Historian Albert Metselaar delves into the past every week for the Hoogeveensche Courant. This time: commemorative stones.
On the night of October 2 to 3, 1945, all Jewish residents in the entire north were rounded up, if they were not already in hiding, including the men in the labor camps. Thousands died in the following weeks in the German extermination camps. The Hoogeveense Memorial Stones Foundation will be laying bell stones again on October 13. Memorial stones, literally stumbling stones. Every victim of the Nazis is returned with his name to the last voluntary home address. We will visit some people for whom stones will be laid on October 13th.
Simon Polak
Simon Polak, nickname ‘Siem’, was born on June 3, 1912 in Hoogeveen, in the ‘region de Huizen’, now Hoofdstraat 55. Like the other Jewish children, he received primary education at a public primary school, and in the meantime Jewish lessons in the Jewish school. Simon also came to work in dad’s shop, Hoofdstraat 57. That’s where they worked and where their stock of fabrics and other trade was. Now the entire building is Hoofdstraat 55, but in the days of the Polak family the shop at the bottom of the building was number 57 and the house above was 55. Father was a municipal councilor. He was put aside when the German order came to expel all Jews from public positions. We know of no comments or rejections from other council members from that period.
What happened to Simon Polak? Simon was a soldier during the mobilization period and the May days of 1940. He fought on the Grebbeberg. His end stayed with the men of the mountain for the rest of their lives. Jan Kelly experienced the fighting on the Grebbeberg from start to finish. He said: As a Jew, Simon was terrified of the Nazis. The advancing troops and the deadly fire completely upset him. He was in a panic and eventually he could no longer be controlled, he could no longer control himself, he was so upset.
Locked in bunker
Bunkers had been built between the trenches in the line. During the fighting, Simon was locked up in a bunker. He couldn’t go anywhere anymore. Not even when the order to withdraw was given. The soldiers continued over the mountain. The German troops captured their line and the bunkers built in it. Grenades were thrown into the bunker where Simon was locked up. Jan Kelly and his comrades talked about it later, with deep shame. They had forgotten Simon. They had abandoned him. He didn’t stand a chance. Could they have done differently? Another question without an answer. But how are you supposed to take a completely devastated person with you when you ‘retreat’ or flee? Either way, it was unsavory, a deep wound for everyone who had known Simon. He was missing for months. Ultimately he was found and buried in the cemetery on the Grebbeberg. Because his death was so unusual, he was taken to the Jewish monument on the Zuiderweg and a memorial stone was also placed there. Just like for the rest of the family and councilor Solomon Polak.
Simon Polak was not the only Jewish veteran. Hijman Meijer van Brink lived at Hoofdstraat 73. He was a sergeant with the 12 RI. Joël Muller was also a sergeant with the 19 RI. They survived the fighting surrounding the German invasion. Joël was also on the Grebbeberg. They did not survive the Jewish extermination attempt. They received cloche stones, at their last address, with their family members. Joël lived at van Echtenstraat 53.
Tipped off by agent
Herman Braaf managed to get away just in time, with his immediate family. They received a tip from a police officer, who is named with honor by the Yad Vashem Institute because of his reward and proclamation as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’, but who in the evening of October 2, as a police officer, recorded everything and everyone who entered the the market café. Those who were not there were passed on to the SD. By this police officer. The Yad Vashem Institute was not aware of it. A list of divisions of tasks is kept at the municipality of Hoogeveen.
Herman talked about the Jewish and non-Jewish friends from the pre-war period: “Jewish friends were Sally Wilda (Salomon, born February 26, 1932), from the only extremely poor family, from which the father (unemployed) obtained by him. heather made broomsticks. The five children did not get enough food at home, so Sally at home ate food that my mother provided and which he literally devoured. Then there were Simon (Fritz Simon, born September 1, 1925) and Hetty (Hedwig, born June 28, 1933) ten Berge, who fled from Germany with their parents, whose father was a cousin of the Ten Berge who had a mixed marriage and thus the survived the war.”
These friends ‘disappeared’ on October 2, 1942, just like Julie Meijer, Rita Stern and others, whose names Herman no longer remembered. “Our rabbi’s daughters were also murdered. I knew them well. They sometimes stayed at our house,” says Herman Braaf. 7 stones will be placed at Wilhelminaplein 21 on October 13. The entire family has been massacred.
Chair with a plate of porridge
The Van Coevorden family lived at Van Echtenstraat 16. They had a bakery. The living room was next to the shop. After the departure of the Van Coevordens, the house was completely emptied, just like the other buildings, except for one piece of furniture: the high chair with a bowl of porridge on it. A half-empty plate with porridge and a spoon in it. The chair with the plate of porridge was visible in front of the window. This was a horrible sight for the children in the neighborhood. And what about children? The children told their mothers. The ladies said to each other: it can’t be like this, it shouldn’t stay like this. The high chair needs to be put away and the bowl of porridge needs to be emptied.
The doors were unlocked. Three ladies (Mrs. Schelhaas-Buikema, Mrs. Smit-Westra from the millinery shop and Mrs. Zomer-Maris from the watchmaker) were able to enter straight away. The high chair went to the back room, out of sight. The high chair and the plate with porridge belonged to Schoontje van Coevorden, born on September 21, 1940 and murdered on or about October 26, 1942 in Auschwitz, Poland. The child was snatched away while eating. We can imagine what her last walk in Hoogeveen was like. Not eating enough, crying, 2 years old and not understanding anything of what is happening, but feeling deeply unhappy, with the empty stomach and all the fuss. Then pressed together on mother’s arm between all those other people. Right up to the gas chamber. The plate of porridge was still there at the time.
So every building has its history. Behind every name there is a life, short or long. A life that should not be forgotten.
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Only a high chair with a bowl of porridge on it remained