Memorial Reformed Church

The monument on the Zilverstraat reminds the inhabitants of Franeker of five young fellow citizens who died during the occupation years as a result of acts of war.

The names of the five victims are:
Machiel van Bachum, Pieter de Boer, Hedzer Jacobi, Anne Dirk Schaafsma and Douwe Zondervan.

Machiel (the plaque erroneously states 'Michiel') van Bachum was born on January 4, 1920 in Franeker. In March 1943 he had to go to Germany because of the labor deployment. He ended up in Salzgitter-Drütte, where he died on February 2, 1945. Van Bachum was buried in the Dutch cemetery of Friedhof an der Seelhorst in Hanover.

Pieter de Boer was born on April 4, 1915 in Franeker. During the Japanese invasion of the former Dutch East Indies, De Boer was a corporal gunner with the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL). He was shot by the occupying forces on 19 January 1942 when his department destroyed the oil installation in Tarakan on Borneo.

Hedzer Jacobi was born on December 12, 1917 in Drachten. He was corporal cook on board Her Majesty de Ruyter. He found a seaman's grave on February 27, 1942 during the battle in the Java Sea.

Anne Dirk Schaafsma was born on October 25, 1925 in Franeker. At the beginning of 1945 he was arrested by the Grüne Polizei during a raid in Drachten. Schaafsma was deported to Wilhelmshaven, where he died on March 13, 1945. He was buried in the Dutch cemetery of Friedhof an der Seelhorst in Hanover.

Douwe Zondervan was born on January 16, 1922. He was arrested on February 21, 1945 by a patrol of the occupying forces, when he was taking milk cans to the road. Because he had withdrawn from the labor force, he was transferred to the Leeuwarder prison. On February 28, he was deported to camp Fürstenau. On April 6, 1945, after his liberation, he walked to a British camp in Lingen, where he was admitted to the Sint Bonifatius Hospital. This is where Zondervan died on April 19, 1945 from kidney inflammation and a lung ailment. He was buried at the Neue Friedhof in Lingen.

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Source

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

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