War Memorial Railway Strike

The memorial in Sint-Nicolaasga was erected in memory of the war victims from the municipality and the people who lost their lives on the territory of Doniawerstal during the years of occupation.

On 17 September 1944, the day on which the Allied airborne troops were dropped near Arnhem and Nijmegen as part of Operation Market Garden to force a crossing over the major rivers, the railway and tramway personnel were ordered to go on strike. On September 18, another tram drove at Sint Nicolaasga in the direction of Lemmer. The local Knokploeg intervened. The passengers were disembarked and the fires were extinguished. The staff were told that they could go on holiday for the time being. This incident was taken very seriously by the occupying forces and as a reprisal three resistance members were executed at Sint Nicolaasga on 19 September, the day on which the national strike was complete: Jacobus Gaastra, Berend Julius and Johannes Prins.

On March 17, 1945, the occupying forces executed ten political prisoners from the Crackstate prison in Heerenveen, namely: Albert Koopman, Jeen Hornstra, Hotze Brouwer, Thomas Kuurstra, Jelle Boersma, Roelof Knol, Wiepke Hof, Yde Yntema, Dirk de Ruiter and Siebe de Ruiter.

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Source

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