Elsinga, Anne Jannes.

Elsinga, Anne Jannes, born 22-09-1908 in Slochteren, the son of Gerrit Elsinga en Jantje Wildeboer and married with Catharina Johanna Hus. was head of the special investigation in Groningen during World War II in the Netherlands and assisted the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) in that capacity. It is claimed that police officer Elsinga sought refuge at the NSB out of frustration about his limited promotion possibilities. He had been a field warden in Bedum since 1932 and, under the German regime, he became first lieutenant in the State Police.

Death and burial ground of Elsinga, Anne Jannes.

Elsinga was a fierce anti-Semite and fanatically hunted Jews, people in hiding and illegal workers. He came on the trail of a group that printed and distributed the resistance newspaper Trouw in Bedum. Municipal official Henk Broekstra, an infiltrator, then warned the fight crews. The top of the LO, Nationaly Organization for Help to Hiders and the KP, fight teams, jointly decided shortly after Christmas 1943 that Elsinga should be liquidated. This was carried out by resistance fighters, the brothers Reint en Piet Dijkema, but it was Reint who shot Elsinga on 31-12-1943 on the Eendrachtsbridge in Groningen. Here the found bullets. Reint Dijkema was arrested and was detained for a while in the Scholtenhuis in Groningen, where he was subjected to serious abuse. Eventually he was shot in Camp Vught on 22-08-1944, age 24. His remaining fiancé Ina Knottnerus kept Reints resistance papers, which were eventually discovered by Ina’s family members after her death.Elsinga was succeeded by Jannes Luitje Keijer. On Saturday evening 22-04-1944, after his last visit to Stolwijk, Keijer, age 48, was shot down at Bedum station by resistance fighters Michael Henrich and Willem te Lindert and Elsinga died of his injuries that same evening at the Groningen hospital. Willem “Wim” te Lindert survived the war and died old age 79 on 30-07-1993 in Groningen.

As reprisals, as a result of the attack on Elsinga, Aktion Silbertanne was executed. Aktion Silbertanne (Action Silver Fir) was a codename for a series of assassinations and assassinations committed by Dutch SS men and Dutch eastern front veterans between September 1943 and September 1944.The name “Aktion Silbertanne” is derived from the fact that a fir-tree branch came to be stand behind the name of possible victims on the list of Dutch figures. An earlier ‘working name’ for the operations of this secret murder command, still unknown during the war, was Aktion Blutbuche (red beech). Anton Mussert, the leader of the NSB, the National Socialist Movement political party, was against these murder commands. When SS-Brigadeführer Eberhard Schöngarth heard of these violence, he put an end to it in September 1944.SS Obergruppenfuhrer Hanns Albin Rauter was sentenced to death on the basis of these actions.This resulted in the following murders: Leo Bohemen , Jewish representative. Dirk Bos , station manager at marshalling yard in Onnen. Bront Heije Jacobus Willem Bossinga , director of Nutsspaarbank. He supported the resistance financially. Pieter Hermanus Everhardus van Dooren , director of MTS and actively involved in the resistance. Johannes Franciscus Swint , insurance agent and active in communist resistance. Freerk Zigterman , tradesman and owner of a furniture store.Other people who were also on the list were not found and thus escaped retaliation. These were two unknown Jews, Jorrit de Jong (director of insurance company) and police inspector Jan Nienhuis. In addition, 36 people were arrested, 32 of whom were taken to Camp Vught as a hostage until September 1944. In addition, the closing time and closing times of public premises were advanced by one hour. A reward of 10,000 guilders was also offered for tips that led to the arrest of the perpetrator.

On 04-01-1943 Elsinga was buried with corps honor on Esserveld. Many high-ranking people spoke in a funeral address. Esserveld cemetery in Groningen. Anne Jannes Elsinga, age 35, is now reburied in the German cemetery in Ysselsteyn as Anne-James Elsinga. Burial location: AX-9-206. The tomb of Antonius Simons is intriguing, Section Q-Row 12-Grave 278 ’03 -04-45 † 03-04-45 ‘reports the cross. A baby at a war cemetery. It is the son of Johanna Maria Simons. The father was possibly a German and therefore a wrong relationship. The child was born dead in Camp Vught, where after the war also false Dutch were held captive. After their death they were often buried at Ysselstein.