THE SILENT RAID

In the middle of the winter of starvation – the darkest period of five years of occupation – the Frisian[1] Knokploegen (or KPs, the resistance’s fighting squads) carried out a raid on the house of detention in Leeuwarden, which miraculously succeeded; not only because the prisons, which were strictly controlled by the SD,[2] were infamously hard to raid, but also because the one in Leeuwarden was directly opposite a building that was occupied by the enemy’s henchmen day and night. Yet they succeeded: more than fifty political prisoners were liberated in one strike.

The preparations for and the execution of this raid make up one of the most exciting episodes from the history of the war years. But they show even more. They also show that the resistance in all its pure manifestations was driven by humanity, and that resistance leaders such as those who were responsible for the KPs in Friesland, only ever proceeded to their dangerous actions after careful deliberation.

The film The Silent Raid – from a screenplay by Dr L. de Jong, director of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation – was directed by the famous English film director Paul Rotha, assisted by Kees Brusse. The leading part – Piet Kramer, the KP leader – was played by Rob de Vries, who was a member of the resistance group led by Eduard Veterman during the occupation. The film was produced by Rudolf Meyer.

During the occupation, especially during the period between the spring of 1943 and the winter of 1944, hundreds of raids were carried out: raids on police stations, on registers, on distribution offices, on regional employment offices – they needed to seize weapons or distribution coupons, they had to make havoc of an administrative apparatus that was the basis of involving our people in the German war economy. Each of these raids was carefully prepared, and carried out with audacity; most of them were successful, some of them failed. No form of raid was felt to be more significant than that which was aimed at liberating political prisoners – the chums from the resistance. No form was harder.

Police stations, registers, distribution offices, regional employment offices – they were not equipped to render the chances of a successful raid as small as possible. The prisons were. Not a single prisoner could escape, not a single unauthorized person – let alone members of a resistance group – could obtain access. The security systems had been perfected during the course of the occupation, the institutes as such – insofar as they housed political prisoners – were strictly controlled by the Sicherheitspolizei. There have been some cases in which members of a resistance group, after donning German uniforms, have succeeded in liberating a certain political prisoner, whom they were allegedly collecting for interrogation. There have also been some ventures in which they attempted to liberate a far greater number of political prisoners in one strike. They succeeded in May 1944 in Arnhem, in October 1944 in Rotterdam – and there were the two tragically failed raids on the house of detention on Weteringschans in Amsterdam, for which two of the greatest leading men of the resistance, Gerrit van der Veen and Johannes Post, had to pay with their lives.

The raid on the house of detention in Leeuwarden was not unique, neither as an act of resistance, nor as a raid, nor as a raid on a prison. And yet – when I read the practical reports of the raid in Leeuwarden, some years ago in Bevrijding, December 8^th 1944, published in 1945, I was adamant that, if they ever wanted to portray a Dutch resistance act – and therefore the Dutch resistance – in film, they wouldn’t have to search for a subject: it was right here. The reader of this script deserves some clarification.

In the film The Silent Raid, we have tried to create a picture as accurate as possible of the raid on December 8^th 1944 in its preparation and execution. ‘As accurate as possible.’ This also meant that we had to bear in mind the general rules of dramatic portrayal. It was not a historic paper that was being written here, with footnotes and a scientific appendix – a film had to be made, a feature film, moreover. This required concentration, the linking of certain persons to certain events. Furthermore, the story of the actual raid had to be fitted into a certain frame of time. I felt that we shouldn’t portray reality in its vague and indistinct intricacy, but in its ‘truth’, i.e. in its artistically sound principal elements. Only then would the historical raid of December 8^th 1944 be shown to advantage in this cinematic portrayal.

Generally speaking, the occurrences connected to the raid have been followed accurately. After all, it had to be the film of this specific raid. With regard to the characters, I had to take more liberties: a necessity from an artistic point of view; we also had to bear in mind the fact that most of those involved in the raid on December 8^th 1944, were still alive. ‘Piet Kramer’, ‘Wim’, ‘Eppie’, ‘Jellema’, ‘inspector Bakker’, none of them are photographic reproductions of the people playing a part in the raid. Are they therefore imaginary? No – they are not imaginary either. Perhaps I should say that we tried to create symbolic characters on the basis of data from reality. We have tried – not I alone.

The successive versions of this script have been critically discussed time and time again with R.H. Dijkstra LL M, and Rudolf Meyer; it especially goes for the first half of the film that several of the elaborated notions have come from them, or were born of the stimulating contact with them. No less fruitful was the contact with B.A. Sijes; there isn’t a single word in the following dialogues we haven’t carefully examined together. But most importantly, the film The Silent Raid is first and foremost the handiwork of Paul Rotha; as the writer of the technically elaborated version of the screenplay, he raised the script – some of it developed by him, some of it, especially with regard to the dialogue, summarized – to the sphere of cinema; with the dedicated support of Kees Brusse, he placed his film making talent in the service of this project as a director, driven by the need to create an image that would be characterised by the property that adorns his entire oeuvre: purity. My thanks go out to them all. And no less to the real ‘Piet Kramer’ and the members of his former KP for their sympathy, their friendship, and their profuse good advice. I consider it a privilege to have collaborated on portraying their act of love of their fellow man.

We are in the occupied Netherlands, deep in the autumn of 1944. The Frisian countryside lies before us in all its wideness. The wind passes over it, reed stems bend, branches swing. There is a main road. No sign of any traffic. There is a farmer’s cart. Strange: There is no sign of a horse. Three men are ready to push the cart. They are members of one of the most active resistance groups of the province of Friesland, the KP. At a tree beside the road, Piet Kramer, the KP leader, is talking to one of his lads. Piet is about 35 years old. He has an air of energy, but of deliberation too. He is armed with a stengun, as are his KP men. On the other side of the road is his number two, Wim, in his early twenties, together with another KP man; they, too, are carrying stenguns.

Some way along the road, where the road bends, the third KP leader, Eppie, is standing with his bicycle; he has his bicycle pump at the ready. From his position, he can see both directions. In the distance, a car approaches.

In this car, a black Mercedes, is an SS driver; next to him is another SS man, holding a submachine gun on his lap. In the back of the car is the prisoner who is being transported: Bakker, police inspector. He is not that young anymore; he has a firm, distinctive face. He is in uniform, but bareheaded; his hands are cuffed. To his left is SS-Unterscharführer Walther, assistant to SS-Oberscharführer Grundmann, head of the SD and SiPo branch of Leeuwarden; to his right, the SD brute Johannsen – a sadist with the face of a shabby boxer. Eppie sees the Mercedes approach. He immediately starts pumping up his tyre.

All the other KP men quickly put their masks on. Piet signals to the three men at the cart: the cart is pushed straight onto the middle of the road, totally blocking it. The Mercedes appears around the bend in the road – the driver has to break abruptly. The car is hardly standing still, when the four KP men charge with their stenguns, Piet Kramer in the lead. Piet shouts: "Hands up!" Alas, the SS men do not surrender. Johannsen and the SS man next to the driver immediately open fire. Walther pulls out his pistol and points it at Bakker. The driver slowly starts to back up. The KP men return fire. To his dismay, Eppie sees a patrol car in the distance, approaching them. He whistles the warning signal. The KP men have no choice: They quickly start withdrawing. The SS man in the front falls out of the car, wounded. Johannsen wipes some blood from the side of his head. The attempt at liberating inspector Bakker has failed.

The exterior of the house of detention and the prison in Leeuwarden appears. In the morning twilight, we see walls with barbed wire, the prison façade, barred windows. Next to the entrance is a sign: ‘House of detention, Leeuwarden’. Next to it is the bell. The hand of a uniformed German rings it. It resounds stridently. We hear a gate opening and closing again inside. The rattle of keys approaches. The little hatch opens. The gatekeeper looks out. He starts.

In front of the gate is Walther. Right behind him are two other SS men. Behind this band are two German assault vans, each with a driver behind the wheel. The German soldiers, two platoons of six men, each under the command of a lieutenant, have alighted. One platoon, armed with rifles, has lined up on the entranceway to the prison. The other platoon, armed with submachine guns, is ready to enter the prison. On the background, directly opposite the prison, is the Ortskommandantur,[3] with a guard at the entrance. The gatekeeper opens the door. Walther and the two SS men step in. While the gatekeeper closes the front door, Walther is already impatiently rattling the barred gate. The gatekeeper opens it (his hand, holding the key, is trembling) and lets the three of them go in first. In the hallway are two guards – Jellema is one of them – looking at the notice board hanging opposite the administration office and the secretariat.

When Walther rattles the gate, they both look in his direction, start, and stay where they are. The gate is now open. The gatekeeper lets Walther and the two SS men through. He closes the gate. One of the SS men stays with him and will give him instructions.

Walther decidedly heads for the governor’s office. ‘Directorate’ is painted over the door. There is a sign: ‘Do not enter without knocking.’ Without knocking, he opens the door and enters. The door stays ajar. A few seconds later he steps out again, followed by Vos, the assistant director, a man of some 50 years of age making a nervous, submissively correct impression. Walther heads for the office with the ‘Administration’ sign and steps in, hurriedly followed by Vos. The door stays open. In the administration office, there is a counter. There is a wall cabinet with paperwork. There are some cabinets with file cards. Koopman, the administrator, wearing an NSB[4] badge, has a desk with a telephone. Close to it hangs a portrait of the very victorious Hitler. Koopman is about 30 years old. Smits, his assistant, looks like an utterly burnt-out accountant of some 60 years of age. He is wearing spectacles. He is working at a small table at the window.

Smits looks on, startled. Vos says: "Give me the list of prisoners." Koopman hands the list over to Walther. The latter leaves the administration office, followed by Vos and Koopman. Koopman closes the door. Smits gazes after them. Followed by Koopman, Walther and the SS man (the other SS man stays at the gate) walks towards the door to the cell hall. Koopman rings the bell. In the meantime, the gatekeeper has opened the barred gate. The platoon of German soldiers, lined up at the entrance, enter the building. The gatekeeper closes the front door, then the barred gate. When the last German soldiers have passed Jellema, he quickly slips across the hallway and into the administration office.

In the office, old man Smits is gazing out of the window. He and Jellema gaze at each other in silence for a moment. Softly, Jellema asks: "What’s going on, Joop?" Smit’s reply: "Two SS men got wounded yesterday. Now they’re going to retaliate – shoot seven people." In the hallway, Walther impatiently rings the bell for the cell hall again. We first hear the bell resound from the hallway, then from the hall.

The hall is bustling with activity. On the first floor, two guards are having a lively conversation at a table opposite the entrance. Two prisoners are mopping the floor. On the second floor, two prisoners are peeling potatoes from a large tub. There is one guard with them, standing with his back to the rail – a second one is walking past the cells. On the third floor, one prisoner, acting as a barber, is cutting another prisoner’s hair. Here the guard is leaning over the rail. Downstairs, yet another guard opens the door and recoils from Walther, Koopman, and the German soldiers’ entering. It is the hefty, German jackboots that alarm any man. On the first floor, the two guards get up. The two prisoners stop dead in their tracks. On the second and third floor, prisoners and guards all at once halt their activities. They look down with startled expressions. Koopman exclaims: "Into your cells!"

The buckets and the mops, the tubs of potatoes, the chair they used as a barber’s chair – everything is abandoned. The six prisoners hurriedly walk to their cells and are locked in by the guards. Walther gives Koopman the list of those prisoners who are to be fetched from their cells. Koopman calls them off; seven names. He reads out the numbers of seven of the cells. A German soldier heads to every one of them, along with a guard. Heavy boots ascend the iron stairs towards the two upper floors, keys rattling.

Downstairs, the door to cell 24 is opened. Three prisoners are standing at the back of the cell, motionless; fear written all over their faces. Inspector Bakker is standing in the middle of the cell. "Bakker!" the guard says. And Bakker slowly walks towards the door.

Outside of the house of detention, a Mercedes is pulling up. SS-Oberscharführer Grundmann alights. He is an intelligent policeman and a fanatical National Socialist, utterly ruthless in fighting the resistance. The lieutenant of the army platoon lined up outside salutes. Grundmann reciprocates perfunctorily. The Mercedes is parked next to Walther’s Opel.

In the large cell hall, the seven men are rounded up. Two of them are middle-aged, one of whom is wearing clogs; the other one looks like he could be a teacher. Two of them are young men; there is one man of some fifty years of age, a worker; there is one man with snowy hair, walking with difficulty. Koopman has the door to the hallway opened. Vos, the assistant director, has just come out of his office. Grundmann tells him: "Terrorists have wounded two of my best men. So I’ve come to rid you of a couple of your guests, mister Vos" – a cynical remark Vos lets pass.

Four of the six German soldiers spread out into the hallway and at the entry, keeping the procession of prisoners continually covered. The prisoners will be followed by two soldiers, walking abreast, and the lieutenant. The lieutenant gives the order: "Move out!" Slowly, the prisoners start to walk – Bakker at the rear.

At this point, prisoners in many cells have realised that some of their mates are being collected. Cries emanate from the cells: "Hang in there, lads!", "Hang tight!", "Bye, Dirk!", "Long live the fatherland!", "Long live the queen!", "Filthy cads!" There is strident whistling, a loud din, and banging on the walls. In one cluster of cells, the national anthem strikes up – it is starting to come from more and more cells, unevenly. In the hallway, all this din suddenly dies down when the door to the cell hall is closed behind the lieutenant.

The prisoners walk past Jellema, who is struggling to restrain his anger. When Bakker has drawn level with Grundmann, the latter suddenly reaches out his arm and stops him. He says: "Wait!" Bakker faces the wall. The last of the soldiers pass the barred gate, along with Walther and the other SS men, followed by the doorman, who locks the gate.

Outside (the prison door is closed), the prisoners get onto one of the assault vans. One of the young prisoners and the man wearing clogs help the old man, who is having difficulty getting on it. They go and sit on the van. They look into the opposite direction from where the van is heading. They are joined by Walther, the lieutenant, and the four soldiers. The nine other soldiers and the SS man mount the second van. On both vans, a couple of soldiers keep their guns at the ready. Then the van with the prisoners drives off. The second van follows shortly after.

Near the gate to the prison premises is a corner house; a group of people are watching from there – eight to ten men and women, but no men between the ages of eighteen and fifty. They all look miserable. They are wearing enraged expressions. A woman of some fifty years of age wipes off her tears with the corner of her apron. When the van with the prisoners passes them, they all gaze at the prisoners’ faces. The tyres fling mud over the shoes, clogs, and legs of the lookers-on. Suddenly, as if emanating from a wounded animal, a cry from the woman wearing the apron: "Dirk!" The young prisoner swiftly lifts up his head and looks to see where that voice came from exactly. A German soldier on the van smacks him with his submachine gun, making him assume his first pose again. The convoy takes a right turn over the Oosterbrug bridge.

This is the home of Eppie Bultsma – the man who makes most of the contacts for Piet Kramer. His wife Jannie knows all about his underground work; she is by his side in this, she supports him. Eppie and Jannie have two children – Jopie, a six-year-old girl, and Bert, a three-year-old boy. Eppie’s mother, an old woman, also lives with them.

When they received the message: they are collecting men from the prison, Ms Bultsma had already finished her breakfast; she had gone to her personal spot; the rocking chair she is knitting in. And she continues knitting. Bert is too young to realise what is going on outside, but six-year-old Jopie has gone to stand next to her mother at one of the two windows. Eppie is standing at the second window on his own, in despair, his arms stretched outwards: he almost looks like he has been crucified.

The trio at the windows look to the left when the vans with the prisoners pass the Oosterbrug bridge and then take a right turn, past the Ortskommandantur. Once they are out of sight, Jannie goes and sits at the table. Jopie, too. Little Bert quietly continues eating his breakfast. Then Eppie steps away from the window. He leaves the room. "Was that Dirk?" Jannie asks him. Eppie nods. He goes down the stairs. Downstairs, he goes through the shop to the bakery behind it. An old hand, Willem, is working there. Eppie gets his bicycle and leaves the bakery.

Outside SD headquarters, Grundmann’s Mercedes pulls up. Sentries jump to attention. An SS man opens the car door for Grundmann. He alights. Then inspector Bakker, also in the car, is beckoned to alight. He walks onto the pavement. There is a sign saying ‘Aussenstelle der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD’. Inside, in the hallway, Bakker has to wait – facing the wall.

Grundmann steps into his office. There is a portrait of Hitler on the wall, of course. A bulky, overdressed secretary, sitting at a typing table, hurriedly tucks away her manicure set. Walking towards his desk, Grundmann asks her: "All work and no play, Fräulein?" The secretary quickly gets up. She shows Grundmann, who has just sat down, a printer’s proof of the placard proclaiming the execution of six political prisoners.

"Five hundred copies", Grundmann orders – and adds with a gesture: "All over the province, directly after the execution." He gets up and hangs the proof on the wall behind his own chair. "The Bakker file", he instructs. "And bring him in." The secretary hands him a sheaf of papers. Then she opens the door. Bakker slowly enters. He sees the placard, but controls himself. "You can sit down", Grundman says. Bakker sits down.

The secretary takes up her station behind her typewriter. "Yes, my confrčre", Grundmann says, "those are the consequences of the pointless ventures of this band of criminals you have been collaborating with. Your so-called resistance heroes leave me no choice but to retaliate, unless you" (he looks at his watch, the clock in the room shows twenty past nine) "can answer two questions within twenty minutes: who is Piet Kramer, and where is he hiding?" Inspector Bakker remains impassive.

Near Leeuwarden, in a ditch, is a boat with a small saloon that both functions as Piet Kramer’s hideout and his headquarters. The boat is for the most part concealed behind the reed. A gangplank from the water’s edge gives access to it. Here are also two bicycles standing against a board nailed to two posts.

Inside, in the saloon, Piet and Eppie are talking. What they feared for has happened: they have taken reprisals. Eppie looks dismayed. Piet is forcibly reasoning with him, whilst rolling a cigarette. "You think I wouldn’t rather fight in an ordinary army, Eppie? Then the bigwigs can tell you what you can and cannot do. We have to decide all that for ourselves." Eppie, gloomily: "You didn’t see them being carried off….Dirk – and those five others."

Piet leans forward, looks Eppie straight in the eyes, and says: "Why does this Grundmann have six people murdered who have nothing to do with what happened yesterday? To scare the living daylights out of the entire province, and to make sure people like you and me simply won’t dare to take any more actions! Here…." Eppie gets the finished cigarette. Eppie, after a draught: "I’m having a really difficult time with this…." Like Piet hasn’t!

Piet: "I’ve asked myself the same questions last night, a thousand times over. We had no choice. Bakker knows almost everything about our work. Did we have to try to get him out of the clutches of the SD?"

Piet, softer now: "A year ago, I had no idea we would be facing such horribly hard decisions in the resistance, either. But we only act according to our consciences, Eppie."

Piet, pondering: "Me too. I’m not sure whether Grundmann knew how important Bakker was to us – but after yesterday, he will…."

The interrogation in Grundmann’s office has continued. Grundmann puts a document back into the file, some of which he has apparently read out. He searches for the next document. "Let’s continue", he says. Bakker does not respond. Grundmann reads out: "PC Van der Veen, arrested for being an accessory to the escape of two members of Piet Kramer’s KP from the police station of Sneek, has confessed that he acted on inspector Bakker’s orders." Bakker remains impassive.

Grundmann snaps the file to. He gets up, walks to the mantelpiece, and stands next to the clock: "So you see, mister Bakker, we had no need of yesterday’s shoot-out to find out that you have close relations with these resistance chaps. There’s lots more in the file, but we’ll get to that later." The clock shows thirty-seven minutes past nine. Grundmann: "You have three minutes." He lights a cigarette and proffers one to Bakker.

Grundmann, still superiorly friendly: "I sympathize with your loyalty towards your friends, mister Bakker – admire it even. But you’re taking it too far if you sacrifice six lives to it. We have sufficient information to round up Piet Kramer and his henchmen in a matter of days."

Grundmann, more vehemently now: "In this province, I am responsible for public order, mister Bakker! After an infamy like yesterday’s, there are only two possible outcomes: the perpetrators’ arrest, or – when this fails – reprisals!" Silence. The clock shows twenty to ten. Grundmann’s telephone rings. He picks up the receiver.

Mies, Piet’s courier, is riding her bicycle on the small dyke near Piet Kramer’s boat. She is about twenty-five years old; she has a bright, pretty face. She gets off her bicycle and puts it against Eppie’s. She whistles the few notes of the Frisian anthem that Piet’s KP use as their signature tune, and hurriedly walks onto the barge. When Mies enters, Eppie is working on the coffeepot in the corner of the saloon.

Mies wants to reply, but she is overcome. She sits down at the table and softly starts sobbing. Piet leaves her alone. He gesticulates to Eppie: give her a cup of coffee. Whilst Eppie proffers the coffee, she starts to get a hold of herself. Piet puts the cup in front of her. Mies wipes her eyes.

Piet: "As long as he’s at the SD’s and being interrogated, there’s nothing we can do for him."

Piet and Eppie have already discussed the possibilities of raiding the prison. Piet didn’t see any way.

Eppie: "Yes, but he’ll be going to the house of detention later! Surely we’d be able to get him out of there!", and to Mies: "I’ve said it a thousand times: we have to raid that prison. Especially after this morning. Piet has raised all of his objections again."

Piet, not wanting to get into a discussion, turns to Mies: "You must go to Sneek immediately. Tell the lads to wait for further instructions."

We are back in Grundmann’s office. The interrogation has continued. Bakker doesn’t flinch. The execution of the six prisoners has shocked him inside, but he doesn’t let it show.

Grundmann: "So – you maintain that you’ve never been in contact with Piet Kramer?" Bakker calmly says: "Never."

Grundmann: "During the night before we arrested you, there was a dropping. English weapons. We had reason to believe that Piet Kramer intended to hide them near the Snekermeer lake. Our boats have been patrolling there the whole day. This you already knew, am I right?"

Grundmann walks over to a dictaphone, which he turns on. In the meantime, he continues talking: "You had a telephone conversation that morning, which I’d like you to hear again." The following conversation emanates from the speaker:

Bakker’s voice: "Fire away." Regarding the last three lines, Grundmann asks: "Your voice?"

Bakker’s voice: "Snekermeer lake makes for bad fishing at the moment. It’s very poorly." Grundmann switches off the machine. He takes his seat again.

Grundmann: "That was a warning from you to Piet Kramer. We didn’t find anything."

Grundmann: "So who was this Piet?" Bakker, trying to win some time: "This Piet – Oh, I met him once whilst fishing. He said he might call me…."

Grundmann: "We have searched your house and haven’t found a single fishing rod. You have two hours, mister Bakker. If you haven’t reconsidered your attitude by then, I shall be forced to resort to different methods" – and adding with a smirk: "I’m sorry to say." Near Wim’s farm, Mies is riding her bicycle along the channel. On arriving at the farm, she cycles onto the yard. Wim’s mother is standing by the door. She is cleaning milk churns and continues working whilst Mies starts talking.

Wim’s mother: "He’s probably working. As he should be. It would be much better for you, too, if you would finally find a decent job in stead of running after boys so early in the day!" Mies is bewildered by it.

Wim comes out of the stable pushing a wheelbarrow. He sees Mies, puts the barrow down, and walks towards her with a big smile: "Ah – there she is; my pretty, little Miesje!" – he puts his arm around her shoulder. Wim’s mother, vexed, turns around and goes into the farm. Hardly has she gone, when Wim ceases the act. Softly and businesslike, he says: "Don’t let it bother you, Mies – I simply can’t tell mother anything. You know what she’s like – her heart…."

Mies: "Piet wants you to come round this afternoon. They collected six men from the prison."

A street in Leeuwarden. A placard announcing the execution of six political prisoners is put on a wall. Some people gather at it. They read – embittered. Drab is the day.

Now, SS-Obersharführer Grundmann’s patience is depleted. The brute Johannsen has been called in; he has a plaster on his face. For the last time, the two questions with which his interrogation began hours ago, have been posed to Bakker. He remains firm: "I don’t know who Piet Kramer is, and I don’t know his address either."

Grundmann to Johannsen: "Take him away!" He adds to Bakker: "We shall see what our good friend Johannsen can squeeze out of you!" Johannsen makes Bakker get up, and roughly pushes him towards the door. Wim has also arrived in Piet’s saloon. Unruly as he is, he was adamant: of course they had to start with the preparations for the raid on the house of detention straightaway! He has the floor, on his feet. Eppie is sitting. Piet is also seated; he imperturbably keeps drawing a sketch he will expound on later.

Wim is talking vehemently: "The lads don’t get it, Piet! Those scumbags have been here for four and a half years now. Our people are imprisoned, right in the middle of our own city. The KP have managed to empty out the entire prison in Arnhem too, haven’t they?!" Piet, without looking up: "In Amsterdam they failed twice."

Wim: "Mistakes in the preparations! We can learn from those!" Eppie, calmer, also working on Piet: "If we have a shot at getting Bakker from that prison. Quite apart from that!" Piet, without looking up: "You don’t have to tell me we have to take great risks for Bakker." Wim, slightly irritable: "Well, let’s get on with it then!"

Eppie: "You have to take into account how those guards must be feeling – especially after this morning. We’d be getting all the help we need, man!" Piet, raising his head: "But lads – that’s exactly the problem. Whatever we undertake now – by the time we’ll be liberated there will be hundreds of us in that prison. Heaven only knows what the Huns will be getting up to in the end. They’ve arrested the old governor, and this deputy Vos is cooperating fanatically. Koopman is on the wrong side. Then – when push comes to shove – we’ll desperately need every good guard. If we involve them now, we’ll have lost them later."

Wim: "So we raid the place from the outside!" Piet, elaborating on his sketch: "Here’s the entire prison complex. The outer wall. Water surrounding it on three sides. An extra high sidewall. At the front: the house of detention – water – directly opposite the Ortskommandantur, teeming with Germans day and night. And there’s the rub. There’s one building in Leeuwarden where you cannot fire a single shot without getting the entire Wehrmacht on our necks", rapping on the sketch, "the prison our men are in."

Wim: "Then we won’t shoot!" Piet, showing his hands: "Us with our bare hands against those guards? They’re all armed – and there are some right miscreants among them."

The bell at bakery Bultsma is ringing. Jellema, the guard, steps in. Eppie is behind the counter.

Jellema: "The usual please, baker." Eppie gives him the bread and receives the coupons and the zinc coins. In the meantime, he casually asks him: "Were you there yesterday – when they came to get those six people?"

Jellema: "At a time like that, you wish you could go for their throats, the bloody cads."

Eppie to Jannie: "Could you mind the shop for a moment?" He opens the bakery door and says to Jellema: "Have you got a minute, Jellema?" Jellema hesitantly follows him with the loaf under his arm. Jannie watches them go. In the bakery, Eppie closes the door. Old Willem is working in the background. A quiet conversation ensues.

Eppie: "I wanted to ask you a favour – in the strictest confidence." Jellema, after a short lull: "I can keep shtum."

Jellema: "Yes, in administration – right under the nose of the NSB’s finest!"

Eppie: "Well, then you slip in, and I’ll get the map here." It makes Jellema anxious.

In SD headquarters, Bakker is collected from his cell. Johannsen and the same SS man we already saw, open the cell door. The SS man stoops forward into the cell: Bakker asked him a question. The SS man seems to think it was hilarious. He tells Johannsen. SS man: "He wants to know if we’re ready!" Johannsen, who finds it hilarious too: "We’re only just beginning!" Bakker is hauled out of his cell. The two SS men drag him up the stairs.

In the hallway of the house of detention, the gatekeeper is sitting at the barred gate. Koopman, the administrator, leaves his room and enters Vos’s. At that moment, Jellema is coming from the hallway and walks into the administration office. Inside, old man Smits, drawing lines in the prison register, looks up. Jellema hurriedly asks him: "Joop – have you got a map of sorts here?"

Smits instantly understand and takes of his glasses. The map is rolled up on the top shelf of the wall cabinet. Smits – moving nimbly – can’t reach. He has to get a chair, which is just a little too low. Then he has to put a big book on the seat. It is just too high up for Smits. Jellema can reach it. They know Koopman can return any moment now. They work hastily, agitatedly – without uttering a word. Koopman opens the door in Vos’ office. No – he forgot something. He goes back in again.

Smits and Jellema have put everything back in place just in time. Jellema has the map under his arm. Koopman enters the room. Jellema composedly says: "Good morning, sir." Koopman, preoccupied: "Jellema." Smits is working on drawing apparently perfect lines in the prison register.

In Eppie’s sitting-room, Eppie and Wim are talking to Jellema, who is in plain clothes. It is evening. The children have already gone to bed. Jannie is clearing up downstairs. Only his old mother is present at the conversation. She is knitting. She does not miss a word. The map Jellema brought is on the table, unrolled. Insofar as he needs to, Jellema points out the spots he talks about.

Jellema: "No – the convict prison and our prison are quite separate buildings. The convict prison is filled with common criminals – they’re the people of whom you would say: they’re in Leeuwarden. Your people, the resistance people, are in the house of detention. Here. Right up against the convict prison."

Jellema: "The convict prison’s got over a hundred," (Wim whistles with astonishment), "we’ve got twenty. We work in shifts. The people at the administration leave at half past five."

Wim: "Yes – of course at night! We can’t lift a finger during the day, what with the Wehrmacht across the road!"

Jellema: "You couldn’t during the night, either! We get locked in ourselves at seven!" Wim starts: "Locked in?"

Jellema, pointing: "We’ve got a front door and a door from the cell hall to the courtyard. Two doors – two keys. Every night at seven, we have to bring those two keys to the guard in the convict prison – all the way there."

Jellema to Wim: "The front door cannot be opened from the outside, mister. Only from the inside. And after seven o’clock, we can’t even do that ourselves, since our key is out."

Jellema: "Well – then you’d have to get to the courtyard first. Hang on – there still is that little coal door – to the side, in the wall…."

Jellema, interrupting himself, to Eppie: "And I was only thinking: I’ll just nip in at bakery Bultsma to buy a loaf of bread!" He scratches his head. "Anyway – you’ve got your map – that’s really all I can do…." In the prison administrator’s office, Smits is working. Koopman is not in. Jellema enters.

Smits: "Mister Vos’s key cabinet. Number 13." Jellema, pondering: "How do we get it out?"

Jellema: "Five minutes." Smits gets up and walks over to the door. He knocks on the directorate’s door and enters. Vos is talking to Koopman. "Could I have the key to the archives for a minute, mister Vos?" he asks him. Vos gets a key out of a drawer and gives it to Smits: "Help yourself." The key cabinet with dozens of keys is on the sidewall. Smits opens the cabinet. He removes key number 13; he puts the key to the archives in its place.

Piet and Wim are talking in Piet’s saloon. There is a copy of the map of the prison complex on the table. Piet is trying to damp down Wim’s enthusiasm, as per usual. Piet, critically: "And how do you expect to get to that coal door?" Wim, pointing out the route: "We cross the mote in little boats, in a dark night – deathly quiet. Then we gather at that little door…."

Wim: "Jellema promised he would try to make a wax mould of the key." In the toilet of the house of detention, Jellema is making the wax mould for the key to the coal door. The conversation continues in Piet’s saloon.

Piet: "Right – so you’re standing in that courtyard. And how do you get into the cell hall, and how do you get out of the building again?"

Wim: "Duplicate keys. Don’t forget, Piet, that we have the great advantage that there won’t be a soul at the directorate or the administration after seven. The entire front of the building will be deserted."

Wim: "Ten – but Jellema said that most of them would stick their hands up in a shot."

Piet: "If there’s just one bad character and he fires his gun, you’ll be done for."

Wim: "Oh, Piet – in the middle of the night – those fellows will be totally confounded, won’t they?"

Piet: "Is there an alarm system?" Wim, slightly annoyed: "You pernickety…..! Yes, there is!"

Piet: "And where are the switches? One in the front of the building, but that won’t be a problem at night. The other is in the cell hall. Here." (He points.)

Piet: "And you come in through that door" (he points) – "what’s the distance?"

Piet: "Pretty risky!" Wim gesticulates: "Well, we’re going to have to take some risks!" In the prison courtyard, Jellema locks the door to the cell hall from the outside. He takes the key with him.

Jellema, who has handed over the keys of the house of detention as instructed, leaves the convict prison. He walks through an almost deserted street. It is almost dark. He passes a couple of German soldiers. Mies is standing in front of a shop. She sees him approaching from the tail of her eye, and starts walking along with him. She is carrying a shopping bag.

Mies: "Good evening, mister Jellema, I’m Mies." Jellema, taking in her face, says with a chuckle: "Eppie described you well. He was quite right." He gives her the wax mould, which she puts in her bag. The papers, too.

Mies: "Eppie said you could collect the key at his tomorrow. Could you try it straightaway then?"

Walther’s Opel pulls up in front of the house of detention. The driver, an SS man, alights. A second SS man alights on the other side; he is armed with a submachine gun. He signals the man in the car to get out. Inspector Bakker alights – slowly, ponderously. His hands are bandaged. He looks ten years older. He inches towards the prison door. One of the SS men rings the bell. The rattle of keys approaches. The gatekeeper opens the little hatch. Bakker stares vacantly – worn out, weary.

In a forge, a smith is finishing the duplicate key to the coal door. Mies looks on with admiration. The smith gives her the key, and she holds it up triumphantly. In a cell in the house of detention, inspector Bakker is lying on the bunk. The prison physician, Dr Wartena, is bandaging his hands, and asks him: "Is that any better, mister Bakker?" Bakker shakes his head.

Getting up, the doctor says: "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Bakker gives the doctor a scrutinizing look: could he burden this man with an underground message? He will try. "If they come to get me for interrogation again, I won’t take it anymore, doctor – there are people who should to know this…." He falters.

Dr Wartena: "Is there anyone else you want me to go to?" Bakker hesitates again, but he has no choice. "I’m not even sure whether you’d be going to the right man…." The doctor senses Bakker’s mistrust. And he understands. He therefore says: "You can speak as freely in here as you could in my surgery."

Eppie is busy in his shop, helping an old lady who is taking a long time to find her coupon and money. It is towards the evening. Dr Wartena enters and looks around.

Dr Wartena: "I’ll wait." It is clear to Eppie that his customer is trying to buy some time. De old lady exits the shop. Dr Wartena approaches and asks him: "Are you Eppie Bultsma?"

Dr Wartena: "My name is Dr Wartena. I have a message for you – from inspector Bakker from Sneek…." Eppie needs a second to think. "I’m sorry, who did you say?", he asks him.

Dr Wartena: "Inspector Bakker." Eppie doesn’t know Dr Wartena; he has never heard his name being mentioned in resistance circles; he could be a provocateur.

Dr Wartena: "He said to tell you that he can’t hold out any longer. They tortured him. He can’t take another interrogation." Eppie very convincingly replies: "You must have the wrong man, doctor. I haven’t the foggiest what you’re talking about!"

That same evening, we are in Piet’s saloon. Piet is sitting at the table. He is thinking. Eppie and Wim are standing there talking to him in turns. The list of names is on the table.

Eppie: "Bakker is in the house of detention and he can’t take it anymore! We have no more options, Piet!"

Eppie: "You know just as well as I do that Bakker has helped countless organizations like ours. If the SD finds out what he knows – well, the resistance will be history."

Wim: "Dead and buried." Eppie, picking up the list: "We already have all the names – all the cell numbers!"

Piet: "The most important one, too." Eppie to Wim: "You’re a bit behind the facts, Wim. The key is ready. Jellema only has to try it, and then Mies would bring it round here."

It is evening in the prison courtyard. Drizzly rain is pouring down. Jellema is hugging the outer wall. He gets to the coal door and looks around. No-one in sight. He gets the key the smith has copied out of his pocket and puts it in the lock. He tries to turn it. The lock is immovable. Jellema tries again and puts a little more force into it. "Crack!" – the key breaks. Part of it stays in the lock.

Piet, Wim, and Eppie are sitting at the table in the saloon. Piet has laid a list of the points he has drawn for further discussion on top of the map. He has made a decision: the raid has to be attempted. There is a bottle of gin and three glasses on the table. Piet checks off each point, one by one.

Eppie: "We have to ask Peeters of the LO.[5] Piet, pondering: "We’ll be out there in pitch-darkness on the street with a bunch of people."

Eppie: "The lads of the BS [6] can sort that." Piet, to Eppie: "How many people do you think we can put up?"

Piet: "And there are some 200 political prisoners in the house of detention…." Eppie, slowly: "Who’s going to choose?"

Wim: "We are!" Silence for a moment. Piet, decidedly: "No." Wim, irascible: "We bloody well are!

Piet, to Wim: "Wim, listen to me – we can’t decide that by ourselves. It’s not just about Bakker. Everyone with a death sentence or in danger of getting one has to get out. Those include people of other organizations. Who they are – we don’t have the information to tell, and we don’t have the right to make that decision by ourselves."

Eppie: "That’s right – we’ll have to confer about that." Wim, still sulking: "Endless bunk." Piet pours the drinks, saying: "It won’t be so bad." They raise their glasses, without clinking them. Outside, the KP whistle sounds. Eppie, businesslike: "Mies." Mies comes in, drenched. Wim, hurriedly: "The key!" Mies lays the broken key on the table: "The remainder is in the lock…." Wim, startled: "The lock won’t open anymore?" Mies, sadly: "No."

Wim casts his glass to the floor. Eppie grows fixed. Piet puts his glass down. Then he says, with determination and emotion: "They have to get out!" Inspector Bakker is lying on his bunk in semidarkness. One of his arms is dangling off the edge. His fingertips probe the stone floor. A guard’s footsteps approach – and die down again. The map is on the table in Piet’s saloon. The bottle and the glasses have been removed. The atmosphere is rock-hard. Wim and Eppie are talking, stooped over the map. Piet is reclining with his eyes shut. Mies is on a pillow in a corner.

Eppie, to Wim: "It’s like Piet said: we have to find another way, and we have to take into account that the only shot we’ll have after seven, is if we involve every good guard."

Eppie: "We can’t just barge in from the outside after seven." Wim, angrily: "Not even the police can!" Then Mies very casually and naively says: "I wonder how the police get in before seven." Piet opens his eyes: "What did you say?"

Mies: "I was wondering how the police get in before seven o’clock…." Thump! – Piet’s chair darts backwards.

Eppie: "Sure, but we’d have to know the exact ins and outs. They could use passwords, special papers, checkups…."

Eppie: "Of course – Teunisse. You know, the one hiding at Klaas’s with his wife."

Piet to Wim: "Wim – you take care of Jellema. We have to know all the ins and outs. He has to tell you exactly what goes on inside that prison when the police come round."

It is evening at Klaas’s farm where policeman Teunisse and his wife are hiding. Teunisse, a young man with an open, likeable face, is playing draughts with Klaas, his wife is sewing baby clothes. The guard dog starts barking. Who is it? A razzia? Anxious faces look up. Teunisse disappears into the hiding-place like a shot; his wife leaves the room, slowly: the baby is due very soon. Klaas opens the door. Eppie steps in: "Hello, Klaas – I’m here to see Teunisse." In Eppie’s sitting-room, Wim and Jellema are talking. Old Ms Bultsma is present there, of course. She is knitting, of course.

Jellema: "Well – you ring the bell. The gatekeeper opens the hatch. He’ll ask for an arrest warrant – which is a warrant to have people locked up. Those are always signed by the Chief Constable. The gatekeeper won’t open the door until this warrant has been checked in administration."

Jellema: "Koopman. Usually, the Central Police Station will have rung in advance to tell them, for instance: you’ll be receiving two detainees, – then they immediately start checking up from the prison by calling back. And when you show up later, they also inspect the arrest warrant. And only then will the door open."

Jellema: "You wish! – We know the policemen who come to the door, of course. Are you planning something along those lines?" Wim, reticently: "Oh, well – we’re just exploring our options a bit…." In Klaas’s farm, Eppie’s conversation with Teunisse continues.

Teunisse: "Well, that won’t be easy, getting your hands on an arrest warrant! The Chief Constable is a collaborator, and he knows bally well such a document can get you inside the prison. They’re on his desk, and he doesn’t let them out of his sight."

Teunisse: "Then his secretary will receive them on her desk, and that lass is wrong’un, too."

Eppie: "Is there anyone at your station who’s nimble-fingered…..and has some spunk...?"

Eppie: "And would he be willing?" Teunisse, after a lull: "Yes – I think he would."

Teunisse: "No! Man – the gatekeeper must know I’m in hiding! We’d have the SD on our backs in no time, and the door wouldn’t even open! Ask Turksma."

In the middle of Leeuwarden is the Central Police Station. A policeman steps out. He lingers on the pavement for a moment. Eppie has posted himself thusly that he can observe who leaves the station very well. He keeps a sharp eye open. The policeman starts walking down the pavement. Eppie goes in pursuit. In the Chief Constable’s office, his secretary, Miss Lamers, is typing. She is a spinster. She is wearing an NSB pin. On her desk is the small pile of arrest warrants. There is knocking on the door.

Miss Lamers: "He’ll be back shortly." Turksma suddenly starts sniffing and says aghast: "What’s that smell?" Miss Lamers looks up. Turksma, sniffing again: "There’s carbon fumes in here!"

Miss Lamers: "That can’t be!" Turksma walks over to her desk: "Well – I’d suggest you check that coal pot! Do you need some help?"

Miss Lamers: "No – I can manage." She walks over to the small coal pot. She looks at the flap in the flue, looks into the coal pot from above, opens the little hatch, pokes it, and shakes the grate. In the meantime, she says: "It can’t be! It always draws fine!" Turksma goes to stand at the desk. He takes an arrest warrant off the top of the pile – quickly, behind his back. In the meantime, he says: "Well – it’s hard to notice. Incredibly dangerous, that. My wife’s sister had it once – she’d dozed off in her chair – her husband came home from playing billiards – she came within an inch of having kicked the bucket!"

Miss Lamers is done. She gets on her feet again. "Well – I can’t smell anything!"

Turksma, dryly: "No, that’s odd – I can’t smell it anymore either…." Dressed in a dark suit, Piet is at the door of a verger’s house. He rings the bell. A horse-drawn cart passes by.

The verger opens the door. Piet steps in. Then they cross the church. Their footsteps resound. The verger says: "The gentlemen are already waiting." He accompanies Piet to the vestry door. Piet opens the door.

At the table in the vestry, three men are waiting. They are De Vries of the NSF,[7] about fifty years of age, a manufacturer, a man with a noble face, with a natural authority; Peeters of the LO, some forty years of age, a gloomy man of goodwill, a teacher; and Halbertsma from the National Committee, some thirty-five years of age, an official, aggressive, conceited, and argumentative by nature. They, too, look like presbyters. The trio are sitting at the head of a long table, De Vries – who will be presiding – at the far end. Piet will be sitting across the other two by himself.

When he enters, De Vries jumps up and firmly shakes his hand. Piet shakes the others’ hands as well, albeit a little more coolly. They introduce themselves with their last names. They have known each other from the resistance for quite some time.

De Vries sits down again: "Shall we begin right away? Open your bibles – let’s say Matthew 6." Three of them look up Matthew 6 in the bibles that lie in front of them, but Halbertsma forgets because of his question: "Matthew 6 – who will explain if necessary, De Vries? Shall I?"

De Vries want to accentuate that he is in charge: "Well, I like to do it myself."

Piet: "Well, gentlemen – we are facing a difficult problem. We have every confidence in getting into that prison, and out again –" Halbertsma, curiously: "Without the Germans across the road noticing?" De Vries, intervening: "I think it would be best, Halbertsma, if Kramer didn’t tell us anything about his plan."

Piet: "The question is: whom do we get out – and whom do we leave behind? That’s a responsibility I as a KP commander would rather not bear alone."

Piet: "Apart from profiteers and the likes of those, there are almost 200 people in that prison. We couldn’t possibly put up all of them in one evening. And it’s no use liberating people when they get arrested again the next day. The ones we get out have to go to a good hiding address immediately."

Peeters: "And what will become of the people you leave behind?" Piet, very straightforward: "I don’t know." Silence for a moment. Then they all say at the same time: Halbertsma, quickly: "Well, it is hard to tell…." Peeters, pondering: "That’s quite a problem." De Vries steps in. He knows Peeters, and says: "Peeters – tell me what’s on your mind."

Peeters: "Yes, well – when you put it like that….I’d like to think it over, whether I can accept that responsibility…." Piet, gravely: "I managed to allot exactly one hour for this meeting."

Peeters: "Well – I’ll have to admit: if the raid is successful, you’ll be saving lives. But if you can’t save everyone, if people get left behind, and if this Grundmann takes reprisals – will we say in retrospect: what we did was the right thing nevertheless? I’d find it incredibly hard to get into that cell hall and tell the one: you’re coming with us – and the other: you’re staying here – which could be the death of him…." Halbertsma, hurriedly as ever: "Conclusion?" De Vries, calmly: "Let him finish." Almost simultaneously:

Peeters: "I’m just thinking out loud – I’m not ready for any conclusion yet. I’m just wondering: is it all right for me to judge?"

De Vries: "It goes for everything one does as a human being – it’s always impossible to tell exactly."

Peeters: "All the more reason to stop and think: what am I achieving? What risk am I creating? Well – I’m struggling with that right now, apropos of this raid. Save lives? Sure. But if we endanger other people, who are also imprisoned?" De Vries corrects him: "Possibly endanger." Silence for a moment.

Piet: "The matter is even more difficult for me that it is for you, Peeters. I’m also concerned about my lads, who’ll be facing it. We’ve thought about it long and hard. We will try to carry out the raid in such a way that we won’t have to fire a single shot –"

De Vries: "A silent raid!" Halbertsma, surprised: "With all those armed guards! Impossible!" Piet, imperturbable: " – and without spilling a drop of blood. I seriously doubt if any reprisals would ensue in that case." De Vries, backing him up firmly: "Agreed, totally."

Piet: "I have only one certainty in this whole situation of uncertainties – that the actual resistance men in that prison will not get out of there alive –" Peeters, finishing his sentence: " – if we don’t get them out – yes, that’s a fact."

Piet: "Quite apart from the fact that the top of all of our organisations – including yours – are running great risks –"

Dr Wartena is in Bakker’s cell. Whilst talking to Bakker, he puts his instruments back into his bag. Shortly before the end of the conversation, he calls the guard to be let out. Bakker is sitting on his bunk, and says: "Doctor – I can’t take anymore chances. You have to help me, and there’s only one way in which you can. You have to give me something – when this Grundmann sends for me again – something I can swallow or bite." Dr Wartena remains silent.

Bakker: "Doctor – here in my head, I know so many names. I know where the weapons get dropped – and I know the routes. When they got me, I was sure of it: they would never get it out of me. Now – I’m not so sure." The doctor walks to the door. Bakker follows him.

Bakker: "You have to look at it rationally. I have no wife, I have no children. Sacrificing one life in order to save, say, fifty. It happens all the time in war…."

Dr Wartena: "Those fifty are just a number to me, mister Bakker – you’re a human being."

Bakker, very intensely: "They’re all human beings! But there’s only one who knows this many names and addresses! – and that’s me…." Lull.

Dr Wartena: "You’ll have to give me some time for this…." Bakker, vehemently: "But there is no time!" At that moment, the door opens. The doctor leaves the cell.

In the vestry, the list of the prisoners’ names is now on the table. Piet has proposed to leave the divers [8] behind. Halbertsma, rather fiercely: "But a lot of those divers are men who refused to work for the Germans! You can’t leave them behind!"

Halbertsma: "I’ll tell you why not!" Piet, decidedly: "There are only two things that count. First: which political prisoners are in mortal danger? Second: can we find addresses for all of them?" Halbertsma, angrily: "I don’t know why you’ve asked me to come here. A raid – fine! We bear the responsibility for it together…."

Peeters: "And Piet Kramer only." Halbertsma, even more angry for meeting with opposition, and standing up in anger: " – and we’ll just have to trust what Piet Kramer says! I ask him: what’s the plan? No answer. I say: the divers have to get out. Not in any danger!" Suddenly, the door handle moves. Four heads turn.

Piet, Peeters, and De Vries grab their bibles. Piet puts the list of prisoners under his. Halbertsma quickly sits down, snatches his bible from the table, and starts thumbing to find Matthew 6." De Vries calmly says: "It’s not quite clear to me what brother Peeters means by his exegesis." The verger has appeared. "There’s someone here to see mister Kramer." Piet gets up and leaves the room. Eppie is waiting in the church. The verger leaves them. Piet, anxiously: "So?"

Eppie: "….and he’s coming along himself to hand it over." Piet is intensely relieved: "Eppie! That’s marvellous! And the telephone lads?"

In the vestry, the conversation continues. De Vries to Halbertsma: "So the people in there for illegal printing, aiding divers, sabotage, intelligence – you agree?" Halbertsma: "Of course. But the railway strikers are a different matter. You’ll see: Piet Kramer will agree with me."

Piet enters. Even before he sits down again, Halbertsma says: "We were just talking about the railway strikers. I said: none of them ever took as much of a risk as the others did."

Piet: "Who says they did?" Halbertsma, to De Vries: "There you go." Piet, sitting down now: "Yes – but that’s not the all and end all of the matter. The Germans are really bugged by this railway strike."

De Vries: "In Groningen they shot a bunch of railwaymen as a reprisal, who were also just in prison there." Peeters, to Piet: "How many railwaymen are in there?"

De Vries: "Then I’d suggest you take them along. Halbertsma?" Halbertsma, after a short lull: "Agreed." Piet, with relief in his voice: "Well then, people – then we can start making the list now."

At the access road to a Frisian village, ID-cards are being checked. No-one can pass without having been checked. Mies approaches on her bicycle. She calmly steps off and shows them her ID. They let her pass. Then she arrives at Klaas’s farm. She gets off her bicycle. Klaas is working, but he instantly abandons his work when he sees Mies. Mies stays with her bicycle.

Mies: "Klaas – Piet Kramer wants you to come to Leeuwarden tomorrow, to bakery Bultsma on Oostergrachtswal."

Klaas: "Something substantial, I hope! A raid?" Mies, her eyes nearly popping out of her head: "I know nothing!"

Klaas: "Cow! – Would you like anything?" Mies turns her bicycle round to get on: "Thanks, but I’ve got a couple more to visit." And while she gets on, Klaas says: "How’s the boss doing?"

While she pedals off, Mies calls over her shoulder: "You bet!" She quickly rides along the channel. Her hair is blowing in the wind, and she looks elated and happy. In the workshop of a Frisian woodcutter, said woodcutter – Jodocus – has paused in his work. Mies is leaning in the doorway. Jodocus says: "I’ll be there right on time, Piet can count on it." Mies turns around to leave. "Don’t forget your plimsolls and mask", she adds, "Bye!" And she’s off. Then she is seen to the door by Chris, a dentist, in some Frisian village. Her bicycle is against the wall. A sign on the wall says C. Ravenstein, dentist.

Chris says: "See you tomorrow." Mies waves goodbye and gets her bicycle, saying: "See you tomorrow, Chris." And she rides off.

In his almost dark bakery, Eppie is pacing up and down, smoking. Someone knocks on the side door. Eppie opens it. Jan and Theo enter; they are both about thirty-five years old. They are wearing phone company uniforms. "Sit down, lads", Eppie says. Jan and Theo sit down.

Eppie: "There are three separate matters. First: listening in on the SD line to find out whether or not Grundmann will be in Leeuwarden tomorrow night. When you find out, you phone the bakery here.

Jan: "We can do that." Eppie continues: "Second: we make a call from the bakery to the house of detention at five o’clock exactly." Jan and Theo nod; they understand.

Eppie: "Third: we start at a quarter to six exactly. We have to be out of there by half past six. During those 45 minutes, no-one – and I mean no-one – can be able to reach the house of detention by telephone. Understand?"

Theo: "Sure, but if Grundmann calls and hears ‘engaged’ three times in a row, he’ll call the exchange and they’ll have to connect him."

Theo: "’Minor technical malfunction. We’re working on it. The line should be ready at six thirty.’"

Eppie: "Excellent! Everything has to go on the dot, and a lot of it depends on you." Theo and Jan get up. They look at each other and then at Eppie. Jan gives the V-sign in silence.

Somewhere in the Frisian countryside, Wim and two KP men, Arie and Jelle, are busy loading faggots onto a ship berthed in the channel, near the farm. They are carrying the faggots out of a shed. Then the same ship, loaded to the brim now, is in Leeuwarden on Oostergrachtswal, opposite the bakery. Wim, Arie, and Jelle are carrying the faggots across the quay into the alley next to the shop. A couple of German soldiers pass them by, but pay no attention to them. Eppie’s children are playing in the street.

Wim carries a couple of faggots on his shoulders into the bakery. Old Willem points out the corner he has to lay them down in. When Wim is out again, Old Willem pushes the branches aside a little. The butt stock of a stengun becomes visible. He covers it up again. Upstairs, in the Bultsma’s sitting-room (Eppie’s mother is knitting in the background), Piet and Eppie are conferring over a map of the surroundings of the house of detention.

Piet: "Right – the second group now, Chris and his lads." Eppie, pointing: "I would say here, in the thickets."

Eppie: "Well – the lads will have to be very quiet, of course." Jannie pops her head around the door and says to Eppie: "There’s someone here to see you."

Piet: "Show him in." Jannie shows Turksma in and closes the door. Turksma is totally worn out. He bashfully stays at the door. He swallows but doesn’t say a word.

Eppie: "What’s the matter? Has something gone wrong? With the warrant?" Turksma has approached.

Eppie: "Please, sit down, man!" Turksma takes a seat. He talks dazedly and absent-mindedly: "Yes – er – I’ve thought about it long and hard – I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night…."

Eppie: "But man, we all feel like that! Did you think we weren’t shitting bricks? We’ll be beside you! Twenty men!"

Turksma: "Sure, but I’m the one who’s supposed to hand over that warrant….and I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to go awry…."

Eppie: "And everything went fine with the Chief Constable!" Turksma shrugs in despair. Eppie looks at Piet in dismay and then at Turksma again: "And we need a policeman they know!" Piet gets up. It is clear to him that Turksma will be of no use to them. Walking over to the door, he laconically says: "Well – it’s off then." Piet signals to Eppie: come with me for a minute. He walks into the hallway. Eppie follows him. Turksma is sitting on his chair – hollow, broken. In the hallway, a swift conversation develops.

Piet: "Let’s not take any chances, Eppie – have him followed. I’ll be back in an hour."

Eppie, agitatedly: "That’s exactly what went wrong in Amsterdam. Johannes Post became obsessed with his raid, too! They kept taking one more risk, and another, and another! They got mowed down!!" Piet, very forcefully: "There was treachery afoot in Amsterdam."

In the prison hallway, the gatekeeper lets Dr Wartena in. The bell rings again. The gatekeeper goes to open the door. A woman delivers some laundry. Jellema is sitting on a bench next to the little fountain in the hallway. Dr Wartena walks up to Jellema. A fast conversation in muffled voices ensues.

At that moment the door to the administration office opens. Koopman wants to step out, sees the doctor and Jellema standing together with an open bag, smells a rat, and stands stock-still. The doctor hands Jellema the paper from his bag. It disappears into Jellema’s pocket. Jellema turns to the hallway. Koopman has closed the door. Jellema walks through the hallway, to the door to the cell hall. He rings the bell. Dr Wartena leaves the prison. At that moment, Koopman appears, holding a gun. He hurries to the door to the cell hall and rings the bell, long and loud.

Jellema is just leaving Bakker’s cell. The bell rings. Bakker is sitting there with the paper in his hands. Jellema says: "The doctor said you should have this straightaway." The door to the cell hall is opened. Koopman rushes in with his gun drawn, almost knocking over the guard who opened the door. Bakker can hear what is going on outside from his cell.

Koopman’s voice: "Here – open up, quickly!" A key gets put in the lock of Bakker’s cell door.

During the argument, Bakker first tried to see through the peephole. He straightens himself. What in God’s name is he supposed to do? He opens the bag. There is the capsule. He quickly decides. Biting and swallowing vehemently, he eats the bag. Then he hides the capsule under his armpit. The door flies open. Koopman appears. A guard with a key is standing next to him.

Koopman: "Hand over whatever you were given just now, this instance!" Bakker, very calm and surprised: "I don’t know what you mean."

Bakker stays standing. Koopman searches his bed, looks on the little table, and underneath it, suddenly rushes towards Bakker, searches his pockets, slips his hands along his clothes, along his trouser legs, says: "Open your mouth!", checks Bakker’s mouth, goes to search the ledge of the wall. Bakker moves his left foot. Koopman turns around and barks at him: "Keep still!"

In the kitchen of Klaas’s farm, Piet has made his appeal to the vital cooperation of PC Teunisse. Piet is sitting. At the other end of the table, Teunisse’s wife continues sewing baby clothes. Teunisse is nervously pacing up and down. Suddenly he stops and says: "And when is this supposed to happen?" Piet, businesslike: "Today!" Teunisse, dismayed: "Today?"

Piet: "If you’re going to say ‘yes’ in a couple of hours, you can say it now."

Piet puts the blank arrest warrant on the table. Teunisse approaches and looks at it. Then he sighs: "The baby is due any day now…." He looks at his wife. His wife looks at him – a deep glance. Teunisse calmly says: "I’ll do it." Vos, the assistant director, is sitting at his desk. Grundmann’s right-hand man, Walther, is sitting next to him. Their talk has almost come to an end. Koopman has been called in to receive his orders; he is standing. "So you’ll make sure Jellema remains under arrest?"

Walther adds: "Quickly if possible!" Koopman, obligingly, to Walther: "Will do, Herr Unterscharführer!"

Vos: "And finally, there’s this Dr Wartena –" Walther, getting up: "He’s my concern!"

In Eppie’s bakery, a few KP men have already gathered, some of them wearing plimsolls, others with thick socks over their shoes. They are working on the stenguns, loading their pistols, or doing exercises. Wim and Old Willem hand them the faggots. Piet is sitting astride on a chair next to the phone: calm and poised. Eppie is leaning against the door, not far from Piet. Teunisse is wearing his police uniform – he seems somewhat on edge. Chris and Jodocus enter through the side door. No-one says a word, they greet each other by a gesture of the hand. Teunisse breaks the silence. He looks at his watch. "What time do you have?" he asks Wim. Wim slowly pulls a nice, antique, silver watch out of his pocket. "Three minutes to five", he says. He shows him the watch. "It belonged to my father…."

The telephone rings – suddenly, shrilly. Piet and Eppie remain calm. Teunisse takes a step back. Eppie quickly gets to the phone. "Yes….Excellent!.....Thanks!" He puts the receiver down. At that moment, the bell in the shop rings. Piet signals Eppie to speak softly.

At that moment, Jannie pops her head around the door to the shop. She sees Piet, and says to him: "Piet, come here for a minute!"
Piet walks into the store. Mies, wearing an old raincoat, is standing at the counter. Piet joins her.

Piet: "Keep an eye on it…." Mies is about to leave, but Piet extends his hand to stop her. Piet, softly: "Have you got my father’s address? "

They look at each other. Then Mies goes to the door and Piet goes back to the bakery. At the house of detention, Walther steps out of the entrance. An SS man opens the door of his Opel. Walther gets in. The car drives off. In the telephone exchange, Jan and Theo are sitting at the switchboard, but their eyes are trained on the clock. It is 4:59, then the large dial jumps to 5:00. Then they jerk themselves to the switchboard. In the bakery, PC Teunisse has the receiver in his hand. He is dialling the final three digits of the number of the house of detention. Piet, Eppie, Wim, and the others are anxiously watching. Teunisse listens. Then he says: "Engaged." Walther’s Opel passes the Oosterbrug bridge. Mies is watching. She recognises the car and heads back to the bakery. There, Teunisse is dialling the same number.

Teunisse speaks: "Central Police Station calling, station sergeant…..Is this the house of detention? Could you put me through to mister Vos?" Short silence. "Mister Vos, Central Police Station, station sergeant speaking. Three profiteers will be delivered to you…..at about a quarter to six….." And after a moment: "Could you pass it on to administration? .....Thank you." He puts down the receiver with a sigh of relief. In the telephone exchange, Theo and Jan look at each other. Mies appears in the doorway to the bakery. She only utters one word to Piet: "Gone!" Piet gets up. They all listen to him as their leader.

"Lads", Piet says, "now we have to wait until they call back." There is complete silence. Every eye is beaming at the phone. Koopman is on the phone in his office. He dials and waits.

In the bakery, the phone rings. Calmly, Old Willem walks over and picks up the receiver. Teunisse is right beside him. Old Willem: "Central Police Station….." (silence) "Station sergeant? – I’ll put you through." He hands the receiver to Teunisse. Teunisse: "Station sergeant." (silence) "Yes, all right, mister Koopman. I called mister Vos. Three detainees and two of us. Quarter to six. Thank you." Teunisse rings off and turns to the others. They did it! They are all very relieved.

Between the house of detention and the convict prison behind it, is a drab courtyard. It is almost dark. A high brick wall stretches out. Inspector Bakker, wearing an overcoat, is led along the wall by a guard by the name of Carels. Then the big, iron gate of the convict prison emerges. Bakker and Carels are at the gate. Carels has just rung the bell. Bakker whispers to him: "Why am I being transferred?"

Carels: "SD’s orders, mister Bakker." Footsteps approach. Keys rattle. Bakker, on edge: "Another interrogation?"

Carels: "Probably not." The gate is opened, they get through, and the gate slams shut again. Their footsteps die away.

In the bakery are Piet, Eppie, Wim, Mies, Teunisse, Old Willem, and all the KP men who will be participating in the raid. As Teunisse, Arie is also wearing a police uniform. Some of them are sitting on the floor, others are standing. The masks are in their pockets. The mood is calm. They attentively listen to Piet, who is holding a piece of paper.

Piet: "So now for the people we have to get out. Eppie, Jodocus, Gerard, and all of you. Have you got your lists of names and cell numbers?" Eppie and five others raise their lists and put them away again.

Piet: "Remember, Jodocus, Bakker has to get out first. Cell number 10." Jodocus nods.

Piet: "Listen, lads….: the people we are hoping to liberate are our comrades. Their lives are at risk every day. Who to get out and who to leave behind – we’ve worked that out to a man. Remember one thing, and remember it well: we cannot be the first ones to shoot. One shot – and we’ll have the entire Wehrmacht across the road on our necks. We go in at a quarter to six – at half past six we all have to be out again. So we’ve got forty-five minutes and not a minute longer."

In the hallway of the convict prison, Carels hands Bakker over to the guard, Van der Vegte, and old man, sucking on an empty pipe. He opens the cell door.

Carels: "Here he is, Van der Vegte." Bakker enters the cell. Carels leaves. Van der Vegte follows Bakker in. Bakker is standing at the bunk. Van der Vegte in the doorway. Van der Vegte: "I really don’t understand why they transferred you here. I’ll get you something to eat later."

Bakker: "Thank you very much." Van der Vegte leaves. Bakker waits for a moment, and then looks through the barred hatch in the door. Then he goes to stand outside the scope of the hatch and pulls the capsule of poison out of his pocket. After searching for a minute, he finds a small hole in the corner of the wall, in which he hides the capsule.

In the bakery, Piet wraps up his speech: "We’ve lost a lot of good men in the KP, especially in Friesland, especially during the last few months. They’ll be beside us tonight." They all stand up. Some lower their arms. Others gaze straight ahead. Most of them pray along in silence.

"Lord our God – standing here facing our hardest task yet, we ask for Your help. They are our imprisoned brothers-in-arm whom we want to free out of the clutches of the conquerors threatening their lives. We feel we also serve our country and our people in this. What we are about to do – and You know our plans – we cannot do on our own. We know this. We only wish to be an implement in Your hands. We beg your indispensable blessing. Grant us all the strength to be brave. God be with us – help us, for Jesus’ sake – Amen." Some repeat the word ‘Amen’, others remain silent. Teunisse crosses himself. Wim takes his watch out of his pocket and shows it to Piet.

Piet: "Half past five! – Harry, Tinus!" Harry and Tinus get up and head for the side door.

In the convict prison, Van der Vegte approaches cell number 60. He opens the hatch and shoves a piece of bread in. Bakker, in his cell, looks up at the door and goes to get the bread. "Thank you", he says. He sits down on the edge of the bunk and starts chewing the dry bread.

Harry and Tinus pass the Oosterbrug bridge in silence. They walk to the door of the corner house. They don’t make a sound. They get to the door. Harry produces a picklock and puts it in the lock. He turns the key. Harry, whispering: "The masks!" They both put on their masks. Harry quietly opens the door, and they enter.

Upstairs, an old couple are having a modest meal at the table. They turn round, startled, when the door opens and Harry and Tinus, wearing their masks, appear. Tinus heads straight for the blacked-out window. Harry kindly says: "People, we mean you no harm. We only need to use this room for an hour. That’s all."

Harry: "It’s for the good cause. Could you go to another room for the time being?"

The couple get up and shamble to the door, still chewing. Harry signals Tinus to go along with them. Tinus does so. Harry softly says: "Lock them in!" When they have left the room, Harry turns off the light, goes to the window, pulls aside the blackout curtains, and opens the window. Tinus returns, and the light from the hallway shines through the doorway when he opens the door.

Harry: "Lights off, you prat!" Tinus switches the light off. Then he goes to stand next to Harry by the window. Harry is looking out.

Harry: "Nice place for the machine gun, eh?" Across the channel is the Ortskommandantur. There is a sentry on guard outside. Six KP men have left the bakery. Wim shows Piet his watch once more.

Piet: "Chris, your turn!" Chris walks over to some others and heads to the side door. He is followed by seven KP men.

In the upstairs room of the corner house, the furniture has been moved to make lots of room at both windows. Jaap, Cor, Ab, and Rinus are with Harry and Tinus now. They are all wearing masks. They are busy getting the weapons out of some sacks. Harry whispers: "Cor, Ab….the machine gun over at this window. Rinus….you go to that window with the hand grenades. And remember, hold your fire until I give the signal. – Understood?" Fourteen KP men have left the bakery.

Gerard: "Let’s go, lads!" Four men follow Gerard to the side door. Eppie slips into the shop. "I’ll be right there", he says to Gerard. Chris’s group are sneaking along the waterfront to a spot not far from the house of detention’s main entrance. There, they flatten themselves on the ground and put their masks on. It is almost dark in Eppie’s shop. Eppie’s mother and Jannie are there. Eppie hugs his mother. Then the old woman leaves the shop and goes upstairs. Eppie hugs Jannie ardently, without saying a word. Then he tears himself loose. We hear him leave. Jannie only just manages to control herself. Now, only Piet, Wim, Teunisse, Jelle, Arie, and Mies remain in the bakery.

Piet: "Now it’s our turn." They all head for the door. Piet turns round to face Mies for a moment.

In the dark, Wim, Jelle, Arie, and Teunisse are waiting. Piet joins them. They head towards the Oosterbrug bridge. The machine gun has been set up by the window in the corner house. Harry, Cor, and Ab are at the gun, anxious. Piet’s group cross the bridge in silence. Chris and two others of his group are lying prone on the grass. They listen. The German sentry is on guard in front of the Ortskommandantur. Piet’s group pass the corner house. Eppie and Gerard are tensely waiting in the thickets.

In the telephone exchange, Theo and Jan are sitting at the switchboard. Their eyes are trained on the clock. It shows sixteen to six. In Eppie’s sitting-room, old Ms Bultsma is knitting in her chair. Jannie is sitting at the table with her head in her hands, motionless. Mies is sitting. Bert and Jopie are playing on the floor. They are unusually quiet, as if they sense that something is happening. The clock on the mantelpiece shows a quarter to six. Old Ms Bultsma stops knitting, closes her eyes, and listens. Piet and his group are quietly approaching the entrance to the house of detention. Teunisse looks at Piet. Piet nods ‘yes’.

Teunisse takes a step forward and rings the bell. The five men are motionless. Then the light over the door switches on. Wim quickly steps in front of Arie, so his face will be in the shadows. The barred hatch opens.

Gatekeeper: "Arrest warrant…" Teunisse pulls the document out of his cap and hands it over through the hatch, which closes again immediately. The five men wait.

Chris and Eppie are anxiously looking on. Suddenly, they hear footsteps of marching German soldiers. They grow louder. Wim looks in the direction of the German patrol. Piet, whispering: "Don’t look round!" Wim looks at the door again. The marching footsteps die away.

Wim: "Maybe they’re calling again?" Piet signals Wim to be quiet: "Shut up!" Then they hear the rattle of keys again. The door is unlocked and opened.

Gatekeeper: "All right, gentlemen." The group steps in. First Piet, Wim, and Jelle – then Teunisse and Arie. The door is closed and locked behind them. The light goes off. Chris’s group quietly crawl out of their hideout – and move to the door of the prison. Gerard’s group does the same. They are still covering in the thickets.

In the prison, Piet’s group is at the barred gate, which the gatekeeper is just unlocking. As soon as the gate is open, Teunisse and Arie push their ‘prisoners’ ahead.

Teunisse: "First to administration." They have now passed the iron gate and are at the door to the administration office. The gatekeeper locks the gate again. At the same moment, Piet calls: "Now!"

Wim: "Hands up!" The five men get their guns out. Apart from the gatekeeper, there are two more guards in the hallway, who are completely flabbergasted. Wim and Arie keep them covered. Jelle jumps to the administration door. Piet runs through the hallway to the governor’s office. Koopman, the administrator, is the only one present in the administration office. He is writing. He looks up. The door swings open. Jelle appears: "Hands up!" Koopman raises his hands with fright and stands up. His pen drops to the floorboards and catches upright, quivering.

Jelle: "Away from the alarm! Get into the corner! Face to the wall!" Koopman does as he is told. Jelle jumps onto the table and discards the cord with the alarm system.

In the hallway, Piet closes the door to the directorate with a ruffled expression. Three guards are facing the wall. Teunisse and Arie are busy stripping them of their pistols. Piet, nervously, to Wim: "Vos isn’t here – his office is deserted!"

Piet: "I looked everywhere." Piet to Teunisse: "You go upstairs and take a good look in the consulting rooms." Teunisse rushes up the stairs.

Wim to the gatekeeper: "The keys – hand over the keys!" The man does not respond.

Wim: "The keys! Oh man, you’re getting such a twatting…." The gatekeeper takes off the bunch of keys. Wim snatches them from his hands.

Wim: "You’re coming with me. Open it!" He shoves the gatekeeper towards the barred gate. Piet points to the administration office: "Put them in there – Arie, keep an eye on them!" Two guards are driven into the administration office. Piet, suddenly: "Where’s Jellema?"

Wim: "He might be in the cell hall…." The barred gate has been opened. Wim and the gatekeeper walk to the entrance. The gatekeeper reaches for the light switch.

Wim: "Don’t touch it, you pillock! Open the door!" The gatekeeper turns the key. The door opens.

Wim: "Now get the hell out of here!" The gatekeeper walks to the administration office. Wim follows him.

Meanwhile, Gerard’s and Chris’s groups quickly slip in with the weapons. They are all wearing masks. Not a word is uttered. When the last man is in, Wim returns. He locks the entrance door. Piet gives them quick orders in the hallway: "Klaas and Frits – you stay there." He points to the spot at the stairs. "Keep the entrance covered, and no matter what happens – stay here." Klaas and Frits start to assemble their stenguns.

Piet to the others: "Quickly, to your posts, lads." Teunisse is coming down the stairs and says to Piet: "No-one upstairs." Piet, under his breath: "Where is that blackguard?!" He opens the door to the administration office, and nervously says to Jelle: "Vos is missing – we have to know where he is." He stays to watch. Jelle says to Koopman, who is facing the wall with his hands in the air together with three guards, with his face averted: "You heard the man, Koopman – where is Vos?" Koopman remains silent. Jelle points his gun at him and says: "You’ve got exactly three seconds to answer me." With a click, he releases the safety catch. "One – two – " Koopman, just in time: "The convict prison."

Koopman: "Yes." Piet heard it. He locks the door and walks further along the hallway.

Piet: "Lads – we’re going in." There is quite a throng in the hallway. Piet has difficulty recognizing the masked men. Piet, softly: "Chris, Gerard – where are you?" Chris and Gerard: "Here, boss!"

Piet: "Get to the door to the courtyard right now, and take care of the feller who will be entering. Be careful: he’ll be armed. Jodocus!" Jodocus comes to Piet.

Piet: "Run like you’ve never run before!" The group is now standing at the door to the cell hall.

Piet: "Lads, do not shoot! Jump them! And make it quick!" There is a deathly quiet all of a sudden. Eppie looks at Piet. Piet, softly but insistently: "Now."

Eppie rings the bell. They wait. The rattle of keys approaches. The key gets put into the lock. The door starts to open.

On the table where two guards are sitting is a button. It says ‘Alarm’. One of the guards jumps up and wants to press the button. Sprinting forward, Eppie manages to smack away his hand just in time. Theo keeps the other guard, Carels, in check with his gun. Carels hands over his pistol: "There you go." Meanwhile, Eppie has also cried: "Pistol!" The guard who almost raised the alarm has to hand over his gun. Eppie makes him face the wall at some distance with his hands up. Eppie himself remains vigilant at the alarm button for the remainder of the raid.

Marten and Henkie have followed Theo. To the right, a third guard pulls out his gun and intends to fire it. Henkie knocks it out of his hands. It is flung across the floor and Henkie picks it up. Johan, Hans, John, Antoon, and Joop run up the stairs. Their plimsolls leap from step to step. The former three head for the second floor, the others head for the third floor. Calling resounds: "Hands up!" Eppie to the three guards standing at the table now: "The keys!" The guards hand them over to Marten and Henkie, each taking one. Marten goes to the right, Henkie to the left, each equipped with a list. Eppie asks Carels: "Where’s Jellema?"

Eppie calls Wim: "Wim – Jellema is in cell number 15!" Wim goes there. Jodocus arrives at the door to the cell where Bakker was being kept. He opens the door – empty! Upstairs, Antoon and one of the guards go through a door with a sign: ‘Women’s prison’. Downstairs, in the cell hall, Chris and Gerard are standing at the door to the courtyard with their stenguns, each on one side. Wim opens the door to cell number 15.

In the cell is Jellema, together with two other prisoners, lads of some twenty-five years old. They are scared out of their wits, thinking the SD are there to collect them. Jellema also looks frightened when the door opens. The two lads almost try to disappear in the corners of the cell. When Wim appears on the threshold, wearing a mask, Jellema instantly knows what is happening. Elated, he hurries towards Wim.

Wim: "Quickly – to the front of the building!" Jellema gives Wim a hug, and then walks into the cell hall. The two prisoners throw themselves at Wim with their desperate pleas.

Wim: "I’m sorry, lads – it’s all been considered, and we’re in no end of a hurry." Whilst uttering the last words, Wim closes the door. In the meantime, prisoner 1 calls out: "I want to get out!"

Prisoner 2: "Please, take me with you, sir – take me with you!" When the door is closed, they start kicking it from the inside. The hallway downstairs. Jodocus, dismayed, is with Piet.

Jodocus: "They only just brought him there. Piet gazes ahead, thinking. He steps into the administration office. In the administration office, Piet says to Koopman: "Koopman – start dialling! Koopman sits down, somewhat hesitantly.

Piet: "You’re going to do exactly as I say. You make a call to the convict prison. You say: ‘there are two men of the SD here. Bakker has to be brought here right away.’ Get on with it! And talk normally!" Koopman dials two digits. Silence for a moment. Koopman, into the receiver: "Koopman here. Van der Vegte, there are two SD men here. Could you get Bakker over here straightaway…….I’ll ask."

Koopman to Piet: "What’s it for?" Piet has to think of something. He dully repeats: "What’s it for…." He suddenly thinks of something: "Interrogation." Koopman, into the receiver: "Interrogation…." The clock shows five past six. In the cell hall of the convict prison, Van der Vegte is sitting at his table. He just rang off. He repeats Koopman’s last words: "Interrogation…." Angered, he shoves the telephone some way along the table. He makes himself very, very comfortable. He knocks out his pipe, and minutely starts to fill it again. From the room upstairs in the corner house where the cover squad are, we see Cor and Ab sitting at the machine gun, aimed at the Ortskommandantur. A Mercedes with covered headlights approaches from the first channel bridge. The car stops in front of the Ortskommandantur. Meanwhile, the following rapid conversation strikes up, rather quietly, for they cannot be heard outside:

The Mercedes is in front of the Ortskommandantur. The driver alights and opens the door for Grundmann. The sentry salutes. Grundmann enters the building. Back at the upstairs room. Rinus has joined the group. Another rapid conversation:

The first liberated prisoners have now arrived in the prison hallway. Some of the KP men congratulate Jellema, whose work they heard of. With delighted faces, the prisoners congratulate each other and thank the KP men – all rather muffled, not loud. Chris and Gerard are in the cell hall, at the door to the courtyard, stenguns at the ready. Wim walks up to them. A key is put in the lock. The door opens, assistant director Vos unsuspectingly steps in.

Wim: "Hands up!" Vos raises his hands, dumbfounded. Wim to Chris: "Frisk him." Vos is frisked. First they find the one gun, then another. Vos, meanwhile: "Sir, I am a proper Dutchman! I must protest! You have me all wrong!" Wim grabs him by the scruff of his neck, and shoves the struggling man towards the hallway.

Meanwhile, all the prisoners have cottoned on to the fact that there is a liberation raid taking place. Some of them call out: "Get us out! Open the door!" Others bang the cell doors. The sound of the bell the prisoners can operate from their cells and rings at the cell number sign at the table in the cell hall, resounds continually. Wim, having arrived at the hallway, hands Vos over to two KP men, who take him to the administration office. Turning round, Wim emphatically calls out above the din from the cells: "Lads – stick to the list! No-one else!" Grundmann’s car is still parked outside the Ortskommandantur. In the upstairs room in the corner house, the KP men nervously look out.

Now the assistant director is facing the wall in the administration office too. Piet and Wim are worried. Koopman makes a phone call again. The clock shows sixteen past six. Piet looks at it.

Koopman: "Van der Vegte? – Listen, this Bakker chap hasn’t arrived yet. These two SD men are starting to get impatient. Could you make sure he gets here immediately!" Jelle snatches the receiver out of Koopman’s hand and bellows into it: "Immediately, do you hear, immediately!" He slams the receiver down. In the convict prison cell hall, Van der Vegte knocks out his pipe. The pipe has to be knocked out completely. A deep sigh. He slowly ambles off.

The Ortskommandantur. Grundmann gets into the car. The driver closes the door, gets behind the wheel, and drives off. His route: across the Oosterbrug bridge, and then straight ahead, through the small street. When the car starts, another rapid conversation strikes up in the corner house:

When the car comes over the Oosterbrug bridge, Harry and Rinus go to the left window. They anxiously look on. The car disappears into the side street. Rinus, with suppressed jubilation: "It’s gone!" All of the liberated prisoners are in the hallway with the horde of KP men. We see Jellema. Piet has the floor, holding a list.

Piet: "You have been divided into ten groups. Each group is to go to a certain location in this area. Two men will be waiting for you there. Pay close attention to what I’m saying. You will ask those men: ‘Do you know what time it is?’ Their subsequent answer should be: ‘It’s about time we go home.’ This will be your countersign. And now for the division. Group 1 are –" (he looks at his list) Inside Bakker’s cell. Van der Vegte opens the door. Bakker looks up. He is sitting at the table.

Van der Vegte: "Mister Bakker – could you get ready right now, please?" Bakker gets up, startled: "What’s going on?"

Van der Vegte: "There are", he says hesitantly, "two men of the SD here to see you." Bakker is thunderstruck.

Bakker stays motionless. Then he automatically puts on his overcoat, staring, numb. Suddenly, he sobers up. He bends over and anxiously rummages for the capsule. He holds it in his hand for a moment. Then he quickly puts it in his coat pocket. Walther’s Opel approaches the Ortskommandantur with covered headlights. Inside the Opel are an SD driver; behind him the SD brute Johannsen, and their prisoner: Dr Wartena. We are back in the upstairs room of the corner house. Harry and Rinus are peering out of the left window.

Harry: "I think so, too." They watch the Opel cross the Oosterbrug bridge, turn left, and pull up in front of the prison. In the meantime, Harry lopes to the machine gun. Another rapid, anxious conversation ensues:

Johannsen and the SD driver alight on either side of the Opel. Johannsen has his submachine gun at the ready, while Dr Wartena starts to get out. Eppie’s sitting-room. The littluns have become a bit troublesome. Mies is reading them a story. She chose Little Red Riding Hood, and she is just coming to the most suspenseful passage.

Mies: "And then Little Red Riding Hood drew very close to her grandmother and said: ‘My, grandmother, what big teeth you have!’ And then the wolf said: ‘All the better to eat you with – snap’, and Little Red Riding Hood was gone." Jannie is sitting, holding her head in her hands. Eppie’s mother has stopped knitting. The clock shows twenty past six. It slowly ticks on.

In the hallway of the house of detention, Piet says: "And that was the final group. Allow me to reiterate the countersignal. You ask the people you meet: ‘Do you know what time it is?’ The bell resounds. Piet turns round as if stung. Jelle jumps out of the administration office. Piet makes a gesture of the head to Wim: go and have a look! Wim hurries off. In the upstairs room of the corner house, the men are still peering.

Ab: "Piss off, Harry – I’ll wipe them off the face of the earth in a jiffy!" Ab aims and puts his finger on the trigger.

Harry: "Hands off!" He smacks Ab’s finger away. "You will wait until I give the signal!" Wim opens the hatch in the door. He looks out. He starts. Johannsen: "Open up!" Wim bangs the hatch shut again. He hurries back.

Piet to the liberated men: "Excuse me for a moment, people!" He steps into the administration office.

Wim calls Arie in: "Arie!" Arie leaves Teunisse to cover the staff. The ensuing conversation is whisperingly held as far away from the staff as possible:

Piet: "They must have been warned." He despairs for a moment. "Lads…." He looks at the clock showing twenty-one past six: "And only nine more minutes!"

Wim: "Arie – on me!" Wim and Arie run off. Piet returns to the hallway. He is in control of himself again.

Piet: "People – something unexpected has come up, and I must ask you to get back into the cell hall for a moment."

Calling: "What’s going on?" "Speak up!" "Let us out!" "I’m not going back in there!" Piet, sternly: "People – you’ll have to do as I say – and quickly! You have to get in there. That is an order!" He helps to drive the protesting people back into the cell hall. The door gets closed. Piet is back at the front before they have all gone in. Wim returns and despairingly says: "I can’t find the switch for the light outside!" Piet calls through the administration door: "Koopman – get over here! Jelle!" Koopman appears.

Piet: "Turn on the light outside! And be quick about it! If it isn’t on in ten seconds, I’ll put a bullet in your head! Arie – watch the man, and bring him back!"

Piet to Jelle: "Lock the door first and turn off the light outside!" The bell rings again and there is kicking against the door.

Piet: "And if they start shooting?" Wim points to Klaas’s and Frits’s stenguns: "Then it’s all or nothing."

Wim: "You’ll shoot straight through Arie and me." Koopman returns. Arie gives him a shove, making him half tumble into the administration office. Arie locks the door. Wim and Arie hurry forward. Jelle is ready at the switch for the light outside. Wim opens the door. As soon as it opens, Johannsen gives the doctor a shove, making him trip a few paces. The two SD men step in and are immediately jumped by Wim and Arie. A fierce struggle develops. Jelle turns off the light outside, closes the door, and helps Wim overpower Johannsen.

Eppie steps forward from the group of KP men in the cell hall, lifts Johannsen’s chin, and says to Piet: "Johannsen."

Wim seethes: "What did you say? I’ve got the biggest cad of Leeuwarden in a hold here….?" Piet, sternly, to Johannsen: "Are you Johannsen?" Johannsen wavers, and then says: "No!"

Wim: "Against the wall with him and shoot him, the mongrel – shoot him!" He wants to push Johannsen forward to the wall next to the fountain. Some of the KP men get carried away by Wim’s aggression. An air of lynching develops. Piet decidedly steps in, and goes to stand in front of Johannsen.

Piet: "We’ll have none of that!" Wim, teary-eyed: "Out of my way, Piet – when I think of the lads this bastard…."

Piet very forcibly addresses Wim and the group standing behind him: "Use your loaf, Wim – all of you! What do you think’ll happen when they find a dead SD man! We’re not rescuing fifty people to let fifty others get shot!" Piet has won a moment of hesitancy. He immediately continues: "Come on – into the cells with them!" He throws open the door to the administration office and orders: "Take this scum to the cells!" He looks at the clock showing twenty-three past six. "Seven more minutes." At that moment, Dr Wartena, whom no-one had noticed in the chaos, is standing next to Piet. Piet walks into the hallway, the doctor follows him with all haste.

Piet, with a chuckle of relaxation: "Well – we don’t need a doctor round here." Then he recognizes Dr Wartena as the prisoner they were bringing in; he is standing still. "Right – you’re the man they were bringing in just now. You can go straight with one of the groups. Have you got a place to hide?"

Dr Wartena: "Have you released inspector Bakker yet?" Piet, cheerfully: "We hope to welcome him in the flesh any minute now!" Piet is in the cell hall again, and whistles the KP whistle. Van der Vegte and Bakker are let through at the gate they also passed on their way to the convict prison.

Grundmann’s office. He is sitting behind his desk. His secretary is typing. A stack of files is waiting for him. Walther tells him what has happened that afternoon.

Walther: "He’s been transferred to the convict prison." Grundmann contemplates for a moment. Then he says: "Bakker will be locked up here again. Go and get him." Grundmann looks at the clock. The clock in his office jumps to twenty-four past six.

Walther: "Yes, Herr Oberscharführer." Walther leaves the room. Grundmann moves his chair to the telephone. He lights a cigarette. Then he starts dialling the number of the prison. The telephone exchange. Jan has established the tap. Theo listens in. Grundmann’s office. He has the telephone receiver to his ear. Then he says: "Grundmann speaking…..What? Police?....Wrong number." He is thinking: I might have dialled the Central Police Station’s number by accident. He dials the prison’s number again. He gets the police again.

Grundmann: "….Police? Beg your pardon!" He doesn’t understand. He grabs the directory and looks up the number for interruptions. He points at it. Then he dials the number. In the telephone exchange, the telephone for reporting interruptions starts to ring. Jan picks up the receiver.

Jan: "Fault-clearing service…..Yes……A couple of minutes." Jan puts the receiver down. He laconically says to Theo: "There’s an interruption on the line to the prison." Theo looks at the clock showing twenty-six past six. Theo, just as laconically: "A four minute interruption." On the courtyard, Van der Vegte and Bakker arrive at the door to the cell hall. Van der Vegte starts to open the door. Bakker gets the capsule out of his pocket, and raises his hand to put the capsule in his mouth. The SD won’t get him alive! He looks at the door. The door swings open. Bakker sees the hall with masked KP men, with some of the cell doors opened and guards being shoved into other cells, and he realizes: this is a liberation. He totters two steps forward – he is in the hall. Piet Kramer rushes up to him. Bakker drops the capsule – it rolls off. Then Piet is with him.

Bakker: "That’s me." Piet extends his hand: "Piet Kramer – " Bakker clutches him. Piet, softly: "You’re free – we did it this time!" Bakker cannot reply. The transition is too great for him.

Piet: "Come on…." Supporting Bakker, he walks to the hallway. At the door to the courtyard, Van der Vegte says: "A fine bit of work!" He proffers his gun to Chris and says, indicating the cells the guards are being put in: "Go ahead and shove me in there, too!"

Some of the liberated men have already disappeared through the entrance, but just when Piet and Bakker get to the open door to the cell hall, Vos, Koopman, the guards from the administration office, the SD man, and finally Johannsen, are being driven past them. There is a deathly quiet. The liberated men calmly make way. One of them wants to smack the SD men – another one holds his arm back. The silence is pregnant with disdain. Suddenly, Bakker is face to face with Johannsen. He looks at him – wordlessly. The band is driven into the cells. The KP men lock the doors and hurry to the hallway to disappear through the entrance. Piet tells the KP men: "Out the door, lads – quickly, to your hiding addresses!" Piet and Bakker step into the hallway a little slower. Eppie remains in the cell hall until everyone has gone. Then he leaves too. We follow Piet into the administration office. Wim is reclining in Koopman’s chair, completely at ease, with his feet on the desk.

Piet: "Nutter!" Wim, still sitting: "Oh, all right." He jumps up. He leaves the room. Piet takes a final look, standing in the doorway. The clock jumps to six thirty. Hitler is staring from his picture. Click, it goes pitch-black. Piet has turned off the lights. Only Eppie and Wim are still in the strangely empty hallway. Eppie takes off his mask.

Grundmann’s office. Grundmann is on the phone. They told him the interruption has been fixed. He says: "The interruption has been fixed? Thank you." He puts down the receiver and picks it up again to dial the prison’s number. He dials the first three digits. The hallway. The telephone starts to ring. Piet, Wim, and Eppie turn round simultaneously. It keeps ringing. Piet laconically waves aside the telephone. They come out. The phone is still ringing. Piet quietly closes the front door. The door softly bumps into the post. We don’t hear the phone any longer. The three KP men walk in the direction of the corner house. It is deathly quiet in Eppie’s sitting-room. All those present know: they should be coming back now. Eppie’s wife gingerly peeps out through the curtains.

Having come to the Oosterbrug bridge, Piet and Wim take a left, and Eppie crosses the bridge towards his house. The three shapes disappear into the dark that safely envelopes them.

[1] From the northern province of Friesland.

[2] The Sicherheitsdienst

[3] The district office of the occupying forces.

[4] Nationaal Socialistische Beweging; the Dutch National Socialist Movement.

[5] Landelijke Organisatie; the National Organization for aid to ‘divers’.

[6] Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten; the Dutch Interior Forces; The

organized, armed, military underground army.

[7] Nationaal SteunFonds; An underground organisation, financing the resistance.

[8] To dive, from ‘onderduiken’, lit. ‘to dive under’, i.e. to go in hiding, to disappear.

Translated by Mark Lubbers

Nederlands

Home