Route along war graves

The General Cemetery of Elspeet contains several war graves and a Liberation Monument. Many people know that there are war victims in the general cemetery of Elspeet, but do not know where. There is a map available showing all war graves. The map can also be downloaded in high resolution here:

Overview with grave numbers:

• Mr. H. (Hans) Blankenberg, tortured to death by the occupier (grave I -61)
• Mr. W.J. van Dam, shot dead during the raid while fleeing (grave II -135)
• Mr. R. (Reier) Schouten, shot dead by the resistance during an imminent airdrop (grave II – 141)
• Mr. E. (Ernst) Camlott, shot dead by the resistance during an imminent airdrop (grave II – 140)
• Mr. J. (Jakob) Landolt, Vierhouten, dragged from his bed and shot dead while fleeing (grave II – 258)
• Mr. G. (Gerrit) van de Hoek (36 years old) from Uddel, killed on 29 April 1944 when a Liberator crashed near Lieren (grave III-901)
• Mrs. F. (Fennetje) Mulder (19 years old), killed on 29 April 1944 when a Liberator crashed in Uddel (grave III-900).
• Mr. K. (Cornelis) Mouw, died 22-12-1944, hit by a German car that was driving without lights (grave II-136)
• Mr. Harmanus Nadus Steentjes, died 19 February 1945, shot dead along the road (grave I – 64, this without a gravestone)

German graves

In the past, there were two German graves in the cemetery in Elspeet. These were Unter-Feldmeister Gerhard Pichotka; born on 21 February 1913 in Düsseldorf, and Obergefreiter Fritz Schädrich; born on 17 August 1909 in Aachen. However, they were both reburied in the cemetery in Ysselstein on 24 April 1956. The cemetery for the German dead in Ysselsteyn (Limburg) was established by the Dutch graves service. From 1946 onwards, all German soldiers who died in the entire country were reburied here. A total of 31,585 German soldiers found their final resting place on the 28-hectare field. On 1 November 1976, the Dutch government transferred this military cemetery to the Federal Republic of Germany. The cemetery now falls under the responsibility of the ‘Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.”.

Killed during construction of airfield

Part of the Elspeet liberation monument is a plaque with the names of eight people who died during a bombing raid on the Elspeetse Heide. They were put to work by the Germans to build an airfield on the Elspeetse Heide. The victims came from Hilversum and Utrecht, and were buried there. Read more about this airfield and other events on the Elspeetse Heide on this page.