Memorial Executions 10 April 1945

The resistance monument in Bakkeveen was erected in memory of ten Groningen resistance fighters who were executed by the occupying forces on 10 April 1945 near the Nije Drintsewei. The names of the ten victims are:

A.E. Gorter, Rev. S.J. Hoekstra, J. Kazemier, N. Mulder, mr. M. Ritzema, A.P.B. Sanders, A. Smid (the stone erroneously mentions Smit), E.L. Ubbens, H.N. Werkman and A. van der Woude.

On Monday, April 9, 1945, ten prisoners were taken from the detention center in Groningen and loaded into a lorry covered with tarpaulin. Five members of the Sicherheitsdienst rode along. One of the prisoners, the commander of the Dutch Interior Forces from Leek, managed to jump out of the truck at three o'clock in the morning and escape. The car got stuck on a dirt road. Even with a number of horses, the car could not be moved. In the course of the morning the car was towed away with the help of a large truck. On April 10, two trucks drove to the execution site. On the Nije Drintsewei between Bakkeveen and Allardsoog, ten prisoners were shot (the nine from the previous day plus Hendrik Werkman).

Due to the heavy fog, the local residents could not see anything. On Wednesday, April 11, some employees of the Dutch Heath Society discovered that a piece of arable land (where the monument now stands) had been dug. There they found the ten remains. Under secrecy, the horrific find was reported to the management of the Volkshogeschool in Allardsoog, who warned the commander of the Domestic Forces in the municipality of Opsterland. They feared a recurrence, but nothing more happened. The Canadians were making rapid advances. Sunday morning April 15, liberation day, the eight meter long grave was opened to identify the victims. The funeral followed on April 17 at the cemetery in the woods near Bakkeveen. Kazemier was taken to Aduard and later the others were reburied in their own village. Only Werkman's remains remained in Bakkeveen.

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Source

• Text: Bert Deelman
• Photos: Bert Deelman
• Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei