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Memorials Province House Leeuwarden

In the Provinciehuis there are a number of plaques in memory of:

The mayor of Utingeradeel and the mayor of Wymbritseradiel, who both died from war violence during the occupation years.

Jr. Mr. P.M. van Baerdt van Sminia (mayor of Utingeradeel) and mr. S.M. of Haersma Buma (mayor of Wymbritseradiel).

Jr. Mr. P.M. van Baerdt van Sminia was born on March 27, 1901 in Leeuwarden. During the occupation, he freed a prisoner from a cell in the town hall. This prisoner was Mr. Sjerp de Vries, then supervisor of municipal works of Utingeradeel. He was part of a resistance group and knew a lot about the underground work in the municipality. That is why he was released by the mayor. Van Baerdt van Sminia could have fled himself, but he did not do this in order not to endanger others. After his arrest on May 5, 1944, through the betrayal of the constable-janitor Pieter Bergsma, the resistance informed him that they would make an attempt to free him. The mayor also rejected this offer. He died on April 15, 1945 in Sandbrush (Germany).

Mayor Sijbrand Marinus van Haersma Buma was the founder of the Legion of Former Front Combatants (L.O.F.), a resistance organization of former soldiers. On February 3, 1941, the occupying forces organized a meeting in Leeuwarden, at which the mayors and municipal police chiefs had to be present. Afterwards, Van Haersma Buma was arrested because he wore a sawn-out dime ('queen's head') on his lapel. At the end of February he had to answer for this before a German authority in The Hague. Van Haersma Buma refused to sign a statement stating that he had carried the image of his 'ehemale Queen'. He was subsequently relieved of his mayoral office. On 7 May 1941, Van Haersma Buma was arrested when he clandestinely attended a meeting of the mayor and aldermen in café 'Het Park'. He was transferred to Kamp Amersfoort via 'Het Oranje Hotel' in Scheveningen. He was then taken to Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died on December 11, 1942.

Officer Bernardus ten Hulscher who was shot by the occupying forces on 18 August 1944 in camp Vught.

Bernardus ten Hulscher was born on March 22, 1895 in Leeuwarden. He was clerk at the provincial clerk's office of the Finance Department and was one of the employees of the National Support Fund. He collected funds for people in hiding and resistance fighters. Ten Hulscher was one of the closest collaborators of Jan Everhuis (co-founder of the NSF).

On July 19, 1944, Ten Hulscher was arrested as a result of a raid by the occupying forces in Tamminga's warehouse on the Schrans in Leeuwarden. The administration of the NSF was stored in this building. Ten Hulscher was first taken to Groningen and then to camp Amersfoort. On August 16, he was deported to Vught concentration camp, where he was shot two days later.

30 soldiers of Battalion "Friesland", killed in the Dutch East Indies (1945-1948.

Text on the Monument:
WE HONOR AND REMEMBER OUR
KILLED OF IT
FRIESLAND BATTALION IN INDONESIA

1945 - 1948

A. BRUINSMA - A. LAUTENBACH
E. POOL - K. MACHIELA
H. BRANDER - G. SIMON
SJ. BUMA - W. KOENES
K. v.d. WEIDE - F.T. SALVERDA
I. GREYDANUS - J. LUINSTRA
R. BEVERDAM - J. MOESELAAR
F.H. LATUPARISSA - B. ATTEMA
A. de HAAN - M. SCHONTHALLER
K. OOMS - K. BREUWSMA
D. SCHILSTRA - W. KROZE
S. WIND - H. VISSER
A.D. v.d. KLEY - G. OSTENVELD
J. STRIKWERDA - J. LEENSTRA
C. ZEYLEMAKER - M. REKKER

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