History of Sorts

In the southeast province of the Netherlands is Limburg. It used to be a rural area with mainly farming as employment opportunities. However, in the late 19th and early 20th century, something nicknamed “black gold” was discovered in the southern part of the province. This ‘black gold’ was coal.

The Dutch government exploited the discovery of coal by building 4 coal mines.
-Staatsmijn Wilhelmina in Terwinselen
-Staatsmijn Emma in Treebeek/Hoensbroek (1911 – 1973)
-Staatsmijn Hendrik in Brunssum (1915 – 1963)
-Staatsmijn Maurits in Lutterade-Geleen (1926 -1967)

Although the mines brought jobs and prosperity, it didn’t come without costs. The mine workers would receive a relatively high wage, and the work was very physical and sometimes emotionally draining. A great number of mine workers would not retire because of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (aka black lung disease) or Silicosis, they would die at a young age.

During World War II, the mines were exploited by the German occupiers, and the coal was used for the German war effort.

Some Dutchmen had signed up for the SS and were also members of the NSB, The Dutch Nazi party. After the war, several hundred of these men were imprisoned in Prisoner of War Camps.

They were sentenced  to work in the coal mines by the Dutch government and the Allied forces, mainly in the Maurits and the Emma.

After their shifts, they were made to walk back to the camp from the mine. Those working in the Maurits had to walk back to the Graetheide Prisoner Camp, a 12-15 km march.

Some records indicate that some men were sentenced to 25 years of labour in the mines, but since the last mine closed in 1969. It is a clear indication that those sentences were reduced. Despite the hard labour sentence to work in the mines, they were let off easy.

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Sources

Demijnen.nl

Nostal Gia