Location Murder Jo Mussert

The location where Lieutenant Colonel Jo Mussert was shot at on May 14, 1940 upon his arrest. As a result, he died that same day in a hospital in Gorinchem.

Jo was the brother of Anton Mussert, well known to all of us as leader of the NSB. Jo himself was not a member of the NSB and he has not been caught in any act of sabotage or other activities against Dutch interests. On the contrary, he was known as a good officer, although hot-tempered and not always easy to get along with.

The May days surrounding the German invasion were confusing, full of rumours. Tensions ran high in the battle for the Netherlands, and Dordrecht in particular. On May 13, the Dutch army retreated across the Merwe and Dordrecht was evacuated. The day after, May 14, two Dutch officers, Captain Blom and Lieutenant Kruithof, wanted to arrest Mussert in the GEB building in Sliedrecht, on suspicion of treason.
Mussert did not agree with that, but he did not put up any physical resistance. Nevertheless, Kruithof felt it necessary to use his gun, resulting in fatal injuries.

Of course, after the Dutch capitulation there was a court case, in which Blom and Kruifhof were sentenced in 1942 to prison for 10 and 20 years respectively. They were released after liberation. Kruithof later had no regrets, he said in an interview in Algemeen Dagblad.

Photos; the former building of the GEB at Kerkstraat 10, in the center of Sliedrecht. Nowadays there is an office of Van Houwelingen.
Above the entrance, the old gable stone is still legible. Gem. Electric company Sliedrecht Anno 1910


More about the event:
* On Wikipedia;
* The podcast;
* Interview and article Kruithof.

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Source

• Text: Maurice Laarman
• Photos: Maurice Laarman