Monument Andries Joustra

The monument to Andries Joustra, in the south wall of the tower, was erected in memory of the resistance fighter who was executed by the occupying forces on 22 August 1944 in Vught.

Andries Joustra was born on October 13, 1919. The farm worker fought at the Grebbe Line in May 1940 and returned to his birthplace after the Dutch capitulation. In the course of 1941 he started his illegal work, such as distributing Vrij Nederland. Later he became more involved in making contacts for an escape route to England. In the autumn of 1942 he participated in the raid on the town hall of Bolsward and shortly afterwards the Bolswarder employment office was set on fire. Joustra also played a role in the robbery of the distribution office in Wommels on October 23, 1942, while he had already participated in the squat on the Jouster office of the distribution service on October 14.

Because of all these activities 'Rinke', his pseudonym in the resistance, had drawn the attention of the occupying forces. The police magazine reported that anyone who would play Joustra in the hands of the occupying forces, dead or alive, could count on a reward of 10,000. Joustra went into hiding and ended up with the Knokploeg in Haarlem. Later he moved to the North again and settled in the Drenthe village of Schoonoord, where he again occupied himself with distribution business. In May 1944 Joustra was arrested in Assen and transferred to concentration camp Vught, where he was executed on August 18, 1944. In Oosterend, a street is named after Andries Joustra.

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