Memorial Execution 17 December 1944

In the course of World War II, the Germans started plundering anything useful to keep their War Industry going. Factories were also not safe. It was precisely machines that they could use very well in Germany. That is why the Germans had their eye on paper mill De Eendracht of the firm Van Gelder Zonen in Wormer. Forty well-paid workers loaded machines, engines, materials and supplies onto Wehrmacht trucks, which were then hoisted into the cargo hold of the Rhine Barge MS. Rheinland for transport to the Ruhr area in Germany.

The resistance from Wormer and Wormerveer started by securing goods that were still present in the factory building. They operated at night and hid the secured goods in open-air swimming pool Het Zwet and a number of warehouses. The leader of this operation was Jan 'de Meester' Kuijper, who was later mistakenly shot by German soldiers. At the same time, the resistance planned a sabotage action to prevent the machines and other goods from actually leaving for Germany. After careful consideration, it was decided to sink the barge with the help of plastic explosives that were attached to the side of the ship from a rowing boat by a group of resistance fighters. On December 15, 1944, an explosion brought the Rhine barge with her booty to the bottom of the Zaan.

The next day, W.P.F. Lages, Aussendienststelleiter of the Sicherheitspolizei in Amsterdam, issued a written order to Kriminalkommissar W. Albers to shoot five 'Todeskandidaten' in Wormerveer as a retaliatory measure.

On Sunday morning, December 17, 1944, five men were taken from the House of Detention on the Weteringschans in Amsterdam, taken to Wormerveer and shot there on the site of soap factory De Adelaar, in the immediate vicinity of the sunken barge. After the war, the machines were turned up, overhauled and put back into production.

The names on the plaque are:

Adrianus Johannes van Doorn
Bernardus Paulus Maria Speet
Dirk Hendricus Lodewijk Jupijn
Jan Bottema
Hendrik van Brenk

They were all reburied at the honorary cemetery Overveen.

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!

Source

• Text: Dick de Bruijne
• Photos: Dick de Bruijne
• https://4en5meizaanstad.nl/beeld/van-gelder/