Memorial J.H. Bosch and G.L. Rutgers

The monument in the Tax Office in Enschede was erected in memory of two tax officials who were shot dead by the occupier on March 31, 1945 (one day before the liberation of Enschede).

The names of the two victims are:

Messrs J.H. Bosch (inspector of import duties and excise duties) and G.L. Rutgers (border committees).

Both officers were part of the resistance during the German occupation. On March 31, 1945, a meeting was organized by a certain Huschka (a traitor working for the occupier who had infiltrated the resistance group) because there would be important information about the imminent liberation. The meeting was held at number 3 Sumatrastraat in Enschede, the home of the Ter Borg family. When everyone was present, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) raided all those present on the spot.

Mrs. Ter Borg was still given the opportunity to take her child to the neighbors, where she handed it over with the announcement 'They are going to shoot me, my husband is already dead'. She was indeed shot on her return down the hall. A total of nine people died here, namely: G. ter Borg (69 years old), G.E. ter Borg (40 years), J ter Borg-Elferink (39 years), A. van Essen (33 years), J.J. Francoys (38 years), W. Mink (38 years), J.H. Wennink (31 years old), P. Zandbergen (36 years old), and G.L. Rutgers (32 years old).

Immediately afterwards, the SD went with Huschka to the house of Bosch, who played a leading role in the resistance. He was taken to the synagogue on Prinsenstraat, which then served as a prison, where he was shot in the garden that same evening.

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Source

• Text: Fedor de Vries & André van Aarsen
• Photos: André van Aarsen