The beautifully situated Oxerhof estate, under the smoke of Deventer, harbors a dark and well-hidden wartime past, only fragments of which have become common knowledge over time. The estate was requisitioned by the occupying forces in 1943, officially it was a hospital for SS soldiers, but in reality it was school for secret agents who had to gather information in Allied territory. A spy school. From November 1944, the Oxerhof became an SD prison where resistance fighters and deserters were incarcerated. In total, there were around two hundred prisoners and more than a hundred did not survive the war. The last 10 prisoners in the Oxerhof, a few hours before liberation by Canadians, were gruesomely murdered.
Around 2009, Huub van Sabben conducted fourteen interviews on this subject with different people for a book. The Oxerhof is central to these interviews. The interviews can be found in Collection Overijssel
Beeldmateriaal kan niet direct online aangevraagd worden. Er kan contact opgenomen worden met Collectie Overijssel waarna de interviews op afspraak in de studiezalen te bekijken zijn.
Interviews were prompted by the death of Gerrit ter Haars (Overijssel Dutch East Indies New Guinea Working Group) brother in Indonesia during the Indonesian war of independence and his feeling that Dutch veterans had been wronged.
Both Collection Overijssel (formerly Historical Centre Overijssel) and NIOD facilitated the interviews
facilitated by providing cameras and tapes. The objective was to
generate more attention to this war and all those involved through the publication of a book.
Participants were found through personal networks and snowball sampling.
The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1942 – 1962.
They mainly discuss Indonesia, the Netherlands and New Guinea. Themes include Second
World War, Indonesian revolution, reoccupation, independence struggle, war volunteers, conscripts, veterans, Darul Islam, TNI.
De oorlog ver weg, 1942-1949
Nederlands-Indie, de Japanse bezetting en de politionele acties
Auteur: Gerrit ter Haar
Uitgever: Gigaboek, Broek op Langedijk, 2013
ISBN: 9789085483755
De oorlog ver weg, 1949-1962
verhalen via interviews van burgers, militairen die de oorlog in Indië hebben meegemaakt
Auteur: Gerrit Ter Haar
Uitgever: Abc Uitgeverij, 2015
ISBN: 9789079859238