The names of 22 people with a ‘wrong past’ will be removed from the war memorial on Eindhoven’s Stadhuisplein. That is the outcome of the consultation between the municipality of Eindhoven and the 18 September Foundation. It concerns six SS men, three NSB men and thirteen men who were in German service during the Second World War.
Another 155 names will be added to the monument. These are people from Eindhoven who died during the war. The deceased Sinti also belong to this group. The 31 names of people who died in another way, not because of the war, remain on the monument.
The 18 September Foundation aims to keep the memory of the war alive in Eindhoven. From now on, the municipality and the foundation will check every five years whether the list of war victims is still correct. The changes are added to the war memorial.
They decided that together, after months of deliberation. The ‘wrong names’ on the monument were discovered earlier by the foundation that is also responsible for commemorations and liberation celebrations. For years, the foundation has been researching the names on the monument. When the findings came out in April, it led to angry and also sad reactions.
War casualties
The monument contains the names of many Eindhoven war victims. So among the almost 1100 names are also people who should not have been on it. It also turned out that there are 144 Eindhoven residents who should be given a place on the monument, who are not on it. These include murdered Sinti or Jews who were arrested in the city.
The liberation monument on Stadhuisplein has been there since the 1950s. The list ‘Remember the Names’, with the partly incorrect names, has been there since 2013. Every year on September 18, the day on which Eindhoven was liberated, wreaths are laid during the traditional torch parade.
The municipality hopes to remove the 22 ‘wrong names’ before September 18 this year. The text on the monument will also be changed. For example, the word ‘all’ from ‘All residents killed in World War II’ will be deleted. ‘in or from Eindhoven’ is also added.