Execution Monument Van Harinxmakanaal

The monument at the Van Harinxma Canal in Dronryp was erected in memory of the eleven resistance fighters who were shot here on 11 April 1945 by the occupying forces.

The names of the eleven victims are:

Sijbrandus van Dam, Heinrich Harder, Dirk de Jong, Hendrik Jan de Jong, Ruurd Kooistra, Johannes Nieuwland, Hendrik Jozef Spoelstra, Douwe Tuinstra, Egbert Mark Wierda, Hyltje Wierda and Klaas Wypcke Wierda.

In the evening of April 9, 1945, on the eve of the liberation, the Leeuwarden division of the Dutch Interior Forces was ordered to carry out general sabotage. 'Sabotage on road, rail and water', was the order from the headquarters of the NBS in Friesland. The occupier was not allowed to escape to Germany. The result of the sabotage was, among other things, the elimination of the railway lines Leeuwarden-Franeker and Leeuwarden-Buitenpost. The Franeker battle group unscrewed all screws over a distance of 75 meters. A day later, a 26-car Wehrmacht locomotive derailed.

The Sicherheitsdienst from Groningen ordered that twenty men should be shot dead at Dronryp as a reprisal on 11 April. The secret listening post of the NBS in Leeuwarden received this message and the resistance groups were ordered to immediately go to the sabotage site to relieve their friends. The Dronryp group took up positions near the railway, as it was believed that the prisoners would come to the village by train. However, this did not happen. Fourteen prisoners from the Burmaniahuis in Leeuwarden were transported to Dronryp in wagons. At the moment they arrived in the village, a number of British fighters flew over Dronryp. Fearing the planes, the occupier decided to execute the fusillade on the spot. In addition, the bridge over the Van Harinxma Canal had been raised, so they could not reach the railway line.

The victims were taken in three groups to the foot of the dike near the canal. After three salvos had sounded, there were thirteen bodies lying in the grass that had to remain there for 24 hours. One of the men, Gerard de Jong from Leeuwarden, survived the execution by pretending to be 'dead'. The injured resistance member was brought to safety after the occupier had left.

Of the thirteen executed prisoners, eleven are commemorated at the execution site. The two others were Johannes Marinus Ducaneaux and Oudger (Oetske) van Dijk. The fourteenth person Gerard de Jong was also attempted to be shot, but pretended to be dead and survived.

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Source

• Text: Bert Deelman
• Photos: Bert Deelman
• Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei