War Memorial Hoog Soeren

Second World War (1939-1945)

Netherlands, the Gelderland Hoog Soeren

Memorial tile chapel Hoog Soeren
There is a simple memorial in the Kapel van Hoog Soeren: a square, colored tile with a larger tile underneath with the names of three inhabitants of Hoog Soeren who died in the Second World War.

The first name on the tile is that of Gerrit Laurens van Essen, born on August 14, 1918 in Rotterdam. He attended the craft school in Apeldoorn. As a conscript soldier, he was trained as a motorcycle dispatcher and in May 1940 he served in that position at Ypenburg airfield. When he was on his way to Ypenburg during the first days of the war, he was shot at and hit in the chest. However, Gerrit did not want to rest and helped defend the airfield against German paratroopers. He suffered an abdominal shot and was taken to the hospital in Delft. There he died on May 15, 1940. He is buried in Delft.

Johannes Sielias was born on February 2, 1920. Johannes also attended the craft school in Apeldoorn. During the occupation he went to the police academy in Schalkhaar. He soon discovered that it was a National Socialist course and did not return from leave. He went into hiding, but he could not sustain this lonely existence. That is why he voluntarily turned himself in to the police in Apeldoorn. That led to him being taken to camp Amersfoort and then to a camp near the German Meppen. There he died on December 27, 1944. His grave is on the Dutch Field of Honor in Osnabrück.

Last on the tile is Lulof de Wilde, born on July 20, 1918. He worked for the royal forestry companies during the occupation. Very little is known about his resistance activities. It may be assumed that Lulof was involved in bringing food to people in hiding in the woods. In the evening of March 22, 1945, he was arrested while he had a weapon in his possession. He was deported to Almelo via the Willem III barracks and then on March 29, 1945 to Wierden. There he was shot by the SD, together with prisoners from Almelo and Zwolle. It took four years before the family learned what had happened to Lulof. Then it was also learned that he was buried in the cemetery in Wierden.

Location
Kapel Hoog Soeren Monument nr: 26
The memorial tile can be viewed before and after church services; see the schedule on the notice board next to the entrance.

Client
Mrs Langenberg-Parqui

Revealed
1947 by Mrs. Langenberg-Parqui

Execution
Two tiles placed one above the other in a niche. The bottom one lists the three names of the victims with year of birth and death. The top tile (about 20x20 cm) has an image of the Dutch virgin with flag, at her feet the Dutch lion and white lilies. Above the image it says: 'The fatherland is faithful to the end', below it it says: 'To those who fell'.