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• Arnhem town hall and the town council during the war
• A temporary town hall
• Monuments in and around the new town hall

At the time of the German invasion in May 1940, 60-year-old Henri P.J. Bloemers had already served six years as burgomaster of Arnhem. He was widely experienced in high office, having been mayor in places such as Willemstad, Borculo, Rheden and Groningen, in the last- mentioned from February 1931 until August 1934.

Bloemers began his term of office as burgomaster of the Gelderse capital on 1 September 1934. In an interview with the Arnhemsche Courant on 1 August that year, he declared “I have pledged my heart to beautiful Gelderland and Arnhem.” In 1939 the then Prime Minister Hendrik Colijn invited him to take the post of Social Services Minister in Colijn’s fifth cabinet, but Bloemers preferred to see out his remaining years before retirement as burgomaster in the surroundings dearest to his heart: Arnhem. [1]

The German invasion of the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 saw the start of Bloemers’ most difficult time in his career as a civil servant, so difficult it would eventually have an effect on his health. Some Arnhemmers simply accepted the German occupation, even hoping it could be of personal benefit. For example, eight days after the invasion a sworn translator placed an advert in the above-mentioned newspaper under the heading: ‘German translator’. Others were not prepared to accept the foreigners ‘giving orders’. Therefore, in the first year of the occupation many civil servants resigned or were sacked, such as Police Inspector P. de Vries, who joined one of the first resistance groups. [2]

During the war years Bloemers did not comply straight away with the German measures. This position came to a head in July 1944 when he refused to implement the mandatory Arbeitseinsatz (Labour effort). The Arbeitseinsatz was the name of a project in which Dutch males between the ages of 18 to 35 were encouraged to go to Germany to work in German industry. Using posters and other propaganda means a picture of good working conditions and high wages was created.

However, the number of volunteers remained very small, which led to the Germans issuing an order in May 1943 stating that all the relevant men must report for the Arbeitseinsatz. Only those incapable of working, government officials and indispensible (shop) personnel were exempted from this order. Just 54,000 men reported after the announcement of this measure. [3]

On 6 June 1944 the allied invasion in Normandy began, and with that the advance into north-west Europe. In order to boost war production and to replace factory workers who were desperately needed as front-line soldiers, a total labour effort was ordered. All men between the ages of 18 and 40 had to be sent to Germany, and the burgomasters had to organize this. Bloemers refused to cooperate and was therefore dismissed from his post on 27 July 1944. He was banned from living in Gelderland and moved to Breda. By that time his health was already poor. [4]

Bloemers’ execution of duty during the war years received much praise. Council secretary dr. J.B.A. Kipp, who also remained in office after the liberation, wrote this about him in the Arnhems Dagblad of 22 October 1946:

“Much tact and skill were applied to divert the invader from his most stringent demands, or to comply with the barest minimum. (…..) Indeed, he was always accessible to every inhabitant and was always prepared to give them his support when things were being made difficult for them by the occupying force. With every arrest and every injustice he made his way to the authority concerned and….most often with success. He stood up for many folk, and in the main succeeded in preventing or reducing a threatened calamity for them.”

An example of burgomaster Bloemers’ stand is the letter he sent to Piet Hoefsloot’s solicitor on 9 November 1941. In it he stated that Hoefsloot was considered an excellent chap by him. In doing so he hoped to be able to do something to save Hoefsloot and other members of the Oranjewacht resistance group (see also point 16). In the end the letter was to no avail. [5]

In September 1946 a recommendations committee was set up by various prominent Arnhemmers to raise money for a farewell present for ex-burgomaster Bloemers. [6] In February 1945 he had already contacted the Home Office from already-liberated Breda. Bloemers informed the minister that he wished to retire as of 18 April 1945, because by then he hoped to have reached his 65th birthday. He passed away at his home in Velp on 16 September 1947. [7]

Bloemers was succeeded by NSBer E.A.A. Liera, who had no qualms about implementing German regulations. However, the three aldermen remaining in July 1944 – J. Bronkhorst, H.M.A. Klompé and Chris Matser – plus council secretary Kipp, did not step down. On 10 June 1945 the then acting-burgomaster Matser wrote a letter to the council members in which he explained that he had refused to work with Liera. He had also been made interim burgomaster in the war years due to the many years he had served as an alderman. On Monday 29 July 1944 Matser, according to his report, had a meeting with the Queen’s Commissioner in Gelderland, Schelto baron van Heemstra, in which he offered his resignation.

“In this meeting Mr Van Heemstra informed me that he would not accept my resignation and urged me to remain and ‘to try it’ with Liera. I, on the other hand, pointed out that I alone must decide whether or not I wanted to have anything to do with an N.S.B.er, and as far as this officer-traitor was concerned I did not wish to do this under any circumstances. Furthermore, in my view I needed to show my position clearly to the Arnhem population. And indeed, by my staying on there was a good chance that Liera’s measures would be ‘seen’ as less severe by the population, and I did not want that under any conditions” [8]

It is noteworthy that it was not until July 1944 that Matser began to question his continuance as an alderman. Even when the council was disbanded on 29 August 1941 he, in common with Bronkhorst and Klompé, did not resign. Also, the aldermen remained in their posts during the April-May 1943 strike and the deportation of Arnhem Jews to Kamp Westerbork, a concentration camp. Matser eventually went into hiding on 3 August 1944, initially in Wolfheze and later in Bennekom. [9]

Aldermen Bronkhorst and Klompé then informed Liera, via Kipp, that they no longer intended working with him, whereupon Bronkhorst went to Drenthe with his family, and Klompé went into hiding in Velp. The last-mentioned returned in September 1944 to the Hoogkamp district to help with the reception of refugees from the inner city. Council secretary Kipp worked on, and from the evacuation up to the liberation led an Arnhem emergency secretariat in Apeldoorn. [10]

Burgomaster Liera did not remain long in his post, fleeing on 17 September 1944 to ’s-Heerenberg. He was succeeded at the end of September by Arjen Schermer, director of a textile wholesalers in Kerkstraat. In the final months of the war Schermer had little influence on a succession of German Ortskommandanten (Town commanders).

The Arnhem town hall was badly damaged during the Battle of Arnhem, and after the liberation was considered unfit for use. Therefore, the lightly-damaged Sacré Coeur building in Velperweg was requisitioned as a temporary town hall. Theo W Scholten, an orderly in the Ordonnansdienst (Order Service) of the Fire Service, was evacuated to Eerbeek along with the majority of his colleagues. He returned from Eerbeek in April 1945: [11]

“In April 1945 Arnhem was liberated, and not long afterwards the entire Veluwe. Everyone badly wanted to get home as soon as possible and start with the work of rebuilding, but of course things never go that quickly. But almost immediately the members of the Ordonnansdienst received the call to return to Arnhem and report to the Sacré Coeur in Velperweg, the temporary seat of the council authorities. Dormitories had been arranged on the upper floor of the building, and food was provided by the already operational Centrale Keuken (Central Kitchen). More and more members returned and the service was expanded until we eventually had close on 100 members.

At seven o’clock each morning there was a flag parade (raising of the Dutch flag) after which the day’s work was allotted. Generally we worked until 7 pm, but often till much later. Work was done with great verve. There were all sorts of jobs to be done. Thus there were orderlies helping in the kitchen, but post also had to be delivered because the Postal Service was not yet working. The post was picked up in Velp and delivered to those addresses that were now known.

First of all there was the council’s post, but very soon various businesses came back to make a start on the rebuilding. These companies were often housed in temporary offices in the neighbourhood and many houses in Paasberg were furnished for this purpose too. I spent a lot of time compiling an address list for this and keeping it up to date as far as possible. In this way we were able to help many people who came to us requesting information.

As the flood of people from outside Arnhem to Sacré Coeur increased I proposed the establishment of a special information service in the hall of the Sacré Coeur. A meeting with the Council Secretary followed and he embraced the idea enthusiastically. So two tables were placed in the hall where two orderlies were always present, and armed with the afore-mentioned address list they were able to refer many people to the correct addresses. In the case of permits to return to dwellings, they knew as well exactly where one should apply. Addresses were also allotted and requested to and by special persons which we tried to answer or made efforts to find out.”

In the spring of 1994, the Renkum artist Jits Bakker (1937) decided to make an artwork in memory of the British and Polish parachutists who risked their lives to liberate Arnhem in September 1944. At the age of seven Bakker himself saw a British soldier die. Therefore he designed and made a 65 cm tall bronze image of a descending parachutist, which he named “Liberty”. The statue was financed by a small group of fifteen prominent persons including the then burgomaster of Renkum J. Verlinden and the former burgomaster of Arnhem J. Roelen. The cost was approximately 19,000 guilders. [12] The names of the benefactors appear on the statue’s plinth.

On 12 September 1994 the statue made by Bakker was offered to Paul Meulendijk, chairman of the Airborne Commemorations Foundation. Meulendijk contacted Arnhem burgomaster Paul Scholten and asked if the council would like to accept the artwork. The council was only too pleased to accept and gave it a place in the town hall.

A second monument is the Phoenix, a bronze image of a bird, designed by Ossip Zadkine. It is a Greek mythological bird which, according to the myth, allowed itself to be burned once every 500 years in a fire ignited by the sun, and then to arise rejuvenated from the ashes. It is a symbol of immortality and constant renewal after ruin, and points to the reconstruction and the hope of a better future. The ‘Phoenix’ monument reminds the inhabitants of Arnhem of the struggle fought in the Second World War, the restored freedom, and the rebuilding. The monument was made in 1944. Eleven years later the figure was bought by Arnhem council.

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[1]  P.R.A. van Iddekinge, ‘Henri Petrus Johan Bloemers (1880-1947)’, in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (1989). http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn3/bloemers

[2] Chronological report by burgomaster Chris Matser about the period October 1944 to April 1945 (by which time he was not yet mayor of Arnhem), page 13. Gelders Archive, Documentation collection Second World War, inventory number 55.