War Memorial "The Six of Dorplein"

Memory of the six young men who were murdered by the occupying forces on September 5, 1944.
Unveiling : September 5, 2021
Designers:
- Noud Looymans (central artwork with photos of the six victims surrounded by railway tracks)
- Wim Ogier (desk with the book on it, opened on the 'black page' in Dorplein history)

The date September 5, 1944, also known as 'Mad Tuesday', is a black page in the history of Budel-Dorplein. The Allied armies were approaching, liberation seemed imminent and the German occupier and his accomplices became nervous. Some NSB members fled hastily to Germany, which was safe for them, but were not welcome there and were sent back at the German border. The resistance group active in Dorplein waited for the returning NSB members and captured some of them in the 'Cantine' in Dorplein. Liberation, it was thought in all euphoria, was after all near.
The resistance group was instructed to sabotage the railway line between Weert and Budel by unscrewing the rails. On September 5, 1944, around noon, the train derailment prepared by the resistance group took place near 'De Zinkfabriek' in Dorplein.
One of the NSB members who had not been captured by the resistance group called in the help of the SS men who were present at the derailed train and they surrounded Dorplein not much later. The residents of Dorplein faced a few terrible hours. Villagers were arbitrarily arrested to be executed in retaliation if the sabotage crew did not come forward. Four members of the resistance group; Kees Kappers, Antoon van der Putten, Theo Stevens and Jan Zandvliet were hiding in nearby Ringselven, called 'de Peel'. By betrayal, they were found here by the SS and brutally murdered.
The two brothers Martien and Leo Looymans, who had gone into hiding to escape compulsory employment in Germany and who were also involved in the resistance, returned from their hiding place that day when they were arrested on suspicion of taking part in the sabotage. Without trial, they too were gruesomely murdered by the SS in the vicinity of the derailed train.

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Source

• Text: Heemkundekring ‘De Baronie van Cranendonck’
• Photos: Wim Ogier (1, 3), Harry de Laat (2)