80 years since liberation: the tragic fate of 5 Rijkswaterstaat employees
In the Netherlands, we remember the victims of war by observing a two-minute silence on 4 May. In 2025, as last year, there will be a commemoration at the war memorial on the remembrance plaza (herdenkingsplein) at the Nieuwe Sluis in Terneuzen. What is the story behind this monument?
On the evening of 4 September 1944, anyone listening to Radio Oranje would have heard that the Allies had crossed the Dutch border and that Breda had been liberated. Under the assumption that the war was at an end, a group made up of 15 Rijkswaterstaat employees went to the Westsluis in Terneuzen to remove the explosive charges from the lock gates.
Alas, the war was not yet over and the charges had been fixed to the gates by the Germans to (at the very least) slow the Allies' progress. The Rijkswaterstaat employees set out, unaware of the drama that they were to face.
'We can repair bridges'
Earlier that day, many exhausted German army units had begun a disorderly retreat from Terneuzen, a signal for administrative clerk Wiskerke to suggest that Chief Engineer Hoolsema and armed guards go to protect the locks of Terneuzen against sabotage. Initially, Hoolsema was against the idea: 'It's not worth shedding blood to protect engineering infrastructure. We can repair bridges, but we can't bring people back to life.'
Dolle Dinsdag (Mad Tuesday)
On 5 September, the country was overcome by rumours that liberation was imminent. The Dutch hung out flags and held street parties. The Germans, on the other hand, panicked and fled east, towards Germany. That was Dolle Dinsdag (Mad Tuesday). Believing that the war was over, Hoolsema decided that the bridge over the Westsluis lock should be saved after all. Together with, among others engineer Groenewegen, Goedhart, Den Doelder, Van Brakel, Mollenvanger and De Bert he went to the lock, where he saw the lock keeper, Verbrugge, and his apprentices, Doppegieter and Nieuwenhuize.
Disarray
While his colleagues were removing the explosives underneath, Hoolsema was standing on the deck of the bridge to distract the passing Germans. A German military physician with the anti-aircraft detail witnessed the scene and became suspicious. He returned shortly afterwards with a few soldiers. He immediately drew his pistol and shot Hoolsema in the face.
Bullets rained down and the other men fled in disarray, looking for somewhere to hide. Verbrugge and Nieuwenhuize dived into an air-raid shelter. Groenewegen hid in a shell scrape. Goedhart crawled into the man basket on the lock gates (a water-tight space that allows dry work to be carried out at the bottom of the lock). Finally, De Bert climbed into a foxhole (a small pit used for cover, usually for 1 or 2 soldiers).
Executions
The Germans put all available resources into searching the scene. Groenewegen, De Bert, Verbrugge and Nieuwenhuize were soon discovered and executed on the spot. Hoolsema was still lying, badly injured, on the bridge. Armed soldiers took him to the jetty where, after brief questioning by an officer of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), he was shot and killed.
Engineer Gerard Dikötter witnessed this execution: 'The officer pointed his revolver and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired. Having inspected the pistol, the officer again took aim at Mr Hoolsema and fired. Hoolsema was left to lie where he had fallen. I asked an officer standing next to me whether the body could be removed for burial, but he could only snarl at me: "Nein, es ist ein Terrorist!".'
Survivors of the resistance tragedy
10 men were eventually able to escape, including Den Doelder, Van Brakel and Mollenvanger. They had to crawl through a barbed-wire fortification line and hide between the buildings. The man basket, in which Goedhart had sought refuge, also turned out to be a safe place. He lay there for two full days and another night without food or water.
The bitter result: 5 dead
The following day, some members of the Red Cross, together with Rijkswaterstaat employees, attempted the risky task of moving the bodies of those who had been executed. The bodies of Nieuwenhuize and Verbrugge were in the water. Those of De Bert and Groenewegen were in a trench. People turned out in large numbers for the burial of the 5 Rijkswaterstaat men in a communal grave at the Terneuzen municipal cemetery.
Monument to the fallen
On 14 March 1945, Queen Wilhelmina visited the site where the tragedy took place. Deeply moved, she laid a red, white and blue corsage on a pile of rubble, and said: 'A monument must rise here for the fallen.' This royal wish was granted when a monument was unveiled at the Westsluis lock. Since February 2024, the monument has had a new location: the herdenkingsplein between the Nieuwe Sluis and the Oostsluis locks. The 5 elms around the monument symbolise the fallen Rijkswaterstaat men.
