Memorial Doctor Paul van Bork

This plaque with the inscription “Heroic act” in the park named after him provides information about how Dr Paul van Dorp, medical director of the psychiatric institution “Het Groot Graffel” during World War II, saved the overcrowded institution and its 1,400 patients from shelling by the Canadian army.

During the heavy fighting in and around Warnsveld (today Zutphen), the institution came under Allied fire. The Canadians thought there was a German position there. Doctor Van Gorp didn't think twice and went to meet the Canadians in his white doctor's coat and with a white flag on his walking stick. Crossing the open field and jumping over trenches, he encountered a Canadian soldier on the Kerkhofweg who put him in touch with a commanding officer through his radio. He reportedly uttered the words “you're killing all my patients” and the firing ceased.

Apart from this act, Van Borg was also active in the doctors' resistance “Medical Contact” and was arrested three times by the Germans.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Martin Hanskamp
• - https://www.contactzutphen.nl/nieuws/algemeen/321091/dokter-en-oorlogsheld-van-bork-krijgt-eigen-plantsoen-