Lüsekamp memorial
The Lüsekamp memorial is a memorial in the Lüsekamp area of the Elmpter Forest. It was built in September 1996 by the citizens of Niederkrüchten and is located in the border forest between the German town of Elmpt and the Dutch city of Roermond , in the immediate vicinity of the federal highway 52 and the former airfield of the Royal Air Force . It commemorates 14 men between the ages of 16 and 48 who died on April 26-27. December 1944 were shot dead by a firing squad of the German Wehrmacht . Among them were 12 Dutch citizens of the city of Roermond, a German and a Pole , who had previously hidden in order not to be deported to Germany for forced labor .
The memorial also commemorates 3,000 people from Roermond, who were forced to march from Roermond to Dülken on December 30, 1944 in freezing cold, and from there were deported to forced labor.
The situation at the time
Roermond had been occupied by Wehrmacht troops since May 10, 1940 . On October 21, 1944 , the defense lawyers of Aachen surrendered ; the Western Allies now had a bridgehead on the right bank of the Meuse and the front was not far from Roermond.
On December 15, 1944, Major Ulrich Matthaeas, commander of the 1st Battalion of the Huebner Combat Group and local or section commander of Roermond, called on the male population to report for ID checks by December 18, 5 p.m. He feared that able-bodied Dutchmen could attack his troops backwards. It was clear to those subject to registration that they should be deported to Germany for work. Only 40 answered; there were raids and arrests. Boys and men hid under the floorboards in a girls' school apartment; the hatch was under a wardrobe. But the hiding place was betrayed; those hiding there were arrested and brought before a court martial chaired by the section commander and were all sentenced to "death by bullet" in a short 75-minute trial . They had no legal assistance.
Matthaeas (1911–1994) was captured on May 12, 1945 in the US. He was extradited to the Netherlands on February 7, 1947 . The Dutch, who were supposed to bring him to the Netherlands, mistreated him and left him to die in a room in Wiesbaden. Matthaeas survived and was thus set free.
In 1971 a Dutch historian found out that Matthaeas was still alive. The Braunschweig public prosecutor's office started an investigation. These dragged on until August 1976; meanwhile his actions were barred. The execution of the 14 men went unpunished.
After the execution
On December 28, the local commandant announced the verdicts and at the same time called on male residents between 16 and 60 to report. Anyone who does not comply with the reporting requirement and is found in Roermond after December 30 without a valid ID will be shot immediately.
Then around 3,000 Roermondans reported. On December 30th, they were forced to march to Dülken in the freezing cold , where they had to spend the night in the open air. The next day, they were taken to Wuppertal for forced labor by train.
Web links
- Ingrid Schupetta / NS Documentation Center of the City of Krefeld : The memorial in the border forest of Niederkrüchten
- Rheinische Post: Online report from January 2, 2017
- Schwalm-Nette Nature Park (homepage): Lüsekamp and Boschbeektal (with map)
literature
- Klaus Marcus: The death in Lüsekamp - the execution in the border forest of the community of Niederkrüchten on December 26 and 27, 1944 , in: Heimatbuch des Kreis Viersen 2007, pp. 202–221.
Footnotes
- ↑ liberationroute.de
- ↑ Ulrich Matthaeas (D) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. |
- ^ Rheinische Post December 27, 2016 (page C6): Remembrance of the dead from Lüsekamp ( online ). See also the article by Klaus Marcus in the 'Heimatbuch des Kreis Viersen 2007'.
