Warmonument Waalwijk
Canon 5Ds | EF 8-15mm f/4.0L USM | 17 photos | 1/320 - f/8.0 - iso 100
Like many other towns and cities in the Netherlands, Waalwijk has a memorial commemorating all those who lost their lives in the municipality during the German occupation. To this day, it remains the location where Waalwijk holds its official annual Remembrance of the Dead ceremony on 4 May.
The central monument was produced by the Binder company of Haarlem and designed by J.A. Raedecker. The sculpture depicts a man collapsing after being executed by firing squad. It is a bronze statue measuring just over two metres in height, mounted on a plinth made of tuff stone.
The years 1940–1945 are inscribed on the pedestal. The names of the people from Waalwijk who lost their lives are also displayed around the monument. In addition, it bears a poem by Mrs De Kat-Van Zijl:
'ZIJ VIELEN TER AARD VÓÓR HET GLOREN DER GOUDENE ZONNE,
DE VRIJHEID DEN LANGEN NACHT VAN DEN OORLOG VERDREEF, VOOR ONS,GESPAARDEN.
EEN SCHOONERE OCHTEND OMVING HEN, GEVALLEN TER HEMELSCHE GAARDE,
MET HET, DEN BROEDERS GEGEVENE LEVEN, GEWEVEN UIT EEUWIGE BLIJHEID'.
Translated in English:
“THEY FELL TO THE EARTH BEFORE THE GOLDEN SUN BEGAN TO GLOW,
FREEDOM DROVE AWAY THE LONG NIGHT OF WAR, FOR US WHO WERE SPARED.
A MORE BEAUTIFUL MORNING EMBRACED THEM, FALLEN INTO THE HEAVENLY GARDEN,
WITH THE LIFE GIVEN TO THEIR BROTHERS, WOVEN FROM ETERNAL JOY.”
Among the people from Waalwijk who fell victim to the war was Mayor Moonen. On 6 September 1944, he was shot dead behind the town hall by members of the Dutch SS, together with Vincent and Joop Hoffmans. The killings were carried out in retaliation for the arrest of two members of the *Landwacht*, a Dutch paramilitary organisation that collaborated with the German occupiers.
The monument was unveiled on 30 October 1949 by the mayor’s widow, Mrs H.A.C. Moonen-Sassen.
In 1965, the Waalwijk war memorial was featured on a postage stamp.
