Freedom Park Tilburg

Since 2016, the municipality of Tilburg has merged various war memorials from the city into one location. The former Factorium garden has been turned into a garden, which gives way to commemorations of the Second World War. With the arrival of the new Holocaust memorial on April 24, 2020, the park is complete.

The monuments are:

Monument 15th Scottish Division
This memorial for the 15th Scottish Division memorizes for the residents of Tilburg the participation of this Division in the liberation of the city in the Dutch province of Brabant on the 27th of October, 1944. Various Units from different countries participated in the liberation of Tilburg. The 15th Division under the command of Major General Barber, played a significant part during this military operation.

The memorial depicts a bronze statue of a Scottish Bagpiper. The statue has been placed on a pedestal with the image of a heraldic lion.

The text on the pedestal reads:

'SCOTLAND THE BRAVE
THANKFUL REMINDER
ON THE 15TH SCOTTISH DIVISION
FROM MAJOR GENERAL C.BARBER
FOR THE LIBERATION OF TILBURG
ON OCTOBER 27, 1944.

(the names of 13 army units)

27-10-1989'

The Holocaust Memorial
The monument was erected in memory of 172 Tilburg victims of the Holocaust, and was created by Tine van de Weyer.

The monument is based on the tree that symbolizes all that grows and blooms, the connection of heaven and earth, the tree as a representation of vital life. The Biblical story teaches that in addition to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God also planted the symbol for eternal life and resurrection, the tree of life, in the Garden of Eden. In almost all cultures it has grown as the connecting link between heaven and earth, as the axis around which all life revolves and comes into being. The fabric on the branches refers to improvised hanging laundry of the countless people fleeing genocide and dictatorship, on their way in search of a safer world. In the pedestal under the tree, a subtle fabric of the street pattern of the city of Tilburg around 1940 has been applied. A reference to Tilburg has been made both with this street structure and with the cloths and rugs referring to textiles. Because textiles have now disappeared from the city as an industrial branch.
Pebbles can be placed on the pedestal as a reminder.

The Monument Bombardment Tilburg
On 10 May 1940, a bomb hit the Noordstraat. Fourteen people were killed. Amongst tehem were six children between six and thirteen years old.

The Indies monument This memorial commemorates 60 residents of Tilburg, who died during the disarmament of the Dutch East Indies The monument symbolizes a small Indian cottage. The curved form in which it was built, stands for embrace and protection.

Memorial Rock Coba Pulskens Tilburg[/b
Resistance fighter Coba Pulskens (1884 – 1945) provided cover to Jews, allied aircrews and members of the resistance during the war. The memorial rock was unveiled on 27 October, 1984, thanks to an initiative of the people in the neighborhood. The stone was turned around a quarter and put in a paved square. Every year a memorial service takes place on this spot on 27 October.

Text on the memorial plaques:
- Jacques Stewart Nott, 26 years of age, R.A.F. Australia
- Ronald Arthur Walker, 21 years of age, R.A.F. England
- Roy Edward Carter, 23 years of age R.A.F. Canada

These three pilots have been executed at the home of the resistance fighter Coba Pulskens. Coba has been gassed in the concentration camp Ravensbrück in February 1945.

The three allied airmen were shot during their arrest on 9 July, 1944, when they were having lunch at the table of Coba Pulskens. The bodies were carried away in a trcuck by the Germans. The police of the city of Tilburg received an order of the SD (Sicherheits Dienst = German Intelligence) on 12 July, 1944, to carry the three bodies from the Elisabeth Gasthuis (hospital) to Camp Vught where they were cremated.

Memorial Royal Dutch Brigade Princess Irene
This memorial for the Royal Dutch Brigade "Princess Irene" memorizes the participation of this Brigade in the liberation on the 27th of October, 1944, of Tilburg for the residents of this Dutch city in the province of Brabant.

The memorial has been unveiled on the 27th of October, 1955, by H.R.H. Princess Irene on the very spot where the citizens and their liberators first met personally. Very much against the wishes of the population, the monument was displaced by the municipality to the Townhall square where it now stands in the shadow of the Concert building.

It has been moved again to Vrijheidspark (Freedom park)

The text on the front of the pedestal reads:

"TRUSTING IN GOD,
OUR UNBENDING WILL
AND THE VICTORY OURS
MORE ALLIANCE
WEAPONS IT WILL YOU
GIVEN ONCE AS
VICTORIOUS LIBERATORS
OF THE NETHERLANDS
WITH THIS BANNER THE
DUTCH SOIL
TO ENTER'

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Source

• Text: Ad Smulders & Dick de Bruijne
• Photos: Dick de Bruijne (1, 2, 3, 4), Peer Franken (5)