Putten raid

The Putten raid (Dutch: Razzia van Putten) was a reprisal raid conducted during the Second World War in the town of Putten, in the central Netherlands. On 1 October 1944, the occupying German armed forces captured and deported almost the entire male population of the village to various concentration camps. Of 602 men who were deported, only 48 returned. It has been called "one of the worst German reprisals in the occupied Netherlands."

Resistance attack
On the night of 30 September-1 October 1944, a car carrying two officers and two corporals of the German Army was ambushed by members of the Dutch resistance near a bridge, Oldenallerbrug, between the Putten and Nijkerk. Participating in the action was a sergeant from the British Parachute Regiment, Tex Banwell, who had been captured at Arnhem and escaped, but remained behind enemy lines to assist the Dutch resistance with handling their new British weapons. In the fighting, one of the resistance fighters, Frans Slotboom, was wounded and later died. One German officer, Lt Otto Sommer, was also wounded, but escaped to a nearby farmhouse to raise the alarm; Sommer died the following day. The two German corporals fled, and the second officer, Oblt Eggart, was injured and captured. He was also wounded and was abandoned by the resistance fighters in a place where he could be found by the Germans.

Reprisal
The German reprisal raid was conducted the following day. At the command of General Friedrich Christiansen, Putten was surrounded by German forces led by Fritz Fullriede. The women and men of the village were captured and separated, and over one hundred houses in the village were set on fire. Six men and a woman were shot dead during the raid. The women were held at the church until 9pm, while the men and boys were detained separately nearby at the village school. On 2 October, 661 men between the ages of 18 and 50 were taken to Amersfoort concentration camp, where 59 older or unfit men were released. The remaining 602 men were left Amersfoort on 11 October and taken to Neuengamme concentration camp as forced labour. During the transportation, 13 men escaped by jumping from the train. From Neuengamme, some were moved on to other camps or sub-camps, including Ladelund, Bergen-Belsen, Meppen-Versen, Beendorf, Wöbbelin and Malchow. Only 48 men returned after the end of the war, but another 5 died from their mistreatment after they arrived home. A total of 552 men died, mostly victims of malnutrition, slave labour and infectious diseases.

Memorials
A monument commemorating the victims of the raid was unveiled by Queen Juliana on 1 October 1949. The monument includes a memorial park designed by Jan Bijhouwer and a sandstone statue by  Mari Andriessen depicting a grieving woman in traditional dress with a handkerchief in her hand, known as "The Lady of Putten". The statute looks toward the Oude Kerk in Putten, from where the men were deported.

A silent memorial held at the monument on 2 October each year, attended by hundreds of people. Wreaths are laid by the college van B&W, the "Stichting Oktober '44", a few surviving returnees, schoolchildren from Putten, and other organizations from the Netherlands and abroad.