The Bunker Tragedy

The text below can be found on the website of the National Monument Camp Vught under the title Bunkerdrama, but only in Dutch. Because this is a multilingual website, we give a translation for some other languages. One of the people on our list is Nelly de Bode, because she had a connection with Limburg. She also belongs to the victims of the bunker tragedy.
Although the Herzogenbusch concentration camp was located in Vught, i.e. not in Limburg, we also report on this tragedy here, not only because of Nelly, but also because of the many other resistance people from Limburg and elsewhere who lost their lives here. See below.

On the night of January 15-16, 1944, the Bunker Tragedy took place in the Herzogenbusch concentration camp (Dutch: Kamp Vught). 74 women were locked in a single cell for 14 hours. Ten women did not survive this.

In general, we are against spreading atrocity stories, but for the account of the events that took place on January 15 in the concentration camp in Vught, we must make an exception. On that occasion 91 Dutch women were locked up in two cells of the not yet completed prison in the center of the camp.

This is the introduction to an article in the underground newspaper Trouw in mid-March 1944. The events that later became known as the Bunker Tragedy had already become public shortly after that fateful night of January 15-16. Nevertheless, the resistance newspapers were not very well informed about the exact events and the number of victims. The many stories about the bunker tragedy that made the rounds in the Netherlands starting on January 16, 1944, caused quite a stir. Even by the standards of the SS, the camp commander had gone too far.

Women’s Camp

In the concentration camp Herzogenbusch near the quarry pond IJzeren Man (Open Street Map) in Vught there was a women’s camp from May 1943 on. About four thousand women were imprisoned in this part of the camp until they were evacuated to Germany in September 1944. They lived in ten shacks numbered 23a to 32b. Each shack was built symmetrically and consisted of an A and a B wing, each of which housed about 240 women.
The women wore blue overalls and a blue headscarf with white dots. Most of these women were so-called protective prisoners, imprisoned by the Germans to protect both the state from these women - and the women from themselves (!). Many of these women had also been active in the resistance or had made anti-German statements.
By the standards of camp life and the SS, the women had quite a good time during their incarceration in Vught. The mood in the women’s shacks must have been relatively cheerful, and enough food packages arrived from relatives and the Red Cross to keep the women well fed.

Dynamo torch, of the type made by Philips in the occupied Netherlands during WW2. The green ones were for the German army. In the Netherlands they were called knijpkat (pinch cat).
Source: Wikimedia →

In winter the women had to get up at six o’clock, in summer at five. Then they tried to wash as best they could in the washroom. This room was in the middle of each hut, on either side of the partition wall between wings A and B. Then the women made tea. In fact, it was not real tea, but a substitute, and they tried to eat some breakfast before they had to go to roll call. During the roll call, the work squads were formed, after which the women went to their workplaces. For example, to the Philips workshop, where they made "pinch cats" and radio tubes. Many women simply continued their resistance to the German regime at their workplaces. For example, many of the pinch cats and radio tubes made by the women at Philips were damaged. This damage was invisible in quality control, but soon the pinch-cats and radio tubes no longer worked.

Chmielewski

The atmosphere in the camp was already changing before that fateful night of January 15-16, 1944. From January 5, 1943, Karl Chmielewski had been the first camp commander of Vught. In the fall of 1943, he was relieved of his duties. Officially, he had run a bad regime, and under his leadership the camp would have degenerated into a "horny paradise," it was said. It is not unlikely that this was a reason for removing Chmielewski from command, but it is doubtful that it was the main reason. Prisoners told after the war that Chmielewski had tried to enrich himself with diamonds during the war. The prisoners who could have supplied him with diamonds would not have had to go to German concentration camps.

Grünewald

At the end of November, beginning of December 1943, Chmielewski’s successor, commander Grünewald, took office. Grünewald had fought as an SS man in the SS Totenkopf Division and had worked in various concentration camps. His mission was to make Kamp Vught a model camp. The Dutch were to understand that the Germans were harsh, but allegedly not inhumane. Grünewald indeed changed the conditions in the camp. Some of the guard personnel were replaced and the rules were enforced even more strictly.

Suze Arts

One of the female guards or Aufseherinnen was not replaced, even though Grünewald hated her and did not trust her. Suze Arts was one of the Dutch guards in the camp who were supposed to keep the women under their control. She and the other guards often failed in this; the imprisoned women laughed her off, and when she spoke, they just kept talking. So did Non Verstegen, a prisoner with communist sympathies and a great charisma.

Jedzini

This quite in contrast to Jedzini, the German wife of a high-ranking official of the state postal company PTT. Jedzini had insulted the Führer and was therefore imprisoned in the Vught camp. Jedzini, however, wanted to be released and tried to expedite her own release. She had the task of welcoming the new prisoners of shack 23. She did this in a very friendly manner, reassuring the new prisoners and sometimes she even learned this way why someone had been detained in the camp. Jedzini decided to put this information to good use. Grünewald seems to have promised to Jedzini to review her record to see if there were ways to release her. However, she heard nothing more from the camp management thereafter. Jedzini then wrote a letter to the chief warden asking her to remind Grünewald of his promise. Jedzini received no reply to this request either. When she then learned that women had been released who intended to help people in hiding again, she wrote a letter to Grünewald in which she gave the names of these women. This letter was read to Grünewald by the head supervisor in the presence of Eva, the telephone operator. Eva then told the women the contents of the letter.

Shack 23

The women in shack 23 were furious, and when Jedzini, when asked, could not explain the rumor that she had betrayed women, they poured buckets of water over her and took her mattress out of bed. Non Verstegen arrived late in the shack, but had already heard everything. She interrogated Jedzini, whereupon the latter admitted to having betrayed the women. The women then discussed how best to punish Jedzini: should she spend the night in the open or should her hair be cut off? Jedzini ended up having to spend the night in the recreation room.

The next day, Jedzini left her workplace and went to Grünewald’s office. Grünewald listened to Jedzini’s story and that evening decided to call the culprit to account. That same day, Non told the head supervisor that she would take full responsibility. The women also decided that Jedzini was to be cut bald if she betrayed anyone again. Suze Arts reportedly tried to change Non’s mind, saying that if they still wanted to cut Jedzini bald, they should do it in the absence of the guards. That afternoon, Non and Thea Breman cut Jedzini’s braids. Jedzini took her punishment calmly and then ran to commander Grünewald. She was first given coffee and other clothing and then taken to Grünewald. After Jedzini told her story, Non had to appear before Grünewald. At 4 p.m. Non is then one of the first prisoners to be locked in the newly built jail, called bunker.

Solidarity

That same evening, a meeting was held in shack 23, where the women decided to show solidarity with Non. That night Jedzini slept in the shack again, but after the last check she sneaked outside. As it turned out later, she must have spent some time in the compound, hoping to be arrested by a guard. She was probably afraid that the women would take new action against her. The guard saw someone walking around and, after two warnings, fired pointedly. Jedzini was then taken to the infirmary. The next morning, a list of 89 names of women who expressed solidarity with Non was given to the camp management.

Weekend off

On Saturday, January 15, 1944, Suze Arts biked out of the camp around five o’clock to visit her son on her weekend off. When Suze arrived at the gate of the camp, she was stopped by Grünewald. He put a list of names in her hand and ordered her to gather the women on the list. She was eager to leave, but Grünewald assured her that it would not take long. Suze then processed the list and took the women to the bunker. The women were noisy and Suze Arts was in a bad mood. She yelled that they would soon run out of laughter. A statement that was later explained as if Suze had known what was about to come. Suze Arts has always has denied that.

Bunker

Once in the bunker, the women were given the opportunity to go to the toilet and then they waited calmly to see what was going to happen. Grünewald and his staff were already there. The women were then locked up in cell 115, a cell about nine square meters in size. And suddenly Non was also pushed into the cell with the women. Then the second group was also pushed into the cell. There was so little room that Katja Schot, a female guard, climbed onto a bench to see how much space was left. Grünewald and his staff continued pushing more and more women into the cell. Finally, 74 women were forced into the cell, whereupon Grünewald kicked the door shut with his boots. The remaining seventeen women were locked in cell 117.

Cell 115

The women in cell 115 protested their fate, but this did not help them. The head guard shouted, "We always do it this way in Ravensbrück." There were also threats to point the fire hose into the cell. Grünewald is said to have been very upset during the women’s lockup and to have considered their initiative a mutiny.

The 15th of January 1944 must have been a cold day, the temperature was probably only one or two degrees above freezing. Later, however, the women reported that it was blood-hot in the cell, suffocatingly hot. There was also almost no oxygen in the cell. There was a small hole near the floor for fresh air. In the ceiling the air had to be sucked out again, but this only worked when the heating was on. The heating was turned off at night, so no fresh air came in. There was, however, a small window in the cell opposite the door. Grünewald had threatened the women with consequences if they broke this window, but the women decided to do so anyway. Outside, however, there was a blackout shutter in front of the window. So smashing it hardly helped.

Burn blisters

After Grünewald kicked the door shut with his boots, it was quiet in the cell for a moment, but soon pandemonium broke out again. There were so many women in the cell that those who fainted even remained standing upright. Later, the women said that they had been screaming, praying and crying all night. They also tried to undress to feel a bit of fresh air on their bodies. However, their sweat reacted with the fresh lime on the walls and caused a chemical reaction. When the women stood against the wall or tried to lick the condensation to get some moisture, they got burns on their skin.
Some women went insane that night and bit other women. Other women later reported that they felt a hand or foot on their body and only later realized that these were the last twitches of the dying women.

Camp doctor

Probably shortly after eight in the morning, a female guard opened the cell door for a moment. Startled, she immediately slammed the door shut again. A little later the door was opened again by the head guard, who slapped one of the women to keep her in the cell. However, the women tumbled over each other to get out. About thirty-four bodies remained in a heap in the middle of the cell. Tineke, one of the youngest inmates, went back into the cell to drag some of the women into the corridor. In the meantime Grünewald had arrived together with the camp physician, Doctor Wolters. Cursing and raving, Grünewald ordered Wolters to take all the women out of the cell. Together with some guards, Wolters took the women into the corridor and tried to revive some of them. Wolters made sure that the women were given food and drink and that they were not locked in the same cell again. Instead, they were divided into groups of five and given mattresses and blankets in the empty cells. All this against Grünewald’s will.

Ten women

Not everyone survives this horrific night. When the door finally opens, ten women turn out to be dead:

Lena Bagmeijer-Krant
Nelly de Bode
Maartje den Braber
Lamberta Buiteman-Huijsmans
Anna Gooszen
Mina Hartogs-Samson
Johanna van den Hoek
Lammerdina Holst
Antoinette Janssen
Huiberdina Witte-Verhagen

Cell 117

Cell 117 was not opened until around one o’clock in the afternoon, so that these inmates only then got an idea of what had taken place in cell 115.

The next day

It was not until Sunday evening that all the prisoners were taken out of their cells. They were then brought before Grünewald and accused of mutiny. The women were forced to sign a statement taking the blame for the incident and were then taken back to their shack. Non Verstegen too had to justify herself before Grünewald. She refused to sign and was put back in her cell in the bunker. On the advice of some fellow prisoners, she signed the next day nevertheless and also gave the name of Thea, who had been partly responsible for cutting Jedzini’s hair. Grünewald was not satisfied with this and locked Non up again; she was not to come out for another month and a half. This incident had no consequences for Thea; she was released as planned the day after Jedzini’s hair was cut off.

On Sunday, Suze Arts tried again to get in touch with her son’s foster parents. When she arrived at the train station in Utrecht, she heard her name resounding from the loudspeakers. On Monday morning she reported to the SD in Den Bosch, and three days later she was ordered to tell everything again, to Rauter’s adjutant in The Hague. After Suze had told her story, she was taken back to Vught in an official car, accompanied by two SD officers.

A little later, camp doctor Wolters wrote a letter to Berlin in which he reported on the night of January 15-16, and a little later he was given a sideways promotion. Eva, the telephone operator, also later traveled to The Hague to report what she had seen and heard. Grünewald did everything in his power to prevent what had happened from becoming known.

Protest

By that time, however, the entire Netherlands already knew what had taken place in the Vught camp. Thousands of letters of protest were even sent to the security police SD in The Hague. The Red Cross also protested, and even Himmler came to Vught to discuss the situation. Kamp Vught should be an a model, was the conclusion of the SD, and what happened on the night of January 15-16 did not conform to it. Grünewald was suspended and eventually even sentenced by a Dutch SS judge. Himmler revoked the sentence, degraded Grünewald to a common soldier, and arranged for him to be reassigned to his old division. “If Grünewald were convicted for this incident, every SS man in Germany could be convicted”, Himmler said.

Eleventh victim

On May 25, 1944, Emma Leijen-Kalus died in the infirmary of the Vught camp, partly as a result of the January night in the bunker.

Outcome

• Grünewald rejoined the Waffen-SS and was killed in action in Hungary in 1945.
• Agnes Jedzini died of her injuries a few days after the bunker drama.
• Suze Arts was sentenced to fifteen years in prison by the Amsterdam Special Court in 1948. She was deprived of the right to vote and stand for election. In 1952, her sentence was reduced by three years. She was released in 1953.

Life sentence

For the women who were locked up in cells 115 and 117, that fatal night of January 15-16, 1944, would define the very rest of their lives.

Listen to the radio broadcast from 1987 Het Spoor Terug, with interviews with eyewitnesses from that time: former prisoners Louise van de Montel, Martina van Iperen, Ada Hagenaar, Tineke Wibaut, Tonnie Klomp-Van Dijk and nurse Jennie Timmermans. (Dutch)

Sources

• Hans Olink. Vrouwen van Vught : Een nacht in een concentratiekamp. Amsterdam : Bas Lubberhuizen. ISBN 9789073978355
• NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies
• Archief Nationaal Monument Kamp Vught

Killed in Kamp Vught

Karel C. van Berckel
Nelly Adriana Jeannette de Bode
Henricus Joannes Hubertus Boers
Josephus Johannes Stephanus Boers
Constant Jozef Ernest Cornips
Jan Dahmen
Wiel Grooten
André Gubbels
Johan Guelen
Franciscus Hubertus Antonius Henderson
Hendrikus Fredericus Hendriks
Jan J. Hendriks
Johannes Hubertus Hendriks
Chris Heuts
Emma Horn
Joseph van Hulst
Jacobus Everhardus Janssen
Antonius Johannes Kuerten
Johannes Antonius Linders
Henry /Harry Meijer
Harry Miltenburg
Jean Maurice Muller
Frans Nies
Cornelis Klaas Noordermeer
Nicolaas Cornelis van Oosterhout
Jules Louis Antoine van Oppen
Wilhelmus Antonius Rooyackers /Rooijackers
Karel Herman Hendrik Simmelink
Gerard Antoon Smulders
Johannes Franciscus Snijders
Marinus Spillenaar Bilgen
Marcel Stoffels
Jacques J. de Weert
Oscar Wilhelmus Laurentius Wolters

Translated not only with the help of the free version of the translator – www.DeepL.com/Translator