Egmond will commemorate the centenary of the Fishermen’s Monument and the at least 119 Egmond men and boys who died at sea between 1914 and 1920 while working as fishermen. Andrea Rijtema’s great-grandfather was one of them. Last year, the photographer collected portraits and stories behind thirty of the names: “Sometimes I deliberately took a day off so that it didn’t get too heavy.”
In total, about nine hundred Dutch fishermen perished at sea between 1914 and 1920. At least 119 of these came from Egmond. “It has affected our community quite a bit”, says Andrea, who also recorded the portraits and stories in the book ’30 portraits’, published by the Association of Village Interests Egmond ‘Parel’ aan Zee.
“My great-grandmother was on her own and was told that while she was pregnant”
Andrea’s great-grandfather, Andries Krab, was not a fisherman himself. His brother did and when he couldn’t go on a trip, Andries took his place. “He wasn’t insured either. Went on one trip and thought it would be okay,” says Andrea. But the boat, named Ocean IV, ran into an undetonated World War I naval mine and the crew of 12 were killed.
Letter after death
“That was incredibly tragic,” Andrea said. “My great-grandmother was on her own and she got that news while she was pregnant. She had a large family with five children and she always had to work very hard. My aunt told me that she was actually not a nice grandmother at all, because she always has had concerns.”
Dirkje received a letter after her husband died: ‘Dearly beloved woman, you can count on about twelve days’
Klaas Wijker also worked on Andrea’s great-grandfather’s boat. “His wife Dirkje received another letter after the boat had sank. In it he wrote: ‘Dearly beloved wife and children, you must count on about twelve days. Not earlier, that is a me faller† With the message that his wife had to give his children Neel and Arie a nice kiss.”
That is tough to read, says Andrea. “Sometimes I consciously took a day off, so that it wasn’t too heavy. And also to make sure that no mistakes crept into my work. Of course I wanted to do it as well as possible.”
The women stayed behind
The photographer obtained the stories and photos of the thirty men via calls in door-to-door papers and via via, among other things. “Then I first visited the people, I listened to their story and I looked at the photos. Then I checked the archives to see if everything was correct, the data for example.” The photos had to be edited several times because they were delivered ‘in many shades of sepia’. “I wanted to have it all in the same style.”
“It was autumn and so too cold to swim. They all drowned”
Andrea hopes to continue the book. “A few more portraits came in after the deadline of this booklet and I think it would be nice to tell the stories of the widows as well. Entire families perished and the women stayed behind,” she says.
An example of this is the Smit family. Gerrit Smit and his two sons, aged 13 and 15, boarded a sloop during their work because they threatened to run aground on a sandbank off Vlieland. “But the sloop capsized. It was in the autumn, so too cold to swim. They all drowned. That is of course extremely tragic.”
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Tonight at 7 pm the commemoration starts at the Fisherman’s Monument in Egmond aan Zee. Pupils from primary schools De Driemaster and De Branding will hold the enlarged portraits here.
“Six of them are related to the dead men themselves,” says Andrea. “A boy told me that he thinks it is very special that the name of his grandfather’s grandfather is on the monument.” Mayor Lars Voskuil is also present.
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Afterwards, those present walk in a silent procession to the church, where a memorial service is held. Three choirs will sing songs, lectures will be held and the Egmond duo Aagie & Gré will also be present. “We expect it to be a very nice evening,” concludes Andrea.
The exhibition with the thirty portraits can be seen until September 18 in the windows of the boathouse of Egmonder Pinck, in the Maritime Center of Egmond aan Zee.
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