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Oud Aalten > War & Resistance > World War II

World War II

Rotterdam na het Duitse bombardement van 14 mei 1940

‘Rotterdammertjes’ in Aalten

During World War II, Aalten took in around 800 children from bombed-out Rotterdam.

'Uncle Jan' Wikkerink (1896–1981)

‘Uncle Jan’ Wikkerink

Important resistance leader during the Second World War.

Blockage Bocholtsestraatweg, 1939

Aalten in wartime

Summary from ‘Aalten in Wartime’ by J.G. ter Horst.

Huisstededijk, IJzerlo – ‘Flying for Peace’ monument, commemorating a British bomber that crashed on 26 June 1943

Airmen’s Monument IJzerlo

In memory of the crash of a British bomber.

Dela Wikkerink-Eppink with Aron Jedwab alias Willem Herfstink

Aron Jedwab (Willem Herfstink)

Jewish ‘foundling’, born in hiding.

Bernard Huinink (1886–1970)

Bernard Huinink

Council Member and Alderman

Memorial bombing Dale, 8 February 1945

Bombardment Dale

On February 8, 1945, a mistake bombing took place in Dale.

War Memorial Nijhofsweg, Barlo (photo Francien Wiersma-Luimes) 4x3

Bombardment of Barlo

On 30 March 1945, an air-raid shelter in Barlo was hit by a bomb.

Bombardment of Dijkstraat, Aalten (1945)

Bombardment of Dijkstraat

March 24, 1945 bombs fell over Aalten. With terrible consequences.

Bombardment of Kruisstraat, Aalten (1945)

Bombardment of Kruisstraat

On 24 February 1945, bombs fell in the Kruisstraat, with disastrous consequences.

Commemorative window, Oosterkerk, Aalten

Commemorative Window in the Oosterkerk

In gratitude for Aalten’s hospitality during World War II.

Dutch National Battalion

Dutch National Battalion

Founded in Aalten during the liberation of the Achterhoek.

Staff of the Aalten Emergency Hospital

Emergency Hospital

At the end of World War II, an emergency hospital was established in Aalten.

Memorial Fallen in the Organized Resistance, Market Aalten

Fallen in the organized resistance

In memory of seven resistance fighters who died.

Public Primary School, Herenstraat, Aalten

Fallschirm-Armee Waffenschule

In WW2, the occupying forces established a school for military paratroopers in Aalten.

Freya Radar Station, Ringweg, Aalten (1945)

Freya Radar Station

Air defence installation built by the Germans during World War II.

Commemorative column to the soldiers from Aalten who fell at the Grebbeberg

Grebbeberg Commemorative Column

Commemorative column for the soldiers from Aalten who fought at the Grebbeberg in May 1940.

Pieter Schaap (1922–2013)

Hidden in Aalten

In 1943, The Hague native Pieter Schaap went into hiding in Dale and Lintelo.

Johannes (Joop) der Weduwen

Johannes der Weduwen

General practitioner in Aalten, died during World War II.

Liberation parade Stationsstraat Aalten, 1945

Letter to the editor: the liberation

De Graafschapper, 18 May 1945

Memorial for People in Hiding, Stationsstraat, Aalten

Memorial for People in Hiding

An expression of gratitude from former people in hiding to the residents of Aalten and

Leslie Pulfrey Memorial, Gandvoortweg Barlo

Monument to Leslie Pulfrey

In memory of the British officer who died after a parachute jump.

Netherlands Association for Air Raid Protection

Netherlands Association for Air Raid Protection

Exhibition in the Sociëteit in Aalten, 1940

Nieuw Nonhof, Dale – Fragment cadastral map, 1950

Nieuw Nonhof

Pasopweg (no longer extant)

Pastor Christianus Franciscus Bonifatius van Rooijen

Pastor Van Rooijen

Tragically killed as a result of a bombing.

Patrimoniumstraat 12, Aalten

Patrimoniumstraat 12

Aalten

Secret Door - Nationaal Onderduikmuseum, Aalten

People in hiding

During WW2, one in five residents of Aalten was in hiding.

Monument 'Playing into death', Piepersweg, Aalten

Playing into death

In memory of the three children who died while playing in 1945.

Stolpersteine, Eerste Broekdijk 51, Aalten

Stolpersteine (stumbling stones)

These stones are laid in front of addresses from which people were deported by the

De Bark, Gelkinkweg, De Heurne

The Bark

An uninhabited farm in De Heurne became a center of resistance in 1944.

Raid on the churches, 30 January 1944, Aalten

The church raid in Aalten

On Sunday, January 30, 1944, SS men raided two churches in Aalten.

Liberation of Aalten, 1945

The Liberation of Aalten

On 30 March 1945, Aalten was liberated by British Grenadier and Irish Guards.

Aalten station, train, Second World War

The Rye Bread Train

During WW2, Achterhoekers sent food to the starving west.

War Memorial Whemerstraat, Aalten

War Memorial

For all fellow citizens who died during the occupation as a result of acts of

War Memorial Whemerstraat, Aalten

War Victims in Aalten, World War II

List of names from the Aaltensche Courant, 4 May 1945

Amalia and Frits Landau-Lorch (photo: Aalten Vooruit)

Where are Frits and Amalia Landau?

The Jewish couple Landau were executed and buried by the resistance during WWII. But where?