My family during WW2

My grandfather Jaap Grilk
– Dutch veteran –
officer Royal Netherlands Army and Dutch Internal Forces

Left: My grandfather as an infantry lieutenant in 1940. Right: My grandfather and I in 1989. Below: My grandfather’s name on his Allied military identity card from 1945.

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
1943 – 1945
In hiding, The Hague, refused his call for POW captivity, 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, 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

Left: Bauke’s last residential address in freedom in The Hague. From 1943 he went into hiding in the Achterhoek. Right: German death certificate of Bauke. Source: CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis.

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
May 1943
As an 18-year-old student book printer, but drafted for the Arbeitseinsatz (forced labor in Germany), last residential address in freedom ‘Van den Berghstraat 39’ (in the Laakkwartier district) in The Hague
1943 – 1944
Refused his call for forced labor, in hiding at the Marsman farm in Lochem (in the hamlet of ’t Veen), in the Achterhoek in Gelderland
May 1944
Arrested by 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

Scroll naar boven