While the south of the Netherlands was liberated, Groningen remained under the yoke of Nazi Germany until mid-April 1945. It is the last province to be liberated after a bloody battle from 13 to April 16. Wil de Boer Photography has colored the photos and videos of the Battle of Groningen.
In the autumn of 1944, ‘Oranje Boven’ was spreading through Holland. The Soviet Union is rapidly gaining ground on the Eastern Front. After the difficult journey, the Allies will be on. Belgium and the south are liberated. And now they stand on the banks of the Rhine with tens of thousands of soldiers, tanks, trucks and guns. It can’t be long before the North is also liberated and Germany takes over.
This has also reached the German soldiers in Holland and their sympathizers, including many ‘wrong’ agents from Amsterdam and Haarlem. On Mad Tuesday (5 September 1944), they fled en masse to Germany for fear of reprisals. . For many of them, that journey takes them to Delfzijl, where they hope to board the boat.
When they arrive in Groningen, it becomes clear that the liberation of the Netherlands is not going so smoothly. Market Garden Flops. The Allied advance stopped at the main rivers. Suddenly there is no need to fleeto Germany anymore, which is why the wrong agents and members of the NSB report to the Groningen Security police . They are happy with the reinforcement there.
Important role of WA Scholtenhuis
Because the Nazis who fled do not know about the local defense centers in the town and the surrounding area. They can browse, snoop and infiltrate anonymously. That has big implications. Right before the end, Groningen enters the most difficult period of the war. Many security agencies have been rounded up and resistance fighters have been arrested in large numbers. They are abused, tortured, executed or deported.
The WA Scholtenhuis on the Grote Markt plays an important role in the hunting of Jews and members of the resistance. The property is magnificently owned Security service captured and converted into headquarters. Countless combatants, prisoners and other victims were held there and brutally tortured during the last winter of the war. During that time, one of the SD employees is even said to have said that it was a good thing that there was a red carpet on the floor. “Then you have not seen the many pools of blood.”
Other survivors talk about the horrible bathing method at the Scholtenhuis. The prisoner is immersed in water until it threatens to suffocate him. Then it is pulled up by the hair in the hope that it will reveal information. If this does not happen, the prisoner is immersed again.
Battle of Groningen
That horror continues until the liberation of Groningen, which begins on April 11. In the following days and nights, the Friends draw closer to the town. The rums, the guns and the explosive grenades come from all sides at once, witnesses explain. In a last ditch effort to halt the Allied advance, the Germans flooded large parts of the province. No success. The liberation of the city will begin on April 13.
At that time, Groningen as a city had emerged from the war relatively unscathed. Many buildings are still standing, very few people lost their lives. That will change in the coming days.
About 7,000 German soldiers, a colorful collection of paratroopers, air force soldiers, members of the Hitler Youth and SS men, are stationed in the city and await the 14,000 Canadian soldiers coming from the south. They do not intend to just give up on Groningen.
Miracle d’Olle Grieze
As the Canadians fear that the Germans will return quickly towards Delfzijl, they will fire first on the eastern side of the town. They then enter Groningen via the Paterswoldseweg. In the city they have to deal with many snipers, so the city has to be conquered from house to house.
Fires broke out at the Battle of Groningen as a result of the heavy fire. Large parts of the Grote Markt, Waagstraat, Guldenstraat and Oude Ebbingestraat go up in flames.
Even the Martini Tower is in danger of collapsing. Groningen’s pride is full of advanced German listening equipment. The resident does not want that technology to fall into the hands of the enemy.
So it is decided to blow up the tower with several tanks full of fuel. They are even raised to the ceiling so they can be lit. It is thanks to construction supervisor d’Olle Grieze that the Germans did not light the fuse in the end.
Hundreds dead
The Germans finally surrendered on April 16, 1945. They had no choice. About 130 German soldiers lost their lives in the fierce fighting, which lasted four days.
Canadian liberators counted almost 45 dead as a result of the fighting. And 106 residents of Groningen died. Two reports from a Canadian lieutenant show how dire the situation was after four days of fighting.
Eyewitness accounts
“I remember a big man, about forty years old. Someone’s brother or father. He wore an orange band so he was a member of the struggle. With a German carbine in hand he walked to the front door to take revenge on the enemy. But in the open door an enemy shot hit him in the head. One moment, no longer, had survived the armed struggle of this courageous man, who at the last moment gave his life for his father’s country.”
“When the church bells started to ring, there was still a dead horse on the Grote Markt. Suddenly a large crowd poured into the market square, knives and axes at the ready. Within minutes there was nothing left of the horse but its hooves. Only then did it dawn on me how hungry these people were.”
The Scholtenhuis does not live off the freedom. The building is still free from bombs and grenades, but it is set on fire by an angry mob, symbolically ending the Nazi terror.
Sources: Groningen stories, Groningen Archives, history, Other times, and special thanks to Wil de Boer for coloring the images. Follow the photographer on Instagram for more beautiful and colorful images from the Urban history.
2024-04-16 16:00:00
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