My grandfather Jaap Grilk
– Dutch veteran –
officer Royal Netherlands Army, underground movement and Dutch Internal Forces
I became interested in World War II, through the stories of my grandfather Jaap Grilk. His uniform can be viewed in the collection of the Dutch National Military Museum in Soest.
Shortened Resume
> In the Dutch army from 1935 to 1973
> Final rank lieutenant colonel
> Education: More extensive primary school (Mulo), Higher Civil School (HBS), Army officer training school (KMA), Malay language course (Dutch East Indies), School of Signals (British Army)
1938 – 1939
Lieutenant infantry, Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL), Java, Dutch East Indies
May 1940
Lieutenant infantry, Royal Netherlands Army (KL), Battle of The Hague, fought in the Fortress of Holland and captured German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger)
1940 – 1941
Lieutenant Dutch Construction Service (NOD), Rotterdam and other places, helped to dismantle the Dutch army and clean up war damage
194*
Tried to contact the resistance, but did not get it, tried to cross over to England, but failed, very anti-German attitude, refused his call to do digging work for the Germans
194*
Worker in the underground movement, The Hague, did prohibited activities to help others, his job at the “Municipal Crisis and Distribution Service” in 1942 and 1943 benefited here, also received illegal food cards himself
1943 – 1945
In hiding, The Hague, refused his call for POW captivity as a Dutch officer, showed a forged pass from the German Kriegsmarine during inspection, demolished wood during the Hunger Winter from houses in the forbidden restricted area of the Atlantic Wall
May 1945
Group commander of the Internal Forces (BS), Region 13A The Hague and surroundings, voluntarily joined the Allied army around the Liberation of The Hague
1945 – 1947
Training with the British Army (Catterick Camp), North Yorkshire, England
until 1949
Member of the contact organization of the former resistance, of workers in the underground movement, the Internal Forces and helpers of people in hiding
1948 – 1954
Liaison Officer, Dutch Headquarters of the General Staff (HKGS) and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE – NATO), France, Germany and other places
Decorations
> the War Memorial Cross (with the clasp Netherlands May 1940)
> the Officer’s Cross (with the year sign XXXV)
> the Veteran Badge
My great uncle Bauke Schokker
– Dutch citizen –
arrested in hiding and concentration camp prisoner
1945 death in Neuengamme
My great-uncle Bauke Schokker was a victim of the Nazi regime. He refused his call for the Arbeitseinsatz (forced labor for the Germans). He died in 1945 in Neuengamme Concentration Camp in Northern Germany. Do you have a photo of Bauke? Would you please contact me?
Life history
August 28, 1924
Born in Weststellingwerf in Friesland
December 1933
Moved as a child with his parents to The Hague
1942
Student book printer (18 years old)
June 1943
Drafted for the Arbeitseinsatz in Germany (forced labor), but refused and went into hiding. Last residential address in freedom ‘Van den Berghstraat 39’ (in the Laakkwartier district) in The Hague
June 1943 – May 1944
In hiding at the Marsman farm in Lochem (in the hamlet of ’t Veen), in the Achterhoek in Gelderland
May 1944
Arrested by the Landwacht (paramilitary auxiliary police of the Germans). Transferred to the Sicherheitsdienst of Aussenstelle Arnheim (German intelligence service of the Arnhem region)
June 1944 – September 1944
Prisoner in Camp Amersfoort, with prisoner number 13861
September 1944
Transport by train to Northern Germany
September 1944 – January 1945
Prisoner in Camp Neuengamme in Hamburg, with prisoner number H49277
January 6, 1945
Died at the age of 20 in Camp Neuengamme
In memoriam
> Mention in the Death Register, Neuengamme Memorial Site, Germany
> Mention on the fabric banners in the ‘Haus des Gedenkens’ (House of Remembrance), Neuengamme Memorial Site, Germany