While Marie watched the doorway, her brother Jan,
who at the age of 17 fought the invading Germans nearby Rotterdam, was hiding with a
revolver behind some shrubs near the doorway of the Detention Center. It was his task to
prevent a possible Germans surprise. Should danger arise, Jan had to open fire and keep
the enemy at any cost at bay. In doing so he ran the risk that he himself might not survive the
raid. The moment the gate to the jail house opened, Jan was ready in the brush ready to
shoot. The other members of the group were to storm the gate, enter the jail house,
overpower the guards, occupy the building, and open the cell doors to liberate their comrades
as quickly as possible. And that is exactly how it happened. Some prisoners, who heard the
approaching noise and shouting of the liberators, thought that their final hour had arrived
when the cell doors were opened. In amazement they stared at their liberating comrades
when these arrived at the open cell doors.
At the end of the war end it became clear that the Germans had intended to execute these men on 12 December 1944. Within minutes all, liberators and prisoners, were in the hall below. Outside the jail, other members of the Resistance Group all dressed in German uniform and driving German lorries were waiting to receive their "cargo." They created the impression that a German transport of prisoners was taking place. The liberated prisoners were ushered into the waiting vans complete with the "necessary shouting and pushing." They were on their way to freedom.
The raid on the Detention Center of Assen and the liberation of 30 resistance fighters was a complete success. Liberators as well as the liberated were all people who, without boasting yet often under immense stress and in despair, showed tremendous courage while fighting the Nazi regime. They, without considering it, ran the risk to die in the process.
