February 5th Commemoration

De gevallen medewerkers van Het Parool

Every year, we organise the 5 February Remembrance Day to commemorate the employees of the illegal resistance newspaper Het Parool in the Netherlands who were shot, killed or ended up in a concentration camp or prison as a result of the German occupation in World War II.

The first Parool trial took place between 12 and 19 December 1942. At this trial, 23 men whom the German police had arrested and detained over the previous eighteen months for producing and distributing the then illegal Het Parool were prosecuted. On 5 February 1943, thirteen of them were executed on Leusderheide, six were sent to concentration camps and three were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Memorial stone

In memory of the Parool employees who died and were shot in captivity and whose remains were never found, a stone has been placed at grave plot 1 of the Honorary Cemetery in Bloemendaal. The stone bears the text:

1940 - 1945
In memory
of friends of the resistance
who were not found
found after their fight for freedom
or who rest elsewhere

Programme

The annual programme is as follows:

• 10:00 - Laying flowers at the grave of Wim Gertenbach and family, Zandvoort General Cemetery (Tollenstraat 67, Zandvoort)
• 11:00 - Laying flowers and two minutes of silence at grave plot 1 at the Honorary Cemetery in Bloemendaal (Zeeweg 26, Overveen)
• 12:00 - Lunch at Vanouds het Dorpshuys in Bloemendaal

Podcast

In 2019, DMF supported the Free and Fearless podcast about the first Parool trial.

Foto’s door: Eva Plevier, Ot van Daalen