Monument Paul Marinus van Baerdt van Sminia

The monument is in memory of former mayor Van Baerdt van Sminia van Utingeradeel. His active role in the resistance during World War II proved fatal.

Jonkheer Paul Marinus Van Baerdt van Sminia was mayor of the former municipality of Utingeradeel. During the war years he helped crashed Allied pilots get out of the country. For this he was posthumously awarded by the Canadian government. When the mayor made the reserve key of the cell in the town hall available in early 1944 so that resistance member Sjerp de Vries could flee, he was betrayed and arrested by the occupying forces. He found incriminating information in the town hall that linked the mayor to the pilot smuggling. Van Baerdt van Sminia was locked up in the Leeuwarden prison. The local resistance offered to free him, but the mayor declined this offer for fear of reprisals that would cost innocent lives. After being transferred to Camp Amersfoort, Van Baerdt van Sminia was deported to Camp Neuengamme in Germany. In April 1945, Jonkheer Paul Marinus Van Baerdt van Sminia was executed by the occupying forces at Sandbostel station.

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Source

• Text: Bert Deelman
• Photos: Bert Deelman (1, 2, 3), Arjan Vrieze (4)
• Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei