Memorial Stone Execution Resistance Fighters Ommen

This memorial stone on the Besthmenerberg commemorates three murdered resistance heroes from the Second World War. The thick stone with a plaque next to it is placed on the spot where in 1944 the resistance heroes Jaap Much, Jan van Putten and Derk Webbink were executed on the shooting range of Camp Erika.

Jaap Musch
Jacob Philip Musch (born 1913) from Amsterdam saved Jewish children from the crèche opposite the Hollandsche Schouwburg in Amsterdam during the Second World War. About 160 children from daycare and a large number of other children escaped through the organization of which he was a member from transport to the concentration camps. In total it concerned at least 231 children. After his arrest in Nijverdal, Jaap Musch was transferred to Camp Erika and was interrogated here by members of the Sicherheitsdienst from Arnhem. They were notorious. They happened to be visiting the prison camp. There Jaap was horribly tortured by them. He didn't let go of anything. After a day and a half the irritation among his interrogators was so great that they shot him on September 7, 1944. After the war, on June 29, 1945, Musch was reburied with military honors in Ommen cemetery.

Jan van Putten and Derk Webbink
Jan van Putten (born 1920) was a watchkeeper at the military police in Westerhaar and active in the resistance. This also applies to Derk Webbink (born 1917) municipal official and deputy leader of distribution from Vriezenveen. Disguised as a German soldier, Van Putten managed to take two bicycles from an NSB member. This seemed like an easy job, but turned into a drama within a few days. He was betrayed and subsequently arrested by guards at Camp Erika. Unfortunately, Derk Webbink visited him shortly before. Two small arms, a military uniform, a field cap and glasses are found, and Webbink appears to have too many distribution receipts with him. They arrive at Camp Erika as prisoners. After assaults, Van Putten and Webbink admit that they had cut telephone cables, derailed the train from Almelo and stolen threshing machine belts.
The two are told they will be executed. They are then taken to the firing range and have to lie down in a pit dug by two SS men and were shot on September 23, 1944. No one is informed afterwards. The fate of the two men only becomes clear after the liberation on July 25, 1945, when a guard from the camp who was involved in the arrest has to point out the place of execution. Jan van Putten and Derk Webbink were reburied in Westerhaar on 27 July 1945 with tribute from marechaussees and men of the Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten.

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Source

• Text: Traces of War
• Photos: Nellize Hogervorst (1, 2), Betty van Hattem (3), Akke Tschur (4)