German Emergency Hospital Hofstraat

The German soldiers who were wounded in the Martinikerkhof and the surrounding area were transferred to an Emergency Lazeret that was set up in the offices of bailiff Jans. The bailiff and his wife did not want to leave the building and stayed on the top floor. The German attending physician expressed his surprise at this, as the Emergency Lazaret was located at a dangerous point in the city and the offices did not have air-raid shelters. The family was also constantly harassed with requests for the delivery of all kinds of goods such as blankets, etc. In the end, the family chose to leave the building. They left for the Ebbingehuis in the Oude Ebbingestraat. Here they could hide in the basement. The bailiff returned to his premises the next day to take a closer look. At that time there were already some German wounded. Suddenly a German officer passed by and shouted to the men: "Panzerfaust fertig machen, der feind naht". The German doctor, a decent man, provided a Red Cross soldier with a red cross flag to bring him safely back to the basement of the Ebbingehuis. The Jans family remained in the basement until the fire in the Oude Ebbingestraat startled them. Because it became much too dangerous, they could no longer stay in the cellar, they had to flee again. The only road that was free was on the north side of the city. They were forced to go in that direction and the family decided to move to Korreweg. Jans' bicycle was still on the top floor of his building on Hofstraat. He asked the German doctor for the bicycle, but he forbade him to go up. On the top floor there were terrorists, the Doctor said (captive Canadians and the family of the sexton of the Martinikerk). A German Red Cross soldier was then ordered to retrieve the bicycle from the upper floor. The bicycle was packed and so they left through the St. Walburgstraat under the gunfire. Fortunately, this happened without incident. The fire put the Germans in Hofstraat in such a tight spot that they raised the Emergency Lazeret and transferred the wounded to the Academic Hospital together with the prisoners of war.

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Source

• Text: Bert Deelman, Joël Stoppels
• Photos: Bert Deelman