Jan Kanters lived in Ooltgensplaat. He was the son of Gerbrand Marinus Kanters and Johanna Maria Hobbel and married to Jobje Troost (no children). He was a merchant by trade.
Together with his father-in-law Pieter Troost (8 December 1884 Ooltgensplaat), his seventeen-year-old brother-in-law Leendert Troost and the evacuee Arie van de Merwe (July 28, 1920 Dubbeldam) he was busy looking for fuel. They stole a few pieces of wood from Wehrmacht poles (Rommel-asparagus), which was observed by a German patrol. All were mistreated. Except for Leendert, the others were tied together with iron wire. Then they had to lie down on the floor. After an hour and a half, the men were ordered to stand, after which they were killed with a shot in the neck. Leendert was spared because of his young age, but had to watch the gruesome scene.
On Wednesday, July 18, 1945, the bodies were found while digging a cable at the Kop van 't Land east of Dubbeldam on the Island of Dordrecht. Jan and Pieter were reburied together in Ooltgensplaat on Monday 23 July 1945.
Arie was reburied at the cemetery in Dubbeldam (Dordrecht).
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