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Memorial Stone Geelvinckstraat 107

At this location there is a memorial stone.

In Beverwijk, Velsen-Noord and Wijk aan Zee there are various ‘Stolpersteine’ that have been placed there in recent years by the German artist Gunter Demnig. Of these stones, around 70,000 are found throughout Europe, where Nazi victims were taken away and later died or killed. The official Stolpersteine are bound by rules. For example, the artist does not want to lay stones or have stones laid for soldiers.

Horst Heydenreich from Wijk aan Zee could not agree with that point of departure. He started laying memorial stones for war victims. For example, he laid a stone for Nicolaas Wagenaar from the village. Wagenaar was called up for military service just before the war and stationed at Schiphol. There he died in the first days of the war in 1940 by a German bomb that fell on his barracks. His body was never recovered. Horst Heydenreich wanted to make a memory for this boy from the village because in his opinion he also deserves a stone. In 2017, a stone was laid for Jan Hendrik Hilbers who died during his military service in the Dutch East Indies in 1947.

There are also ten similar commemorative tiles for victims of the 16 April 1944 raid. According to the maker, these tiles are small monuments. The commemorative tiles are laid under the flag of the Herdenking Deportaties Foundation. The intention is that there will be a commemorative stone for all raid victims (65 people).

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Source

  • Text: Noordhollandsdagblad.nl
  • Photos: Arjo Eijgelsheim