Memorial

At the side of a quiet country lane not far from where we live is this war memorial. I stopped there yesterday and read the rather poignant story behind it. It commemorates the execution, by firing squad, of 46 Dutch political prisoners by the Germans on the 2nd March 1945. They were executed in retaliation for the killing of four German soldiers by a local resistance group.

The execution of the political prisoners took place in the field where the memorial now stands. Although the bodies were taken away that day and buried in the graveyard at nearby Varsseveld, their lifeblood soaked the ground. It is said that the corn grew higher that year on the spot where the execution occurred. The locals harvested that grain separately from the rest of the field. At the base of the memorial is a glass belljar. In it can be seen the grain that was harvested.  

The inscription above reads:

Warm bloed doordrenkt onze velden,
en rijker rijpte hier ‘t graan.
O, mocht uit het offer dier helden
zulk een oogst van vrijheid ontstaan!

Which, with excuses for my poor translation, says: Warm blood soaked our fields and richer ripened here the grain. Oh, might from this heroic sacrifice such a harvest of freedom arise!