Remembrance Sign Riek Sennema Bridge

The bridge of the Rijksstraatweg over the Van Starkenborgkanaal in Zuidhorn is named after local resident Hendrika Sennema, she was a resistance fighter in World War II.

On the bridge is a sign that reads:
"Riek Sennema (1907 - 2003) Resistance fighter Second World War".

As the occupation progressed, resistance in the Netherlands also grew, which in the Sennema family was fueled by a Christian attitude to life. Riek mainly had a great aversion to the N.S.B. Starting in 1942, Riek joined the resistance in the northern Netherlands and became a courier for the illegal newspaper Trouw. She was also used to smuggling weapons to Buitenpost and Grijpskerk.

On November 14, 1944, she was arrested and transferred to the infamous Scholtenhuis on the Grote Markt in Groningen, the headquarters of the German SD. She was held for 19 days and interrogated violently. Her memory got a little off and presumably the Germans got something out of her after all.

In early 1945, she was transferred to an almost empty Westerbork camp. On April 11, 1945, she and 115 other politically imprisoned women left Westerbork on foot for Visvliet. They walked at night and rested during the day. The Allies were already in Groningen on April 13, 1945, and panic ensued among the German soldiers. After being under German guard the entire campaign, the 116 women were now suddenly free. Riek borrowed a bicycle from somewhere and drove home to Zuidhorn.

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