Dutch War Graves Diever

The Municipal Cemetery in Diever contains the graves of 12 war victims.
The names of the victims are:

Hendrik Akkerman, fairground operator
born 25-02-1904 in Zwolle, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Jan Booiman, agricultural labourer
born 04-04-1924 in Diever, died 29-07-1943 in Warnemünde Rostock (D)

Harman Bennen, cattle-merchant and member of the Resistance
born 04-08-1891 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Klaas Daleman, deliveryman PTT and member of the resistance
born 22-05-1906 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Jan Houwer, bread-vendor
born 23-07-1911 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Koop Houwer, agricultural labourer
born 16-05-1915 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Nicolaas Houwer, agricultural labourer
born 08-05-1882 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Roelof Hunneman, agricultural labourer
born 06-06-1898 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Antonius Maria Gerardus Janssens
born 26-05-1926 in Tilburg, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Joseph Antonius Cornelis Maria Janssens
born 10-10-1930 in Berkel-Enschot, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Kornelis Kerssies, farmer and member of the Resistance
born 15-03-1885 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

Jan Koning, contractor/carpenter and member of the Resistance
born 19-05-1901 in Diever, died 10-04-1945 in Diever

The 10 people whose date of death was April 10, 1945 were executed at the same time. On the night of April 7-8, French paratroopers had landed near Diever with the aim of occupying bridges and crossroads behind the front to speed up the advance of the Allied army units. On April 10, German troops appeared in Diever, wanting to deal with the paratroopers. They took 11 random people hostage and when the attack on the paratroopers failed completely and the Germans suffered losses, the 11 hostages were executed without mercy. Only one of them managed to survive by holding himself dead for hours.

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Source

• Text: Bert Deelman en Traces of War
• Photos: Bert Deelman (1), Stefan Meekers (2, 3, 4, 5)