The Putten Massacre Research Paper

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HARRY AND NELL GRIFT foot note 61 THE PUTTEN MASSACRE There was a strong partisan movement in the small, rural town of Putten, Holland. They had a secret resistance cell with headquarters in a local church which attempted to sabotage the German war effort in any way possible. After one incident, when they assassinated a high ranking Nazi official, the entire town was punished when the eldest sons of every Dutch family in the area were rounded up , imprisoned and then sent to a nearby concentration camp where they were tortured. A significant minority of them were killed. Harry 's brother was one that was arrested. The “ Putten Massacre” was a traumatic event for the people living in a community of 15,000. …show more content…

His friends would pile up sheaves of wheat, and keep a pig in the middle of it. They would hide three Dutchmen each night in a wooden coffin underneath the floor in the barn, putting hay on it, and placed the wagon on the floor. The people whom they hid, had no identification papers, so they could be picked up by the Germans. They also kept the Germans off guard by shooting guns at night. At night in the darkness, they would knock the German soldiers into the canals, and some of them would drown because they could not swim.

Besides the Putten Massacre, the city suffered much damage and devastation during the war. The town was in the middle of the southern agricultural district and was often a major target of German air raids. Near the end of the war, many allied bombing missions destined for Germany, flew over their area and several were shot down. These were exciting things to