Monument the Orange Fillibusters

On the grounds of the General Cemetery Tolsteeg is a monument commemorating the resistance group De Oranje Vrijbuiters.
The monument was unveiled on May 10, 1947, where the remains of 18 Vrijbuiters were buried. In the middle of the monument is a poem by Roland Holst:

I WILL THE HALMS
NO MORE SEE,
NOR EVER BIND
THE FULL SHADES
BUT PUT ME IN
BELIEVING THE HARVEST,
WHAT I SERVE FOR.

Next to the poem are the lyrics:

ORANGE FREEBOOMERS

EXECUTED 29 FEBRUARY 1944
ON THE
WAALSDORPER PLAIN

On May 10, 2007, the monument was unveiled again, with one plaque attached, with the text:

FIGHTED TOGETHER
FUSILLED TOGETHER
MARCH 1, 1946 ORDERED TO EARTH TOGETHER
MAY 10, 1947 HONORED RESPECTIVELY
THE HARVEST IN WHICH THEY BELIEVED
BECAME OUR HIGHEST GOOD

On May 4, 2015, two more plaques were installed, with the texts:

THESE RESISTANCE HEROES PAID
WITH THEIR LIVES FOR FREEDOM
OF AN OPPRESSED PEOPLE

BY THESE RESISTANCE HEROES
REMEMBER TELL YOU ABOUT THE
VALUE OF FREEDOM


Klaas Postma's sense of justice was increasingly affected by the actions of the Germans and he gave shape to his opposition to this action by working illegally together with Frits (Frederikus Marinus) Meulenkamp (08-12-1910 - alias Frits van Kampen) already in 1940 to do so, which in 1942 led to the foundation of the resistance group the Oranje Vrijbuiters, where Postma was in charge of the care of people in hiding and Meulenkamp led the resistance.

The resistance group also made drawings of military objects that were passed on to England. Captured German records of ammunition depots, defenses and barracks went the same way, after which they were bombed by the Allies. The resistance group received financial support and weapons from England. This was achieved by means of droppings and parachutists. The Oranje Vrijbuiters had a building in Utrecht on the Nieuwegracht no. 151 as headquarters, which was rented by Meulenkamp.

On 24 August 1943, a raid by the Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo) led by Blattgerste and Sasse from The Hague arrested members Egbertus Meulenkamp, Joop de Heus (the later traitor), Heinz Loewenstein and Leo Fischer, and Klaas Postma was arrested the following night. and Jacques Martens. Almost all other Oranje Vrijbuiters were subsequently arrested in August, September and November 1943 and transferred to the Oranjehotel in Scheveningen and tried on 28 February 1944 by the Polizeistandgericht in The Hague, where 20 Oranje Vrijbuiters were sentenced to death. Two of them were pardoned, so that on February 29, 1944, 18 Oranje Vrijbuiters were shot on the Waalsdorpervlakte.

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Source

• Text: Dick de Bruijne
• Photos: Dick de Bruijne
• Oranje Vrijbuiters