Stumbling Stone Eesveenseweg 165

Lived here:

Herman de Groot, agricultural worker
born February 17, 1894 in Vledder
murdered on October 6, 1942 in Mauthausen

As the son of Hartog de Groot and Roosje Pinto, Herman de Groot was born on February 17, 1894 in Vledder, Drenthe, in 1903 he moved with his parents, brother and sister to Eesveen, a hamlet near Steenwijk.
At the time of the war, his parents and sister Evelina had already died, he lived on the corner of the Eesveenseweg with the Gierwal, where he worked as a farm laborer and cattle dealer.
Due to the Nazis' travel ban on Jews, especially after the provision that came into effect on 11/7/1941, he could hardly sustain this last appeal.
In March 1942 a lot of snow had fallen and Herman was ordered to help clear the Van Karnebeeklaan in the village and this would prove to be his last moment in Eesveen.
In the company of two Dutchmen, a German soldier came to ask if there was one Herman de Groot present, and despite the warning from others to remain silent, Herman reported to the trio, probably betrayed because he had spoken critically about the Nazis and Hitler.
After his arrest he was taken away and ended up in the "Oranjehotel", the infamous penal prison of Scheveningen, from where he was deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria.
Prisoners were employed there in quarries to mine granite and Herman de Groot, who remained unmarried, died in the camp on October 6, 1942 at the age of 48 years.
A stumbling stone was placed for him on the corner of Eesveenseweg-Gierwal, near house number 165 where he last lived, on 08-12-2016, it was adopted by the neighborhood association and public primary school De Driesprong in Eesveen.

His brother Philippus also did not survive the war, together with his wife Berdina de Vries he was arrested on 03-10-1942 in a major raid in Amsterdam and taken to Camp Westerbork.
From here they were deported to Auschwitz after only two days, where the couple was murdered immediately upon arrival on 08-10-1942.

Their children Roosje and Emanuel had previously (24-07-1942) been deported to Auschwitz, nothing is known of their stay there, after the war a death certificate was drawn up for them with the date of death 30-09-1942.

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Source

• Text: bert Deelman & Herma de Vries
• Photos: Bert Deelman (1), Herma de Vries (2, 3)