PvH War Grave Bakker, General Cemetery Sneek

Jan Hendrik Bakker 1894-1944 (resistance fighter)

The night of July 13-14, 1944, has gone down in history as the Sneker Bloednacht. On that night four Snekers were murdered in cold blood by NSB members, namely Jan Hendrik Bakker, Klaes Koelstra, Jan Tekelenburg and Feike van der Heide. Town clerk, and later mayor, Ludolf Rasterhoff was also on the list, but he survived the massacre.

On July 13, 1944, a bus with about 35 NSKK (Nationalsozialistische Kraftfahrkorps) people left Leeuwarden. Among them was SD officer Jan Ale Visser, the instigator of the terrible tragedy. Visser had a list of the names of 25 prominent citizens in Sneek who were known to be anti-German. Revenge had to be taken for the kidnapping and liquidation of NSB officer Geale van der Kooi two days earlier. With the help of an NSB lieutenant, the list was divided into two. Visser's group then set out.

Two Sneker NSB members served as guides. After they had been on the road for three quarters of an hour they rang the bell in the Wijde Noorderhorne at the Bakker family of Broodfabriek Stad Sneek. Jan Hendrik Bakker had to get dressed and was taken from the house around 1:30 in the night. Shortly thereafter those who stayed behind heard a shot. It was curfew and thus life-threatening to go outside, especially as NSKK men were patrolling Sneek. The next morning Bakker's son found his father's corpse.