Veluwe

Putten is a small village on the edge of two geographical areas. To the east lies the well-known Veluwe region, the largest National Park in the Netherlands. To the west is the agricultural area that connects to the polder region of the Flevoland lake, which used to be the Zuiderzee.

Putten is also unfortunately known for the worst war crime in the Netherlands during World War II. In October 1944, 661 men and boys were detained here and taken to concentration camps such as those in Neuengamme and Birkenau. This was a reprisal for the elimination of a Wehrmacht officer in Nijkerk by the resistance that was hiding in the neighboring forests of the Veluwe.

Only 49 of the 661 men returned alive after the war. Every year, there is a memorial moment on October 1 and 2. These are the days when the population of Putten was taken. In 1949, Queen Juliana unveiled a monument in memory of the victims of the Putten Raids.

Dromos