Especially in the final years of the war, several residents of Aalten were arrested by the Germans and transferred to a camp. Upon arrival at the camp, all their belongings were taken from them. It appears that efforts are currently being made to return the objects confiscated at the time, insofar as they are still present in the former camps. We now share a remarkable incident regarding this:

In January 1944, numerous young men were taken prisoner one morning at the Reformed Westerkerk. They were first transferred to Amersfoort. Among them was Mr. H. Stronks from Dale. He had to hand over all his belongings, including his wristwatch. Stronks was subsequently wounded during a bombardment of the Soesterberg airfield, was admitted to a hospital, and managed to escape from there.

Mr. J. Tolkamp from Barlo, who was arrested on the same morning and also transferred to Amersfoort, was put on transport to Neuengamme in September. Upon leaving the camp, he received several belongings back, including a wristwatch. Tolkamp claimed that this watch was not his property but belonged to Stronks. However, the camp guards insisted that Tolkamp take the watch anyway. He then did so.

Upon arrival in Neuengamme, all belongings had to be handed over again. Everyone’s belongings were placed in a small bag, on which the prisoner number was noted, after which the bag was thrown into a large drawer. It was thought that they would likely never see any of it again.

In the meantime, Mr. Tolkamp had stayed in four different German camps and returned to Aalten after the liberation. On Saturday, Mr. Tolkamp received word that he could collect a package at the Social Affairs Office in Aalten. It turned out that this package came from Neuengamme. It was the same bag in which his belongings had been placed at the camp. Even the camp number — 48769 — was still on it.

In the bag were two rings made by Mr. Tolkamp in Amersfoort and a wristwatch. It turned out to be the watch of Mr. Stronks, who was highly surprised when, after six years, he received back his property, which he had long since written off. However, Mr. Tolkamp did not receive his clothes back, nor the confiscated money.