Date of birth:

August 3rd, 1897 (Westhem Blauwhuis (Wymbritseradeel) Friesland, Netherlands)

Date of death:

January 11th, 1945 (KZ Neuengamme, Germany)

Nationality:

Dutch

Dominicus Hylarius Ettema was born on 3 August 1897 as the youngest of nine children in Westhem-Blauwhuis in the Frisian municipality of Wymbritseradeel. Son of Cornelis Dominicus Ettema (born 16-4-1860 Franeker, died 8-12-1927 Dusseldorf) and Froukje Meintes Witteveen (born 3-5-1857 Joure, died 5-6-1922 Dusseldorf).

Meanwhile, living in Zeddam and director of the local dairy factory, Ettema became involved in the resistance around 1943, joining the Cappetti Group. They arranged fake papers, food and voucher cards for people in hiding, which were mainly obtained by raiding distribution offices.

On the night of 27-28 May 1944, a large number of members of the Cappetti Group were arrested by the German SD. During the arrest, incriminating material was seized, from which the SD in all likelihood concluded that Ettema was the head of the LO in Zeddam. On 14 June, he was arrested. He was transferred first to Arnhem and from there to Camp Amersfoort on 27 June.

Ettema was one of ca. 1400 prisoners who were put on transport from Amersfoort to Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg on 11 October 1944. Among them were 602 men who had been rounded up in the raid in Putten on 1 October. Neuengamme was a bad camp. The prisoners were subjected to severe deprivation. Food, medical care, hygiene and housing were inadequate, and above all they had to perform heavy physical labour, with beatings and humiliation being the order of the day.

There was mass mortality, and so did Ettema on 11 January 1945. On the lists of death dates and causes of death maintained by the Nazi system, he (prisoner number 56199) is marked ‘cardiac insufficiency’. He was cremated in Neuengamme and has no identifiable grave.

A Stolperstein was placed on the pavement in front of his former home address at 21 Benedendorpsstraat in Zeddam in January 2025. His name further appears on the War Memorial in Zeddam where a street is also named after him.

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• Photo 1: Oorlogsgravenstichting
• - Dominicus Hylarius Ettema | Digitaal Monument Neuengamme
  - Dominicus Hylarius Ettema | Oorlogsgravenstichting
  

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