Monument Sijbrand Marinus Van Hearsma Buma

Monument Sijbrand Marinus van Haersma Buma in Weidum

THE HISTORY
The monument to Mr. S.M. van Haersma Buma reminds the residents of Weidum of the then mayor of Staveren and Wymbritseradiel, who died on 11 December 1942 in the Neuengamme concentration camp.
Mayor Sijbrand Marinus van Haersma Buma was the founder of the Legion of Old Front Fighters (L.O.F.), a resistance organization of former soldiers. On February 3, 1941, the occupying forces convened a meeting in Leeuwarden, at which the mayors and municipal police chiefs had to be present. Afterwards, Van Haersma Buma was arrested because he wore a sawn-out dime ('queen's head') on his lapel. At the end of February, he had to answer for this before a German agency in The Hague. Van Haersma Buma refused to sign a statement, stating that he had worn the image of his 'ehemalige Königin'. He was subsequently removed from his mayoral office.
On May 7, 1941, Van Haersma Buma was arrested when he clandestinely attended a meeting of mayor and aldermen in café 'Het Park'. Via the prison 'Het Oranjehotel' in Scheveningen he was transferred to camp Amersfoort. He was then taken to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died on December 11, 1942.
Establishment
In 1945, the Friesland 1940-1945 Association organized a competition for a Frisian memorial stone to be placed on the graves of those who died in the fight for freedom and justice during the Second World War. The award-winning saying of Mr J. de Vries from Balk had to be included in the design. In February 1946, the design by the Amsterdam architect Marinus Duintjer was selected. According to the jury's final report, this design could be a worthy testimony to the Frisian folk character: after all, 'angularity goes hand in hand with lyrical softness'. Identical columns have been placed on the Honorary Cemetery in Leeuwarden.

The monument depicted is located at the Van Buma and Hora Siccama family cemetery in Weidum (formerly the municipality of Littenseradiel).
The text is written in Frisian:
'FALLEN YN 'E STRIID TSJIN ÛNRJOCHT EN SLAVERNIJ
DAT WY YN FREDE FOAR RJOCHT EN FRIJDOM WEITSJE'.
Translated:
"FALLS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INJUSTICE AND SLAVERY"
THAT WE WATCH IN PEACE FOR JUSTICE AND FREEDOM."

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Source

• Text: Haintje Kuipers
• Photos: Haintje Kuipers