Massacre in Czechoslovakia: Newly Discovered Film Shows Post-War Executions
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/4/10.htm
May 10th, 1945 (THURSDAY)
GERMANY: General Heinz Guderian is taken prisoner by US forces.
NORWAY: Quisling and some supporters are arrested by resistants. They will be held until trial and execution.
Reich Commissar Terboven and the German Chief of Police in Norway commits suicide.
Reichkommissar Joseph Terboven and SS General Riedess blew themselves up in a bunker located in the residence of the Crown Prince, which Terboven had taken over for his own use during the occupation. Jonas Lie, the Norwegian minister of police, and head of the Norwegian SS shot himself dead in a school house in western Oslo, after being surrounded by Milorg men. One Nasjonal Samling member who was a prison director, killed his two children, his wife and himself in fear of what awaited him, and his family. When the prison director’s elderly father heard what had happened, he and his wife took their own lives as well. (Alex Gordon)
The remaining German garrison comprises 312,000 Wehrmacht troops, of which 190,000 are Heer, 75,000 Kriegsmarine (66% of whom are coastal defence troops) and under 50,000 Luftwaffe. Adding the non-Wehrmacht organisations like the SS, Organisation Todt, Transportflotte Speer etc yields another 15-30,000 depending on sources (a footnote in Heibe and Glantz’s “Hitler and his generals” says 29,000) for a grand total of 351,000. (Louis Capdeboscq)
U-977, in Norwegian waters when Germany surrendered, put ashore those men who did not wish to accompany the rest of the crew on a desperate voyage to Argentina.
AUSTRALIA: Air Commodore Cobby, fighter ace of the 1914-1918 War, is relieved of command of the RAAF.
JAPAN: Off Okinawa, kamikazes damage the destroyer USS Brown (DD-546) and light minelayer USS Harry F. Bauer (DM-26).
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The U.S. 108th Regimental Combat Team, 40th Infantry Division, lands unopposed at Macjalar Bay, Mindanao Island. Filipino guerrillas assist in establishing the beachhead.
Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-255 had proceeded to Taloma Bay with the Davao Gulf First Re-Supply Echelon with a cargo of 155-mm ammunition on board, for the use of the 24th Division, US Army in their operations against the Japanese. (DS)
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Poplar Lake launched New Westminster, British Columbia.
U.S.A.: We also remember the death of Arnold Lloyd Gladson, USMC 2nd Div. (1999)
Destroyer USS Damato laid down.
Destroyer USS Cone launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-889 surrender, at sea, to RCAF. U-889 hoisted the black flag of surrender to the RCAF Liberator. It took two low passes by the Liberator before the flag went up. They were arming depth charges and setting the bombsight when she made the hoist. The Liberator stood by until RCN ships appeared. U-889 Kptlt Friedrich Braeducker, CO had sailed from Germany by way of Norway in early April. After an uneventful weather ship patrol and at the end of hostilities in accordance with instructions U-889 surfaced and was spotted by an RCAF Liberator some 250 miles SE of Flemish Cap on 10 May 45. Subsequently HMCS Oshawa, Rockcliffe, Saskatoon and Dunvegan intercepted U-889 that day 175 miles SSE of Cape Race. Rockcliffe and Dunvegan were instructed to escort U-889 into Shelburne , Nova Scotia. However, 24hrs after the interception, the 2 ships passed their charge to the frigates HMCS Buckingham and Inch Arran of EG-28 some 140 miles SSE of Sable Island. An “official” surrender of U-889 took place 13 May 45 off the Shelburne Whistle Buoy, 7 miles from the antisubmarine boom gate. HMC ML 121 then escorted U-889 into Shelburne. U-889 was commissioned HMCS U-889 on 14 May 45, for testing and evaluation. Of particular interest were her acoustic torpedoes and highly developed German GHG hydrophone array. U-889 was one of 10 U-boats assigned to the US, as a result “a Canadian steaming crew”. Sailed on 11 Jan 46 for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. U-889 was Paid off 12 Jan 46 and turned over to the USN.
U-977 made it safely to Argentina on August 17. Submarine and crew were turned over to the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-977
http://www.dannen.com/decision/targets.html
Minutes of the second meeting of the Target Committee
Los Alamos, May 10-11, 1945
Source: U.S. National Archives, Record Group 77, Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Manhattan Engineer District, TS Manhattan Project File ‘42-’46, folder 5D Selection of Targets, 2 Notes on Target Committee Meetings.
TOP SECRET TOP SECRET
Auth: C.O., Site Y, N.M.
Initials:
Date: 12 May 1945
This document consists of 7 Page(s)
No. 1 of 4 Copies, Series A
U-13-XIX-1A
DECLASSIFIED
E.O. 11653, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (6)
NND 730039
By ERC NARS, Date 6-4-74
12 May 1945
Memorandum For: Major General L. R. Groves
Subject: Summary of Target Committee Meetings on 10 and 11 May 1945
1. The second meeting of the Target Committee convened at 9:00 AM 10 May in Dr. Oppenheimer’s office at Site Y with the following present:
General Farrell Dr. C. Lauritsen
Colonel Seeman Dr. Ramsey
Captain Parsons Dr. Dennison
Major Derry Dr. von Neumann
Dr. Stearns Dr. Wilson
Dr. Tolman Dr. Penney
Dr. Oppenheimer
Dr. Bethe and Dr. Brode were brought into the meeting for discussion of Item A of the agenda. During the course of the meeting panels were formed from the committee members and others to meet in the afternoon and develop conclusions to items discussed in the agenda. The concluding meeting was held at 10:00 AM 11 May in Dr. Oppenheimer’s office with the following present:
Colonel Seeman Dr. Stearns
Captain Parsons Dr. Von Neumann
Major Derry Dr. Dennison
Dr. Tolman Dr. Penney
Dr. Oppenheimer Dr. Ramsey
Dr. Wilson
2. The agenda for the meetings presented by Dr. Oppenheimer consisted of the following:
A. Height of Detonation
B: Report on Weather and Operations
C: Gadget Jettisoning and Landing
D: Status of Targets
E: Psychological Factors in Target Selection
F: Use Against Military Objectives
G: Radiological Effects
H: Coordinated Air Operations
I: Rehearsals
J: Operating Requirements for Safety of Airplanes
K: Coordination with 21st Program
3. Height of Detonation
A. The criteria for determining height selection were discussed. It was agreed that conservative figures should be used in determining the height since it is not possible to predict accurately the magnitude of the explosion and since the bomb can be detonated as much as 40% below the optimum with a reduction of 25% in area of damage whereas a detonation 14% above the optimum will cause the same loss in area. It was agreed that fuses should be prepared to meet the following possibilities:
(1) For the Little Boy the detonation heights should correspond to a pressure of 5 psi, a height of the Mach-stem of 100 feet and a magnitude of detonation of either 5,000 or 15,000 tons of H.E. equivalent. With present knowledge the fuse setting corresponding to 5,000 tons equivalent would be used but fusing for the other should be available in case more is known at the time of delivery. The height of detonation corresponding to 5,000 and 15,000 tons are 1550 feet and 2400 feet, respectively.
(2) For the Fat Man the detonation heights should correspond to a pressure of 5 psi, a height of the Mach-stem of 100 feet, and a magnitude of explosion of 700, 2,000, or 5,000 tons of H.E. equivalent. With the present information the fuse should be set at 2,000 tons equivalent but fusing for the other values should be available at the time of final delivery. The heights of detonation corresponding to 700, 2,000, and 5,000 tons are 580 feet, 1,000 feet and 1,550 feet, respectively. Trinity data will be used for this gadget.
B. In the case of the Fat Man delay circuits are introduced into the unit for purposes which make the detonation of the bomb 400 feet below the height at which the fuse is set. For this reason as far as the Fat Man is concerned the fuse settings should be 980 feet, 1,400 feet, or 1,950 feet.
C. In view of the above it was agreed by all present that fuses should be available at four (4) different height settings. These heights are 1,000 feet, 1,400 feet, 2,000 feet and 2,400 feet. With present information the 1,400 feet fuse would be most likely to be used for both the Fat Man and the Little Boy. (Later data presented by Dr. Brode modify the above conclusions on fusing and detonating heights; the differential height for the Little Boy is 210 feet and for the Fat Man 500 feet. For this reason some of the above figures must be revised).
4. Report on Weather and Operations
A. Dr. Dennison reported on the above subject. His report essentially covered the materials in his Top Secret memo of 9 May - Subject: “Preliminary report on Operational Procedures”. For this reason his report will not be repeated here but is attached as an appendix. It was agreed by those present that the mission if at all possible should be a visual bombing mission. For this we should be prepared to wait until there is a good weather forecast in one or more of three alternative targets. There is only a 2% chance in this case that we will have to wait over two weeks. When the mission does take place there should be weather spotter aircraft over each of three alternative targets in order that an alternative target may be selected in the last hour of the flight if the weather is unpromising over the highest priority target.
B. In case the aircraft reaches the target and finds, despite these precautions that visual bombing is impossible, it should return to its base provided that it is in good operating condition. Only if the aircraft is in sufficiently bad shape that it is unlikely that it can return to base and make a safe landing or if it is essential that the drop be made that day should the drop be made with radar equipment. For this purpose it may be desirable to have an Eagle radar equipped plane accompany the mission in order that formation bombing with the Eagle plane in the lead can be made to obtain the increased accuracy from Eagle. A final decision as to the desirablity of this emergency procedure can only be made after further combat experience is obtained with Eagle aircraft. In any case every effort should be made to have the mission such that blind bombing will be unnecessary.
C. It was agreed that Dr. Stearns and Dr. Dennison should keep themselves continuously informed as to radar developments. If at any time new developments are available which show in combat a marked improvement of accuracy the basic plan may be altered.
D. It was agreed that Shoran was a very promising development for the 21st Bomber Command but that we should make no plans to use Shoran until its success is fully confirmed in normal bombing missions in that area.
E. The plan to use the gadget with visual bombing even though this may require a one day to three weeks delay requires that the gadget be such that for a period of at least three weeks it can be held in readiness in such a state that on twelve hours notice it can be prepared for a combat mission. No difficulty in this regard was foreseen by those present.
5. Gadget Jettisoning and Landing
A. It was agreed that if the aircraft has to return to its base with the gadget and if it is in good condition when it has reached there, it should make a normal landing with the greatest possible care and with such precautions as stand-by fire equipment being held in readiness on the ground. This operation will inevitably involve some risks to the base and to the other aircraft parked on the field. However, the chance of a crash when the aircraft is in good condition and the chances of a crash initiating a high order explosion are both sufficiently small that it was the view of those present that the landing operation with the unit under these circumstances was a justifiable risk. Frequent landings with inert and H.E. filled units have been made in the past. Training in landing with the unit should be given to all crews who carry an active unit.
B. In case the aircraft returns to its base and then finds that it cannot make a normal landing it may be necessary to jettison the bomb. In the case of the Fat Man this can probably best be accomplished by dropping the bomb into shallow water from a low altitude. Tests on this will be carried out with both inert and live units. In the case of the Little Boy the situation is considerably more complicated since water leaking into the Little boy will set off a nuclear reaction, and since the American held territory in the vicinity of the base is so densely filled that no suitable jettisoning ground for the Little Boy has been found which is sufficiently devoid of moisture, which is sufficiently soft that the projectile is sure not to seat from the impact, and which is sufficiently remote from extremely important American installations whose damage by a nuclear explosion would seriously affect the American war effort. The best emergency procedure that has so far been proposed is considered to be the removal of the gunpowder from the gun and the execution of a crash landing. In this case there is no danger of fire setting off the gun and the accelerations should be sufficiently small to prevent seating of the projectile by the impact. Tests on the feasibility of unloading the gun powder in flight will be conducted.
C. It was agreed that prior to actual delivery some form of instructions should be prepared as a guide to the senior man on the aircraft as to procedures to be followed in cases of different types of disasters.
6. Status of Targets
A. Dr. Stearns described the work he had done on target selection. He has surveyed possible targets possessing the following qualification: (1) they be important targets in a large urban area of more than three miles in diameter, (2) they be capable of being damaged effectively by a blast, and (3) they are unlikely to be attacked by next August. Dr. Stearns had a list of five targets which the Air Force would be willing to reserve for our use unless unforeseen circumstances arise. These targets are:
(1) Kyoto - This target is an urban industrial area with a population of 1,000,000. It is the former capital of Japan and many people and industries are now being moved there as other areas are being destroyed. From the psychological point of view there is the advantage that Kyoto is an intellectual center for Japan and the people there are more apt to appreciate the significance of such a weapon as the gadget. (Classified as an AA Target)
(2) Hiroshima - This is an important army depot and port of embarkation in the middle of an urban industrial area. It is a good radar target and it is such a size that a large part of the city could be extensively damaged. There are adjacent hills which are likely to produce a focussing effect which would considerably increase the blast damage. Due to rivers it is not a good incendiary target. (Classified as an AA Target)
(3) Yokohama - This target is an important urban industrial area which has so far been untouched. Industrial activities include aircraft manufacture, machine tools, docks, electrical equipment and oil refineries. As the damage to Tokyo has increased additional industries have moved to Yokohama. It has the disadvantage of the most important target areas being separated by a large body of water and of being in the heaviest anti-aircraft concentration in Japan. For us it has the advantage as an alternate target for use in case of bad weather of being rather far removed from the other targets considered. (Classified as an A Target)
(4) Kokura Arsenal - This is one of the largest arsenals in Japan and is surrounded by urban industrial structures. The arsenal is important for light ordnance, anti-aircraft and beach head defense materials. The dimensions of the arsenal are 4100’ x 2000’. The dimensions are such that if the bomb were properly placed full advantage could be taken of the higher pressures immediately underneath the bomb for destroying the more solid structures and at the same time considerable blast damage could be done to more feeble structures further away. (Classified as an A Target)
(5) Niigata - This is a port of embarkation on the N.W. coast of Honshu. Its importance is increasing as other ports are damaged. Machine tool industries are located there and it is a potential center for industrial despersion. It has oil refineries and storage. (Classified as a B Target)
(6) The possibility of bombing the Emperor’s palace was discussed. It was agreed that we should not recommend it but that any action for this bombing should come from authorities on military policy. It was agreed that we should obtain information from which we could determine the effectiveness of our weapon against this target.
B. It was the recommendation of those present at the meeting that the first four choices of targets for our weapon should be the following:
a. Kyoto
b. Hiroshima
c. Yokohama
d. Kokura Arsenal
C. Dr. Stearns agreed to do the following: (1) brief Colonel Fisher thoroughly on these matters, (2) request reservations for these targets, (3) find out more about the target area including exact locations of the strategic industries there, (4) obtain further photo information on the targets, and (5) to determine the nature of the construction, the area, heights, contents and roof coverage of buildings. He also agreed to keep in touch with the target data as it develops and to keep the committee advised of other possible target areas. He will also check on locations of small military targets and obtain further details on the Emperor’s palace.
7. Psychological Factors in Target Selection
A. It was agreed that psychological factors in the target selection were of great importance. Two aspects of this are (1) obtaining the greatest psychological effect against Japan and (2) making the initial use sufficiently spectacular for the importance of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it is released.
B. In this respect Kyoto has the advantage of the people being more highly intelligent and hence better able to appreciate the significance of the weapon. Hiroshima has the advantage of being such a size and with possible focussing from nearby mountains that a large fraction of the city may be destroyed. The Emperor’s palace in Tokyo has a greater fame than any other target but is of least strategic value.
8. Use Against “Military” Objectives
A. It was agreed that for the initial use of the weapon any small and strictly military objective should be located in a much larger area subject to blast damage in order to avoid undue risks of the weapon being lost due to bad placing of the bomb.
9. Radiological Effect
A. Dr. Oppenheimer presented a memo he had prepared on the radiological effects of the gadget. This memo will not be repeated in this summary but it is being sent to General Groves as a separate exhibit. The basic recommendations of this memo are (1) for radiological reasons no aircraft should be closer than 2-1/2 miles to the point of detonation (for blast reasons the distance should be greater) and (2) aircraft must avoid the cloud of radio-active materials. If other aircraft are to conduct missions shortly after the detonation a monitoring plane should determine the areas to be avoided.
10. Coordinated Air Operations
A. The feasibility of following the raid by an incendiary mission was discussed. This has the great advantage that the enemies’ fire fighting ability will probably be paralyzed by the gadget so that a very serious conflagration should be capable of being started. However, until more is learned about the phenomena associated with a detonation of the gadget, such as the extent to which there will be radio-active clouds, an incendiary mission immediately after the delivery of the gadget should be avoided. A coordinated incendiary raid should be feasible on the following day at which time the fire raid should still be quite effective. By delaying the coordinated raid to the following day, the scheduling of our already contemplated operations will not be made even more difficult, photo reconnaissance of the actual damage directly caused by our device can be obtained without confusion from the subsequent fire raid, and dangers from radio-active clouds can be avoided.
B. Fighter cover should be used for the operation as directed by the 21st Bomber Command.
11. Rehearsals
A. It was agreed by all that very complete rehearsals of the entire operation are essential to its success. It is possible for thirty (30) pumpkin units for this purpose to be shipped from this country in June with perhaps sixty (60) being shipped in July. These rehearsals overseas should take place beginning in July. At least some of the rehearsals should be very complete including the placing of spotter aircraft over the alternative targets, use of fighter cover, etc. Even though it is hoped that radar will not be used some rehearsals of radar operations are required in order that the operations may be carried out successfully if emergency arises for which they are required.
12. Operating Requirements for Safety of Aircraft
A. Dr. Penney reported some very encouraging information he had just received from England in this respect. His previous information was that no one could guarantee the safety of a large aircraft at blast pressures greater than 1/2 lb. per square inch. However, in some recent experiments in England large aircraft have been flown over detonations of 2,000 lbs. of TNT and pilots have not objected to going as low as 900 feet. On this basis with a 100,000 ton total equivalent energy release or a 64,000 ton equivalent blast energy 23,000 feet would be a safe altitude on the basis of these experiments if allowance is made for the rarefaction of the atmosphere at high altitudes. However, due to the greater duration of the blast in our case, the safe height will probably be somewhat greater.
13. Coordination with 21st Program
A. This matter was included as part of the other discussion and is included in previous paragraphs of this summary.
14. It was agreed that the next meeting of the Target Committee should take place at 9:00 AM EWT on 28 May in Room 4E200 of the Pentagon Building in Washington. Dr. Oppenheimer recommended and others agreed that either Captain Parsons and/or Dr. Ramsey should attend this meeting.
15. In view of the high classification of the minutes of this meeting it was agreed that copies should not be sent to those present but that instead one copy should be kept on file in General Groves’ office, one copy in Dr. Oppenheimer’s office, and one copy in Captain Parson’s office.
[signature]
[signature]
Major J. A. Derry
Dr. N. F. Ramsey
dc
Distribution:
Copy 1: Maj Gen L. R. Groves
Copy 2: Capt. Parsons
Copies 3 & 4: J. R. Oppenheimer
http://www.executedtoday.com/2015/05/10/1945-sudeten-germans-known-but-to-god/
1945: Sudeten Germans, known but to God
Jirí Chmelnicek shot this footage in Prague on May 10, 1945 of Czechs celebrating the end of World War II by doling out mistreatment — including a chilling mass-execution — to Sudeten Germans. It was the presence of that population, the reader will recall, that Berlin invoked to justify its occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Chmelnicek’s video only surfaced publicly in 1945. As Der Spiegel reported.
Chmelnicek’s film shows how the Germans were rounded up in a nearby movie theater, also called the Borislavka. The camera then pans to the side of the street, where 40 men and at least one woman stand with their backs to the lens. A meadow can be seen in the background. Shots ring out and, one after another, each person in the line slumps and falls forward over a low embankment. The injured lying on the ground beg for mercy. Then a Red Army truck rolls up, its tires crushing dead and wounded alike. Later other Germans can be seen, forced to dig a mass grave in the meadow.
We do not know who these people are. Considering the indiscriminate revenge visited on Sudeten Germans after the war, it is not likely that these several dozen souls were selected for their fate with care.
Massacre in Czechoslovakia: Newly Discovered Film Shows Post-War Executions
Photograph of a Marine Charging Japanese Machine Guns on Okinawa
5/10/1945
Records of the U.S. Marine Corps
National Archives Identifier: 532554
Original caption: A Marine dashes through Japanese machine gun fire while crossing a draw, called Death Valley by the men fighting there. Marines sustained more than 125 casualties in eight hours crossing this valley. Okinawa, May 10, 1945.
George T. Morley
4 April 1945 to 10 August 1945
Okinawa
USS Shubrick DD639
Shipmate’s diaries
Invasion of Okinawa by George Morley
May 10, 1945 0110 Saw smoke rise from nearby DE that had been hit by Suicide Plane, 2 DES and 1DD were hit. All three except one DE were sunk. We fired 12 shots at plane but missed. “First time to Fire.”
http://www.ussshubrick.com/okinawa.htm
U-249 (inboard) and U-1023 at Portland on or about May 10, 1945
U-249 surrendered to British forces May 9, 1945
A Japanese family returning home (Seattle , Washington) from a relocation center camp in Hunt, Idaho on May 10, 1945.
http://www.reformedreflections.ca/cultural-political/lest-we-forget.html
Reformed Reflections
Lest We Forget
Lest We Forget: May 10, 1940 - May 5, 1945. The Opposition of the Christian Reformed Churches - Gereformerde Kerken Nederland (GKN), her leaders and members to the Nazi Regime.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men” (Ps. 43: 1). During World War II in occupied Holland, “deceitful and wicked men,” called Nazis, feared neither God nor respected people. They exhibited pride, deceit, hatred and evil. After the German invasion on May 10, 1940, it seemed at first that the occupation forces were rather civil. But the Dutch were quickly awakened to harsh reality. Already on September 10, 1940, the exiled Queen Wilhelmina told the Dutch nation that the true character of the war was a battle between God and conscience on the one side, and on the other side the powers of darkness - a spiritual battle. The Queen declared that the Dutch know, that despite all their hypocritical talk, the Nazis hate Christ and His teachings. Indeed, the war was more than a horrendous struggle for power, land, oil and economic gain. It was above all a struggle “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).
Nazism was a betrayal of the Gospel. If the Nazis had won the war, they would have tried to wipe the Church off the map. Nazism was a new religion based on the supremacy of the Aryan race and the vilification of the Jews. Adolf Hitler saw himself as the new Messiah. In his address to Nazi party leaders at the 1936 Nuremberg Rally, Hitler focused on a sustained identification with Christ the Redeemer. Nazi racial ideology reverted Western culture to pagan nature religions. Civil-legal freedom and equality were abolished. A person’s legal status depended on “blood and soil “(race and nationality). Nazi racists believed that Christianity must separate itself from the Old Testament. They also divorced Jesus from His Jewish origin and made Him the ancestor of the Germanic tribes, a sort of Siegfried-Christ. Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler, known as the “Black Jesuit,” had his own catechism questions and answers for the infamous SS soldiers, as for example: “Question: Why do you obey? Answer: From inner conviction, from belief in Germany, in the Fuhrer, in the Movement and in the SS, and from loyalty.”
Dutch churches considered their calling to guard against the principles and practices of Nazism. On January 5, 1942, eight representatives of Protestant churches and one Roman Catholic met with a Nazi government official. In their Memorandum, they addressed the lawlessness of the regime, the merciless deportation of Jews, imprisonment without hearings, and the imposition of Nazi ideology on the Dutch population. They said that the Nazis made it increasingly impossible for Christians to live according to their convictions. In the same year, during an audience with Dr. Arthur Seyss - Inquart, Hitler’s Commissioner for the Netherlands, the Reformed (NHK) Prof. Dr. W. J. Aalders (1870-1945), argued that Christian faith penetrates all of life. Therefore, conflicts with the imposed Nazi world and life view were inevitable.
The Christian Reformed Churches (GKN)
Immediately after the Dutch government capitulation, some GKN leaders proclaimed already that there was no peace and no time for compromise. Various ministers clearly saw the implications of the German occupation and the danger of the Nazification of the Dutch nation. One of the first influential opponents of the Nazis was Prof. Dr. K.Schilder (1890-1952). Already, before the outbreak of the war he had warned against the poisonous, anti-Christian spirit of Nazism. His famous and deeply moving June 21, 1940, article Out of the Bomb Shelter and Into Uniform, published in The Reformation, was a clarion call to action: He declared that
The one hour of catastrophe is not the very worst of all. After that hour comes the real danger - the danger of the gradual disarming of the spirit, the gradual psychical and spiritual infection of our people, as we get used to the idea that although we can leave the bomb shelters that protected us from shrapnel, still , because of the uncertainty in the political atmosphere, we would do well to buy tickets to a spiritual bomb shelter, tickets good for an indefinite time until - who knows? - the storm has passed.
The Reformation was one of the first papers, which had to cease publication. Schilder was arrested and jailed in Arnhem from August to December 1940. He went into hiding in the summer of 1942 when he was threatened again with imprisonment. Another paper, the Messenger of the Messiah (de Messiasbode), was the next one to go in the Nazi’s pecking order. Its faithful, principled witness against anti-Semitism was a thorn in their flesh.
But not all pastors were courageous. Some were overly cautious in their preaching and congregational prayers. But many took great risks, boldly proclaimed the Word of God, and either gave spiritual assistance to the resistance movement or they themselves were involved in it. Many suffered for their convictions, even to the point of death. Of the 106 pastors seized by the Nazis, 24 spent a shorter or a longer period in concentration camps in Germany. Thirteen of them never made it home. A few of the arrested are well known in Canadian CRC circles. Rev. Francois Guillaume (1905-1972), who came to Canada in 1953 and served the Rehoboth CRC in Toronto and the Third CRC in Edmonton, was a minister in Sneek when he was arrested by the Germans. He was accused of anti-German preaching and stirring up his congregation against theThird Reich. He was imprisoned on May 14, 1942, sent to Dauchau on August 24, 1942, where he suffered unspeakable hardships until May 21, 1945. Rev. H.Veldkamp was imprisoned in February 1942, for preaching the Gospel.
While he was in his cell in Leeuwarden, Veldkamp learned that they intended to send him to an annihilation camp in Germany. With the aid of a prison doctor, he pretended to have a psychiatric illness. Before the Nazis realized what had happened, he was already in a Psychiatric Institute in Franeker where he stayed until December 1943. During this time period, Veldkamp wrote his exposition of Jeremiah, a paraphrase of the Psalms, and a commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism.
Education
The Nazi attack on Christian education was viewed as a total warfare against the very existence of Christian culture in the Netherlands. In 1941, the Van Loben Sels School in Arnhem became a glaring example of the insidious intentions of the Nazis. They planned to remove the principal and replace him with a Nazi indoctrinated collaborator. If the plan had succeeded, the Christian school would have been reduced to a propaganda institution for National Socialism. Most parents refused to bow their knees before the Nazi Baal. Their pastor, Rev. J, Overduin, decided that on Christian Education Sunday, February 8, 1942, he would “proclaim a concrete and unambiguous word from the pulpit.” Knowing the possible consequences of his plans, he asked his wife for her full support. She gave it him. In his sermon on Matthew 5: 11,12, he reminded the parents of their baptismal vows. “Children belong to their parents, “he said,” not to the state, and because these children have been baptized, only Christ has a right to them; no one else.” That very same Sunday Overduin was arrested. He spent time in the Arnhem prison, and the concentration camps of Amersfoort and Dachau. He was freed on October 15, 1943.
Disagreement
Out of principle a few GKN leaders resisted their church’s opposition to the Nazis. One of the best known was A. Janse, an influential author, who wrote about Christian politics, Christian education, and theological topics. In his brochure Our attitude in this time, Janse condemned listening to the “English” radio as a grave danger for the church. Although he recognized Queen Wilhelmina as his sovereign, he asked Dutch Christians to obey the Germans as they were now the ruling powers. Although Janse made some worthwhile observations, his comments about Hitler were inexcusable. The impact of Janse’s view was slight.
Printing
GKN printers had a large share in publishing “illegal” newspapers. Their work, which they did for free, was extremely dangerous. Traitors and spies were everywhere. But they laboured as soldiers on the frontline of battle. One of these brave people was S.P.J. Bakker of Amsterdam, a Christian publisher who loved his work with heart and soul, and used his talents in the service of his Lord, his Church, and his fatherland. We knew him well. As a family we owe him a debt of gratitude. He was our godly and faithful district elder of great support to my mother when my father was prisoner of war. I also remember the meals his wife provided for my brother and me during the horrible hunger winter of 1944-45. Bakker was arrested on January 29, 1945, and executed on February 9. I will never forget him.
Deaconate
The GKN deacons were very active during the war years. After September 1944, the situation in Western Holland had become critical. There was no fuel, no hydro and no gas. Tulip bulbs and sugar beets, if they could be obtained, were on the menu for many families. The Kinderuitzending (child outsourcing) was one of the programs from which my brother, sister, and I benefited. Thousands of children were taken to the Northern Netherlands. My sister went by bus to a little village near Franeker, Friesland, a dangerous journey. My brother and I spent three days in the cargo hold of a ship to get to the same Frisian village, where the three of us spent the last part of the war. I will never forget the fine Christian farmers, who became my foster parents, who fed and clothed me.
Obviously, this article has a narrow focus. Dutch people from various religious and political backgrounds took part in the resistance. And although the GKN got all the attention, mainly for personal reasons, I do want to pay tribute also to Christians of other persuasions who worked alongside GKN believers.
Why did the Reformed community resist the Nazis? They refused to surrender their Christian world and life view to the Nazis. They fought for freedom of worship and association, and for liberty to hear the Gospel preached without compromise. They could not serve the Lord and the gods of the Nazi at the same time. They obeyed the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Johan D. Tangelder
Mar 20, 2000
83rd Infantry Division - Radio News
Germany, vol VIII #14, May 10, 1945
“Don’t Fraternize! Don’t trust a German”
http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/radionews/83rd_Signal_Co_19450510_Germany_Vol_VIII_No_14.pdf
Last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor recalls VE Day
"There was no ‘hooray for us,’ just ‘the damn thing is over, let’s get home.’
On May 8, 1945, Benjamin Ferencz was a war crimes investigator helping to liberate Nazi prisoners. He later become the chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trials, helping convict 22 members of the German SS on war crimes in 1947. (Mark Randall/Sun Sentinel/TNS)