On October 2, 1942, raids were held all over the country to round up the Jewish population. Not all mayors are happy with that assignment. This includes Hendrik Wytema, the mayor of Beilen, who refuses to have it carried out. A document about his arrest has now become public at the Drenthe Archives, which ‘celebrated’ public access day again yesterday.
“It’s a surprise every year,” says state archivist Marieke Doezé. “There are also interesting files this year, such as the file we have here.” Doezé explains File 31 of the Governor’s Office in front of her and opens it. “The chief constable who had to arrest him and take him into custody gave a very detailed report about this.”
That chief constable – a kind of police chief – is Nico Viëtor. He was also an important resistance fighter in Beilen during the war years. He writes in his report called Arrest Mayor of Beilen that between October 2, 6 p.m. and October 4, 2 p.m., “a major action would be carried out in which the municipal police, possibly reinforced with the Marechaussee, would be called in.”
The order is clear: “That immediate action must be taken to arrest all persons of Jewish blood still present in Beilen.” Mayor Wytema, Viëtor writes, has no interest in it. According to him, as mayor he is not authorized to have the assignment carried out. A certain P. Wegener, who is there as a kind of representative of the State Commissioner of Assen together with Chief Guard Potasch of the Ordnungspolizei, says that Wytema practices “Juristerei”. Loosely translated: legal nonsense.
But Wytema is implacable: “As Dutch Mayor, I cannot take responsibility for this action,” as can be read in the documents at the Drenthe Archives. Wegener and Potasch order Viëtor to arrest the mayor, but he in turn says that he is not authorized to arrest his ‘chief’.
Viëtor’s report states that Potasch says he will take the refusing mayor with him. “The Mayor then requested to first say goodbye to his wife and children. This was flatly refused to him (…).” When Potasch wants to call his bosses to discuss the situation, Mayor Wytema is asked to leave the room.
Wytema sees his opportunity and runs away. “He immediately walked on, grabbed his bicycle and headed towards his home at great speed. Mr Wegener then drew his pistol and shot once in the direction of the Mayor without hitting him.”
Potasch jumps into the car and manages to pick up Wytema a short time later. His wife can come to say goodbye later. Finally, chief constable Viëtor writes that the original assignment has still been carried out. “A total of 36 Jews were taken to the camp in Westerbork. One woman turned out to be on the run.”
Mayor Wytema is relieved of his position and has to leave Drenthe. He is replaced by the NSB member Hendrik Cool, but Wytema returns to his post in Beilen after the war.
The documents about this specific event are already older than 75 years, the period after which documents must be made public. “Disclosure is always made on the basis of a file, not on the basis of the documents contained in it. This file on the mayor ran from 1936 to sometime in 1949,” says state archivist Doezé.
According to Doezé, these are special documents. “A mayor’s file is often about an appointment and a dismissal. These kinds of stories are not in every file. By reading it you really understand there.”
After the photos you can read what other special documents are revealed: