World War I. During the Third Reich, the Mensur was prohibited at all universities following the party line.

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Sources

https://discover.hubpages.com/education/Dueling-Scars-The-Nazi-Officer-Badge-of-Honor

https://www.verzetsmuseum.org/en/kennisbank/imprisoned-by-the-germans-1#:~:text=Almost%2020%2C000%20Dutch%20people%20were,centres%20or%20to%20concentration%20camps.

Directions to Camp Amersfoort

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/tijdlijn/Hanns-Albin-Rauter/03/0004

https://www.annefrank.org/en/timeline/162/rauter-wants-to-run-all-jews-from-the-provinces

https://www.tracesofwar.com/articles/2871/Hanns-Rauter.htm

A Murdered Family

The photograph above is of Gezina de Leeuwe-de Jong with her four children. I presume the photo was taken by her husband and the father of the children, Louis de Leeuw. I reckon that’s why he is not in the picture.

He was a son of Barend de Leeuwe and Sientje van Minden. He married Gezina de Jong from Assen on 2 October 1935 in Rotterdam, a daughter of Bernhard de Jong en Rachel de Levie. Louis was a factory worker and lived with his family at 1e Looiersdwarsstraat 3 hs in Amsterdam and since 20 September 1941 at Landzichtlaan 17 in Rotterdam Overschie.

On 11 July 1942, Louis was arrested in Rotterdam.

On 18 July 1942, he was transported to AmersfoortLouie and murdered in Camp Amersfoort on 23 October 1942, at the age of 42.

The couple had four children, all murdered at Sobibor, along with their mother.

Gezina de Leeuwe-de Jong, born December 10 in Assne, the Netherlands. Murdered in Sobibor on 21 May 1943, she was 35 years old.

The son, Barend de Leeuwe was born in Rotterdam on 3 December 1937. Murdered at Sobibor on 21 May 1943 and reached the age of 5 years.

The daughter, Sientje Rika de Leeuwe, was born in Utrecht on 22 February 1936. Murdered at Sobibor on 21 May 1943. She reached the age of 7 years.

Their son, Philip de Leeuwe, was born in Rotterdam on 25 August 1939. He was murdered at Sobibor on 21 May 1943. He was 3 years old.

A family of regular people—murdered. They were not criminals, just a young family who were at the start of what should have been a bright future.

sources

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/205115/louis-de-leeuwe

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/tijdlijn/Louis-de-Leeuwe/01/96663

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The 4 From Breda

The title is The 4 from Breda, but there are only 3 men pictured. There is a reason for that which I shall explain a bit later. After the Second World War, 241 Germans were tried in the Netherlands for war crimes. Among them, the quartet Willi Lages, Ferdinand aus der Fünten, Franz Fischer and Joseph Kotälla, also known as “The Four of Breda”—a nickname they get from their imprisonment in the Koepelgevangenis(Dome prison) in Breda, a city in the south of the Netherlands.

After the end of the German occupation of the Netherlands, they were initially sentenced to death. That sentence was commuted by pardon to life imprisonment. The cabinet was against the conversion of the death penalty, partly because Queen Juliana had conscientious objections to the execution of the death penalty, but it still granted a pardon. Minister of Justice Teun Struycken assumed this would lead to release after twenty years.

As I mentioned earlier. I would explain why there are only three men in the picture above.

Under the responsibility of Minister of Justice Ivo Samkalden, Lages was given a suspended sentence in 1966 because Dutch doctors believed he was terminally ill, which later turned out to be untrue. He never returned to the Netherlands. The German constitution prohibits the extradition of its own nationals. After an intestinal operation in West Germany, he lived in freedom for almost five years. He died on 2 April 1971.

After 1971, the four became three and were referred to as, The 3 of Breda.

Willi Lages functioned as an SS man for the SD in Amsterdam and was responsible for the registration of Jews. That role was crucial for who would or would not be deported to a concentration camp. It was proven that he was responsible for the execution of several members of the resistance, including Hannie Schaft.

Joseph Kotalla (pictured in the top photograph on the left) was the administrative head and deputy camp commander of Kamp Amersfoort and was known to be psychologically unbalanced. He was nicknamed the Executioner of Amersfoort because he pulled the trigger several times.

Ferdinand aus der Fünten (top photograph, middle person) was also an SS man involved in the deportations because he was partly responsible for the logistics. This pure-blooded SS man lived for persecuting Jews, his only passion, reportedly, which earned him the nickname, Judenfischer. He was initially stationed in Utrecht but later moved to The Hague, where he was involved in deportations.

Aus der Fünten had been in charge of the day-to-day management of the organization of the deportations of Jews to Westerbork in Amsterdam, and Fischer did the same work in The Hague. Lages was one step higher in the ranking and was the de facto boss of Aus der Fünten. As a passionate police officer who had started his career with the Secret State Police in Germany, he was also head of the Netherlands Security Police—involved in the fight against the resistance. Kotalla was not personally involved with the arrest and persecution of Jews and Resistance Fighters. His conviction was for his brutal behaviour as a guard in the Amersfoort Concentration Camp.

In the late 1960s, the then Minister of Justice, Carel Polak, wanted to release the three remaining prisoners. After the discussion and advice from the Supreme Court, he decided against it.

In 1972, emotional debates arose again. Minister of Justice Dries van Agt had hinted that he wanted to respond positively to a request for clemency for the Three from Breda, partly because the Supreme Court and the Special Criminal Chamber of the District Court of Amsterdam had now unanimously advised to grant clemency. The release was called off after a hearing advocated by Anneke Goudsmit (D’66-Democrats 66) and a fierce parliamentary debate on 29 February 1972 took place, partly under the influence of strong, emotional resistance from society, in particular from associations of war victims. Ultimately, the request for clemency was rejected after a motion passed by the Guardian in the House of Representatives.

That this goes down the wrong way with people can be seen from the threatening letters that Van Agt receives. The division in the country about clemency is also clearly visible in the 13-hour debate in the House of Representatives on the issue.

Van Agt had to deal with the strong emotions in society, especially those affected by war.

As a result, the Dutch citizens come to see Fischer, Aus der Fünten and Kotälla even more as a symbol of the evil done to them. Therefore, in their eyes, the remaining three should never be released.

Kotälla has been mentally ill throughout his imprisonment. In the summer of 1979, his health deteriorated considerably. He died on 31 July 1979 in the Breda Prison. He is the only one of The Four who never submitted a request for clemency, but always tried to be released through lawsuits.

Throughout his imprisonment, he feels that he has not been judged fairly by the Dutch constitutional state. He continues to fight for a review of his verdict, which never comes, until his death. “The Three” became “The Two of Breda.”

On July 5, 1988, on the initiative of banker and former resistance member Bib van Lanschot, nineteen prominent Dutch citizens pleaded in a letter to Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers and Minister of Justice Frits Korthals Altes for the immediate release of the remaining two. They were old and didn’t have long to live. The letter was handed over personally without publicity. In addition to Van Lanschot, the signatories included former resistance member Hans Teengs Gerritsen, former Prime Minister Piet de Jong, former Minister of Justice Samkalden (now Minister of State) and other previous opponents of early release.

On 27 January 1989, the remaining two were released at the instigation of Korthals Altes. He received permission for this from the House of Representatives through a PvdA motion that was rejected by 88 to 55 votes calling for it to be waived. Korthals Altes referred to the letter from the “group of nineteen” at the start of the parliamentary debates on the proposed release. The same day the motion was rejected, the two war criminals were put across the border as unwanted aliens near Venlo. Teengs Gerritsen would express regret about co-signing the letter shortly after the release.

The writer and survivor of the prisoner of war and concentration camp Bergen-Belsen Abel Herzberg also publicly pleaded for release. Herzberg was a criminal law expert and took a position completely opposite to that of many Dutch Jews at the time. He called the attitude of Jewish opponents for the release—full of “hate and retaliation,” stressing that revenge in such a way was pointless. Incidentally, Herzberg would later indicate that, after the last two of Breda were released, he also doubted his own position.

Aus der Fünten and Fischer both died shortly after their release.

To an extent, I can understand why they were released; releasing them on 27 January, I find it disgusting. I hope this was because of an oversight.

Sources

https://npokennis.nl/longread/7955/waarom-kregen-de-duitse-oorlogsmisdadigers-de-drie-van-breda-gratie#id-1

https://www.montesquieu-instituut.nl/id/vix8ksbikxyx/veertig_jaar_geleden_de_drie_van_breda#:~:text=De%20Drie%20van%20Breda%20hadden,mishandeling%20en%20moord%20als%20kampbeul.

http://www.dedokwerker.nl/drie_van_breda.html

https://www.brabantserfgoed.nl/page/12235/de-drie-van-breda

Berend Johan Westerveld-Dud who wanted to proof himself.

The picture is of Dutch SS volunteer Berend Johan Westerveld, nicknamed ‘The Bicycle Repairman’ or ‘The Knight of the Bicycle Pedal’, presumably taken after his arrest.
Berend Johan Westerveld was born on August 23, 1905 in Zutphen. His career was characterized by a series of failures. Just before the war he became a bicycle repairer and bicycle shed owner in Zutphen. In 1941 he volunteered with the SS. After his training in Berlin, he ended up as a porter and telephone operator at the Aussenstelle in Arnhem and then in Enschede. From June 1943 he was employed inCamp Amersfoort with the SS Guard batalion, until Lagerführer Berg assigned him to the Camp-SS.

Amersfoort concentration camp was a Nazi concentration camp near the city of Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The official name was “Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort”, P.D.A. or Amersfoort Police Transit Camp. 37,000 prisoners were held there between 1941 to 1945. The camp was situated in the northern part of the municipality of Leusden, on the municipal boundary between Leusden and Amersfoort in the central Netherlands.

At Abteilung III, Westerveld was under the authority of Joseph Kotälla, although both fulfilled the function of Schutzhaftlagerführer. After the war, Westerveld, like Kotälla, was qualified as an ‘unbalanced person’.
Westerveld was known as the man of ‘pumping’ and ‘robbing’. He was guilty of violent assaults and torturing. After the war, he confessed to all the charges against him. He was sentenced to death in 1948.

source

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/detail/bccabf28-025a-11e7-904b-d89d6717b464/media/80860613-c481-fc10-1b3b-9de4c2459639?mode=detail&view=horizontal&q=23%20augustus&rows=1&page=116

6 July 1942—Mauthausen

On 2 June 1942, 64 people were transported from Camp Amersfoort in the Netherlands to Mauthausen in Austria. Of the 64 people, 12 were murdered on 6 July 1942.

Nathan de Klijn was born in Amsterdam on 29 August 1905. He was murdered in Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 36 years. His surname is pronounced the same as mine. Occupation: Transport bicycle hand.

Louis Cohen was born in Amsterdam on 3 January 1918 and murdered in Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 24 years. Occupation: Office clerk.

Alexander van der Stam was born in Antwerp on 30 September 1894. He was murdered in Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He was 47 years old. Occupation: Waiter.

Jozua Klein was born in Wildervank on 3 April 1901. He was murdered in Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 41 years. Occupation: Merchant.

David Abraham Drielsma was born at Elst, Gelderland, on 18 September 1903. He was murdered at Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He was 38 years old.

Marcus Cohen was born in Groningen on 12 July 1907. He was murdered at Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He was 34 years old. Occupation: Debenture bond office owner.

Maximiliaan del Valle was born in Amsterdam on 23 April 1897. He was murdered at Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 45 years. Occupation: Literary scholar.

Levi Messcher was born in Haskerland on 28 June 1895. He was murdered at Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 47 years. Occupation: Sales representative.

Levie Godschalk was born in Amsterdam on 24 June 1906. He was murdered at Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 36 years. Occupation: Livestock wholesale dealer.

Bernhard van der Kloot was born in The Hague on 16 November 1897. He was murdered at Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 44 years. Occupation: Merchant.

Juda Schrijver was born in Amsterdam on 21 July 1915 and murdered in Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 26 years. Occupation: Dispatch boy.

Albert Sluizer was born in Amsterdam on 12 August 1916. He was murdered in Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 25 years. Occupation: Manager.

I only gave limited biographies on the men, but this is to show that they weren’t members of political or terror groups, criminals, or tax evaders. They were all just regular guys with regular jobs. Yet there were murdered because the Nazis thought they were different.

Sources

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/search?mode=cards&qs=#eyJjYXRlZ29yeSI6W10sImNvbnRlbnRHcm91cHMiOltdLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJzb3J0aW5nIjoiIiwiYWR2YW5jZWRmaWx0ZXJzIjp7InN1ck5hbWUiOm51bGwsImZpcnN0TmFtZSI6bnVsbCwiYmlydGhDaXR5IjpudWxsLCJkZWF0aENpdHkiOm51bGwsInJlc2lkZW5jZUNpdHkiOm51bGwsInJlc2lkZW5jZVN0cmVldCI6bnVsbCwib2NjdXBhdGlvbiI6bnVsbCwiYmlydGhZZWFyIjpudWxsLCJiaXJ0aE1vbnRoIjpudWxsLCJiaXJ0aERheSI6bnVsbCwiZGVhdGhZZWFyIjoxOTQyLCJkZWF0aE1vbnRoIjo3LCJkZWF0aERheSI6NiwiZGVjZWFzZUFnZSI6bnVsbH19

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/mensen?transport_from=https://data.niod.nl/WO2_Thesaurus/kampen/3652&transport_to=https://data.niod.nl/WO2_Thesaurus/kampen/3682&transport_date=1942-6-12

Escaping a Jewish Work camp.

There were 4 concentration camps in the Netherlands. The best known was Westerbork, the other 3 were Vught,Amersfoort and Ommen.

A relatively unknown fact is that there were also an estimated 42 work/labour camps. Between January 1942 and October 1942 , the Jewish work camps in the Netherlands spread across the countrie from which unemployed Jews had to carry out outdoor work.

The work in the camps was heavy, in almost all cases waste ground had to be cleared. The digging is done by hand. The men work long days, from six in the morning to six in the evening.

On the night of October 2–3, 1942, during Yom Kippur, the Jewish men were removed from most of these camps. They were transported to camp Westerbork on the pretext of family reunions. Most of them were sent later to Auschwitz, Sobibor and other camps, where the majority were murdered.

Maurits Jakobs was one of the men who were interned in Vedder one of the work camps. The camp was run by a Dutch company, Nederlandsche Heidemaatschappij, although it was under supervision by the Nazi regime.

At the end of September 1942, Maurits Jakobs cycled through a pitch-black forest in the middle of the night. He had just escaped from the Jewish labour camp Vledder in Drenthe. At that time, hw was not yet aware that his old camp mates would be deported to extermination camps a few days later, via Westerbork.

He managed to escape from Camp Vledder with the help of supervisor Willems, who was employed by the Nederlandse Heidemaatschappij. Willems has parked his bicycle at the sandy path. But the initiative for the escape came from Jo Oldenburger, a former employee of Maurits.

Oldenburger knew that the situation for Jews was becoming increasingly ominous and arranged a hiding place for Maurits and his wife in the town of Emmen. In the evening Oldenburger is waited for Mauris at the camp with an extra bicycle. Maurits, who initially still had doubts, decided to go along and follows Jo via the sandy path into the dark forest.

Maurits knew. as long as he would see the red bicycle light of Jo Oldenburger, who cycled in front of him, it would be safe. That was the arrangement.. Suddenly the light disappeared from view and Maurits hid with bicycle and all in a ditch. But Jo appeared to have turned a corner. They agreed to stay closer together.

The bike ride of almost seventy kilometers was tough for Maurits, who had not been on a bicycle for at least a year. After a long and painful journey they arrived at the hiding place in Emmen. Thanks to various hiding places, the Jakobs’ couple managed to stay under the radar all this time. They both survived the war.

This was probably the most ‘Dutch’ escape one could imagine. Escape by bicycle.

sources

https://www.ru.nl/rich/our-research/research-groups/cultures-of-war-and-liberation/current-projects/projects/knhm-1929-1954/

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/artikel/maurits-jakobs-ontsnapt-dagen-voor-grootschalige-deportatie-uit-kamp-vledder

https://joodsewerkkampen.nl/geschiedenis

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Sjelomo Hamburger

This is the aspect of the Holocaust I struggle most with. How can anyone look at this child and perceive him to be a threat to the nation. How can they look at his face and decide that he needs to be killed immediately.

Sjelomo Hamburger would have celebrated his 80th birthday today. But he only reached the age of 2.

Sjelomo Hamburger was the son of Samuel Hamburger and Marianne van Straten.

Samuel and Marianne , lived at Fahrenheitstraat 4 in Amersfoort. They were married 25 August 1939 in Amersfoort,the Netherlands, and their son Sjelomo was born there on 22 January 1942.

A few months after the birth of their son , Samuel and Marianne decided to go into hiding with Sjelomo, to escape the persecution by the Nazis.

During a search for prohibited motion pictures, an Amersfoort police officer discovered two-year old Sjelomo Hamburger in an attic room on the Schimmelpenninckstraat in Amersfoort on 8 June 1944.

I am not sure if his parents were with him. But this is where Sjelomo Hamburger had been hiding there since August 1942. He was deported to Auschwitz via Westerbork on September 3, 1944. There were in total 783 people on that transport, 7776 Jewish, 36 resistance fighters, and 17 were classified as citizen. Two were under the age of 12, 2 year old Sjelomo was one of them.

He was murdered in Auschwitz September 6 1944.

sources

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/523482/about-sjelomo-hamburger

https://www.geni.com/people/Sjelomo-Hamburger/6000000055655845945

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/tijdlijn/Sjelomo-Hamburger/48/9187

Law abiding citizen

I don’t know what it is but the last few days I have discovered several accounts of victims of the Holocaust which are very near to me. Not so much that I was related to these people or that I knew them, but I knew the locality and the addresses where they lived. In fact I passed these places by on a daily basis and in the case of Louis van Dam , sometimes even more then 10 times a day.

At the back of my secondary school there was a square . It was really a small park with a few benches and some trees, surrounded by houses. The square was known(and still is) as the Jubileum plein (Jubilee square)

We would often use this square for physical education lessons. One of the tests we had for PE was a run around the small park, We had a certain time (I believe it was 10 minutes) to run around the park as often as we could. 10 times or more would be a pass, anything below 10 was a fail.

You probably are thinking “where is he going with this” ? Well the name I mentioned earlier was Louis van Dam, Louis and his family lived in one of the houses on the square, Jubileumplein 12,Geleen from 1930 to 1939. In 1939 they moved to a village a few miles south, Doenrade. The reason why they moved was because of health reasons. Louis’s wife  Sophie Silbernberg-van Dam, had asthma and the pollution caused by the nearby coal mine was bad for her health. However Louis also wanted to live in a remote spot near the German border so he could help Jewish refugees. who crossed the border.

In that same year Louis became a bit of a ‘celebrity’ but not in a beneficial way, He had overheard a smuggling scheme in a local pub. Some smugglers had been smuggling Dutch army uniforms to Germany(the uniforms were to be used by the German army for the invasion of the Netherlands). As a law abiding citizen Louis reported this to the Police. Two men were arrested as a result.A newspaper article was published about the incident.

Despite the fact that Louis van Dam’s name only appeared in an abbreviated from in the newspaper, it was still known that he had reported the smugglers. Louis and his family received death threats afterwards because of this they moved again, this time to Amsterdam.

A few months after they moved, the German army invaded the Netherlands. Louis’s son Guus got involved in a students resistance group and was arrested at the end of 1941 or start of 1942.

Although the intended target for the arrest was Louis himself, some neighbours had betrayed him for listening to an English radio station, which was forbidden by the Nazi authorities. But Louis was ill and Guus was arrested instead.

Guus was sent to Auschwitz on November 10th,1942 via Scheveningen, Amersfoort and  Westerbork. It is not known where he died , his formal death certificate states date of death March 31,1944 in middle Europe, aged 22.

Louis, his wife and 2 daughters, Roos en Mimi, went into hiding.

Louis van Dam had gone into hiding using the alias Christiaan Willem Zijlstra. He died while in hiding and was buried under his alias at the Algemeene Begraafplaats Crooswijk in Rotterdam on 23 April 1945.

After the war  his remains were exhumed and  reburied at the Jewish cemetery Toepad in Rotterdam. Louis van Dam’s wife and daughter survived the war.

It just goes to show you can be passing by a house every day without being aware of the historical significance of it.

 

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I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

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Sources

Stichting Stolpersteine Sittard-Geleen

Joods Monument

Google Streetview

 

 

Karl Peter Berg commander of Camp Amersfoort.

Karl Berg was originally the third man in the chain of command at Camp Amersfoort and in 1943 he was appointed camp commandant. He had a reputation for being cruel and merciless. Berg was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of prisoners.

A group of 101 Russian prisoners who had arrived at the camp in 1941 were among those who died. Part of the them were starved to death; the other 77 were killed in group executions. Berg was later responsible for a number of retaliations, including the one carried out after SS and Police leader Hanns Albin Rauter was ambushed by the Resistance in the hamlet of Woeste Hoeve on the Veluwe, a wooded area in the Dutch province of Gelderland. The day after this unexpected March 1945 attack, Berg had 49 men executed on a rifle range. Following the Liberation in 1945, Berg was forced to point out the location of the mass graves where his victims had been dumped.

At that moment he was still wearing these boots, but later they were taken from him.

One of the most notorious SS-officers of PDA Amersfoort was Joseph Kotälla. He was appointed in September 1942 by Karl Peter Berg.

He was famous for his so-called ‘Kotälla-kick’, a very hard kick in the testicles with his army-boot. He also took part in many of the firing squads and he took a special interest in Jewish prisoners and priests, which he physically abused most frequently and fanatically.

In 1948 the camp commandant and guards of Amersfoort were tried and convicted for their crimes. Karl Peter Berg was sentenced to death and was executed in 1949.

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