7 May 1945. Anton Mussert is arrested in The Hague. The born Werkendammer led the NSB, who Heulde with the enemy. While the last German troops surrender in Europe, tensions are rising high in various Dutch villages and towns. Many people fall at shootings throughout the country.
The Netherlands is still in deep tranquility when an important top meeting takes place in the northern French city of Reims. There is the headquarters of the Allied supreme commander Eisenhower. He has summoned the German military top for the overall surrender. General Jodl is coming. He is one of the most important negotiators of the new German government. At 2:41 am in the night he draws and therefore agrees with the total capitulation in Europe. The agreement is that Germany will cease the fight that evening at the latest at the latest.
One problem: a higher general in Berlin has not yet signed this agreement. That is why the Allies decide that later another signature should come, now in Berlin with General Keitel and with the Russians.
In the meantime, villages and towns are preparing to catch up with the Allies. It’s a sunny day. In Jutphaas (Utrecht) the inhabitants are waiting for the Canadian liberators at the beginning of the afternoon. But it gets out of hand. A drunk German waves with a gun, members of the Interior Forces (BS) shoot him on which dozens of German soldiers open fire. At least seven dead and dozens of injured people fall in the chaos.
Shooting
The Canadians are expected in the center of Amsterdam in the afternoon, is the expectation. Suddenly German soldiers from a roof near Dam Square open fire on the crowd. There are at least 32 dead and more than a hundred injured. Among the dead is also Mies Jager-van Hooff (28). She was born in Eindhoven (Gestel) and lives in the capital. And also Nol Stroop (40) from Oosterhout dies of shot wounds.
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Why shot in Amsterdam was never clarified. Was it because the domestic armed forces (BS) had a fight with German soldiers, was it about drunkenness or revenge? At the same time there is another shooting in the city, at Central Station. Here too German soldiers who get battle with BS’ers, again with dead as a result.
Waiting for privacy settings …
Everywhere there are incidents with victims. That’s how things go wrong in the city of Utrecht. There are at least ten people. In Veenendaal and Berkel and Rodenrijs, Van Woudrichem (on 5 May) to Westbroek. In this violence after the surrender, at least one hundred and sixty Dutch people and at least sixty Germans die. The number of injured is probably even higher.
Apart from a few incidents, there are no major outbursts in the Land van Heusden and Altena.
Mussert arrested
In an office on the Vijverberg in The Hague, members of the Interior Forces (BS) pick up Anton Mussert. He is the leader of the hated NSB, the National Socialist Movement. His party worked closely with the German occupier. Mussert, born in Werkendam, ends up in the cell as a war criminal.
It is the start of a large series of arrests and death sentences. Mussert is convicted of high treason and dies exactly one year later before the firing squad on the Waalsdorpervlakte. His body is buried in a secret place in an anonymous collector.
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The majority of Noord-Brabant was liberated in the fall of 1944. Except for the Land van Heusden and Altena. That only got the freedom back in May 1945. Every day you can read in this series about the events at the end of the Second World War in Europe.