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While the south of the Netherlands was liberated, Groningen lived under the yoke of Nazi Germany until mid-April 1945. It is the last province to be liberated after a bloody battle from April 13 to 16. Wil de Boer Photography has colored the photos and videos of the Battle of Groningen.
In the autumn of 1944, ‘Oranje Boven’ was buzzing through the Netherlands. The Soviet Union is rapidly gaining ground on the Eastern Front. After the difficult landing, the Allies advance. Belgium and the South have been liberated. And now they are standing on the banks of the Rhine with tens of thousands of soldiers, tanks, trucks and guns. It cannot be long before the North is also liberated and Germany capitulates.
This has also reached the German soldiers in the Netherlands and their sympathizers, including many ‘wrong’ agents from Amsterdam and Haarlem. On Mad Tuesday (5 September 1944), they fled en masse to Germany for fear of reprisals. For many of them, that journey takes them to Delfzijl, where they hope to board the boat.
When they arrive in Groningen, it becomes clear that the liberation of the Netherlands is not going so smoothly. Market Garden flops. The Allied advance stalled at the major rivers. Suddenly fleeing to Germany is no longer necessary, which is why the wrong officers and NSB members report to the Groningen Security Police. They are happy with the reinforcement there.
Important role WA Scholtenhuis
Because the escaped Nazis are unknown to the local resistance centers in the city and the surrounding area. They can browse, snoop and infiltrate anonymously. That has major consequences. Just before the end, Groningen enters the toughest period of the war. Many resistance groups are rounded up and resistance heroes are arrested in large numbers. They are abused, tortured, executed or deported.
The WA Scholtenhuis on the Grote Markt plays an important role in the hunt for Jews and resistance members. The imposing building is seized by the Security Service and converted into a headquarters. Countless resistance fighters, prisoners and other victims were held there and brutally tortured during the last winter of the war. During that period, one of the SD employees is even said to have said that it was a good thing that there was red carpet on the floor. “Then you didn’t see the many pools of blood.”
Other survivors talk about the horrific bathtub method of the Scholtenhuis. The prisoner is immersed in the water until he threatens to suffocate. Then he is pulled up by his hair in the hope that he will reveal information. If this does not happen, the prisoner is immersed again.
The Battle of Groningen
That horror continues until the liberation of Groningen, which starts on April 11. In the days and nights that follow, the Allies draw closer to the city. The rumbling, gunshots and exploding grenades come from all sides at one point, eyewitnesses explain. In a last attempt to stop the Allied advance, the Germans flooded large parts of the province. Without success. The liberation of the city starts on April 13.
At that time, Groningen as a city had emerged from the war relatively unscathed. Many buildings are still standing, relatively few people have lost their lives. That will change in the coming days.
About 7,000 German soldiers, a colorful collection of paratroopers, air force soldiers, members of the Hitler Youth and SS men, are entrenched in the city and await the 14,000 Canadian soldiers coming from the south. They do not intend to simply give up on Groningen.
The miracle of d’Olle Grieze
Because the Canadians fear that the Germans will quickly retreat towards Delfzijl, they first fire on the east of the city. They then enter Groningen via the Paterswoldseweg. In the city they have to deal with many snipers, so the city has to be conquered house by house.
Fires broke out during the Battle of Groningen due to the heavy shelling. Large parts of the Grote Markt, Waagstraat, Guldenstraat and Oude Ebbingestraat go up in flames.
Even the Martini Tower is in danger of collapsing. The pride of Groningen is full of advanced German listening equipment. The occupier does not want that technology to fall into the hands of the enemy.
It is therefore decided to blow up the tower with several tanks full of fuel. They have even been hoisted to the top so that they can be ignited. It is thanks to the pleas of the construction supervisor of d’Olle Grieze that the Germans ultimately never lit the fuse.
Hundreds of dead
The Germans finally surrendered on April 16, 1945. They have no choice. About 130 German troops lost their lives in the fierce fighting, which lasted four days.
The Canadian liberators counted almost 45 dead as a result of the fighting. And 106 Groningen residents died. Two anecdotes from a Canadian lieutenant show how dire the situation was after four days of fighting.
Eyewitness accounts
“I remember a big guy, about forty years old. Someone’s brother or father. He wore an orange band and was therefore a member of the resistance. With a captured German carbine he walked to the front door to take revenge on the enemy. But in the open door an enemy bullet hit him in the head. One minute, no longer, had lasted the armed struggle of this courageous man, who at the last moment gave his life for his fatherland.”
“When the church bells started ringing, there was still a dead horse on the Grote Markt. Suddenly a crowd of people poured into the market square, with knives and axes at the ready. Within a few minutes there was nothing left of the horse except its hooves. Only then did it dawn on me how hungry these people actually were.”
The Scholtenhuis does not survive the liberation. The building remains free of bombs and grenades, but is set on fire by an angry crowd, symbolically putting an end to Nazi terror.
Sources: The Stories of Groningen, Groningen Archives, History, Other times, and special thanks to Wil de Boer for coloring the images. Follow the photographer on Instagram for more beautiful and colorful images from the Urban history.
