The execution of five Dutch SS men took place in late September 1944 in a sheep shed at Zecksteeg, near Ede. Four of the five SS men had been captured by members of the Ede resistance; the fifth had been captured by British paratroopers participating in the Battle of Arnhem. The five men were imprisoned in the sheep shed, but shortly afterwards the building was needed to shelter paratroopers who had remained behind in the area following the failed battle. The Ede resistance regarded the execution of the prisoners as the only remaining option.
Background
On 17 September 1944 and in the days that followed, large-scale airborne landings took place around Ede. It was the task of the 1st Airborne Division to capture the Rhine Bridge at Arnhem. The landings formed part of Operation Market Garden. Initially, both the Dutch population and the Allies were optimistic. It appeared that the central Netherlands would soon be liberated. Only after the first few days did the mood change dramatically, when it became clear that the resistance of the German occupiers was much stronger than had been expected.
According to Ben Verduijn, while the mood was still optimistic, members of the Ede resistance captured four Dutch SS men who had deserted during fighting around the Ginkelse Heide. The fifth SS man was captured shortly afterwards. The expectation was that they would be able to hand the prisoners over to the Allies within a few days.
Derk Wildeboer, leader of the Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (Dutch Internal Armed Forces) in the area, approached Gijs Janssen together with Kees Hey. Janssen owned a farm near Zecksteeg, some distance outside Ede. He also had a sheep shed there which appeared to be an ideal place to hold the four SS men temporarily. A group of young men from the Ede resistance was given responsibility for guarding them.
There is an alternative account from Marcel Hertz. He writes that the SS men had already been captured on Dolle Dinsdag, 5 September. They had mingled among the population in Lunteren and, according to Hertz, had seen too much. He describes how part of the barn had been sectioned off from floor to ceiling with barbed wire.
After the failed Battle of Arnhem, various British paratroopers who had been left behind began appearing in the region. The resistance took them in and provided them with shelter. A small group of soldiers was housed in the sheep shed at Zecksteeg. Initially, this seemed like an ideal solution, since the members of the Ede resistance would no longer have to cycle back and forth to the sheep shed, something that could eventually attract unwanted attention.
After several days, however, so many paratroopers began appearing that the entire sheep shed was needed to accommodate them. In addition, a group of paratroopers had captured a prisoner of war, who was also a Dutch SS man. He was brought to the sheep shed, bringing the number of prisoners to five.
The leadership of the Ede resistance now faced a dilemma. Releasing the SS men was not considered an option because they had seen too much. Nor was it clear how much longer the war would continue. As time passed, the risks would increase. Liquidation appeared to be the most obvious solution.
Some members of the leadership of the Internal Armed Forces could not agree to this. Menno de Nooij appointed a committee of five “wise men,” who concluded that the only logical option was to execute the prisoners.
One of the SS men was a Roman Catholic. Henk Wildenburg pleaded with the local priest to come with him so that he could hear the man’s confession and administer the last sacrament, but the priest wanted nothing to do with the execution.
De Nooij asked the British doctor Donald Olliff for advice on the least painful way to kill someone. The officer replied that it was by shooting a bullet into the head.
That same evening, the death sentences were carried out.
By then, almost fifty Allied soldiers were already inside the sheep shed. One of the SS men fainted when he realised what his fate would be. In the case of a seventeen-year-old, the pistol failed to fire until the fourth attempt. Each member of the resistance took responsibility for executing one of the SS men.
Olliff pronounced them dead. To emphasise that he agreed with the decision, he spent the night at a location beside the sheep shed where the paratroopers had buried the bodies.
London was informed of the incident through the secret radio transmitter operated by Gilbert Sadi Kirschen and subsequently gave its approval.
Aftermath
The SS men’s identity papers were taken by Aart Melis Jochemsen, who hid them in the roof of his farm. On 31 December 1944, however, the Germans set his farm on fire because he had provided shelter to Abraham du Bois, a member of the resistance. The identity papers were destroyed in the fire.
After the war, the bodies were exhumed and transferred to the General Cemetery of Ede. They were later moved to the German Military Cemetery at Ysselsteyn, where they were reburied unidentified.
Some of the resistance members who had been involved in the executions suffered psychological problems for the rest of their lives.
Sources:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executie_van_vijf_Nederlandse_SS%27ers_door_het_Edese_verzet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Legion_Netherlands
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