Great-uncle’s war diary makes a deep impression on Hans: “He would be shot”

“On Tuesday, April 10, 1945, in the morning, I was to be shot by the Germans,” reads Hans Katers from De Vries’s diary. Katers himself never knew his great-uncle, but nevertheless he is a proud owner of the heirloom. The daughter San of Geert de Vries cherished her father’s album enormously, but after an illness (from San), Katers got hold of the album in the early 1990s.

“The diary describes the situation of the last months of the war and afterwards,” Katers continues. “Geert de Vries described which sabotage and espionage activities he performed together with others, but in the album also tells in detail what it was like to be captured by the Germans and the fear of being shot.”

Arrested and imprisoned

On the day of his arrest, De Vries had heard that Grünen (Germans) were on their way to Haarlem West. He wanted to warn his comrade Van Asten, but was stopped in Leidschestraat and arrested by the Germans. “He had false identity cards with him and his Dutch Officer’s uniform (Lieutenant) was also found at his home,” explains Katers.

De Vries was transferred to the penal prison on the Weteringschans in Amsterdam. There he was told on 7 April 1945, after an in-depth interrogation of 2.5 hours, that he was guilty of resistance against the German Wehrmacht and that he would be executed on Tuesday morning 10 April.

“It was a small miracle that he was transferred to another cell on the day of his execution,” Katers continues while leafing through the authentic book. “I don’t think he was executed in the end because the Germans also knew that they were losing the war. But the fear that De Vries felt the days before, you read back in the diary and I still get the shivers there. by.”

Medals, Photos and Secrets

De Vries described his imprisonment on 1 May 1945 in thirteen very detailed pages, but he also kept all his medals, photos and his long underpants, which still contain ciphers to this day.

When De Vries was imprisoned, the family was allowed to pick up his dirty laundry once a week. “He would write short messages and make sure that he made the underpants very dirty,” laughs Katers with the pants in his hands. “Because because of that, the Germans would never want to look in their pants. Once washed, the message remained in the pants and a kind of communication was possible.”

Hans Katers proudly looks at Prince Bernard’s personal letter to Geert de Vries. “He received a thank you from Prince Bernard for his active service with the Interior Forces.”

Slipper carrier Hannie Schaft

Finally, Geert de Vries was also the carrier of the coffin during the funeral of the famous resistance fighter Hannie Schaft. De Vries carried the coffin together with three other resistance fighters (slipper wearers). Prince Bernard, Princess Juliana and the Queen were also present at this meeting.

“I think he described this so accurately for two reasons,” concludes Katers. “Firstly to record that this should never happen again. And secondly to write down all his bad experiences. The emotions and all the feelings he had about it and to record that in one document.”

Resistance fighter Geert de Vries died in 1974 and was 80 years old. The heirlooms will remain in Katers’ home in Midwoud for the time being. “I would eventually give it to a museum if it didn’t end up in an old archive. People need to see this.”