Tekst on the memorial:
On this location, in the
night from 4 to 5
december, a house was
destroyed and burned down
by the German occupier.
Four people died:
Two men from Zwartewaal, Johan and
Jan Koene and 2 Italians: Salvatore Scanio
and Francesco Concas.
On the house build after the war is also a plaque.
Update 2024:
December 1944 was a black month for the island of Voorne Putten. In this month, several people were murdered or shot. People were also imprisoned as Todeskandidaten or sent to concentration camps, of whom some died after reprisal murders or in the camp. After the war, several people were convicted of treason or war crimes.
For the Koene brothers, the story began with a Dutch SS member in hiding who was noticed in his village by a member of the NSB. After interrogating the SS member, a raid was carried out on several people who played a role in the local resistance during the night of 4 to 5 December. Three Italians were in hiding with the Koene brothers. Two of them died in the house that was set on fire by the Germans, the third managed to escape. The Koene brothers were “shot while fleeing”.
The Koene family’s grief was not over yet. A third brother died during a firefight with SS'ers in Veenendaal in early May 1945.
The three brothers Jan, Pieter Johannes and Willem are buried next to each other in the field of honor in Loenen. Their grave numbers are E-105, E-106 and E-107.
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