Rotterdam marks the biggest attack in the Netherlands, 80 years ago

This afternoon the 1944 roundup was celebrated in Rotterdam, when 52,000 men were exterminated by the German occupiers. For the first time, a wreath was laid at the Razzia Memorial, which was unveiled last year on the Parkkade. Mayor Schouten was one of the wreath bearers.

“We reflect on the impact of the biggest attack in the Netherlands on families and children,” said the regional broadcaster. Rijnmond the mayor. “An influence that continues to show in children’s lives.”

On November 10 and 11, 1944, tens of thousands of people were arrested and deported in Rotterdam and Schiedam. It became the biggest raid in the Netherlands during the occupation.

Street by street, German soldiers went door to door. All males aged 17 to 40 had to report. They walked in convoy through Strevelsweg to Feijenoord Stadium. Eventually they were taken to Amsterdam by boat. The majority then went by train to Germany and had to do forced labor there.

One of them was Han Thans, who is now 101 years old. “At the intersection of Dordtselaan and Strevelsweg, I slipped out of line and shot into a porch. Then I rang the doorbell and asked if I could go upstairs.” He walked through the roofs to a friends house where there was an open window. He went inside and asked the residents if he could go and hide there.

“Of course that wasn’t allowed. They had just sent two boys out themselves. So it’s understandable. I immediately went out again and joined the line of men it’s a boy,” he said at the office. regional broadcaster.

Most of the men survived the movement, but more than 500 men died. Thans still has memories of that time, but is also down-to-earth about it. “At that age you just think differently about it. Now I would be very scared, at that age I thought: let’s see what happens, I went into it with an open mind.” His time as an emergency worker in Germany didn’t really bother him later in life, he says. “But it wasn’t as bad for me compared to others.”