This small town in Drenthe, situated at a hub of connections and therefore with a vibrant economy, lost its Jewish population in one fell swoop from 3 October 1942. They were fellow townsfolk, working in all walks of life. Many of them concentrated in nearby Woldstraat as butchers, textile merchants, etc. They were also industrially active with skin trade, export butcheries and shoe manufacturers.  

It was a representation of society that also included ordinary workers and the poor. Well integrated, but with some latent anti-Semitism, though, but fully active and present in local leisure activities. They were pillars of society, especially in cultural life in theatre and music.  

The arrival of the German occupiers seemingly hardly changed this community at first, but after some time, all the prohibitions made normal life a virtual hell for the Jewish townsfolk. By early 1942, all the men were also forced to work elsewhere in camps in the region, so they disappeared from the street scene.  

On the night of 2 to 3 October 1942, Meppel policemen took all the remaining women, children and a few very elderly men from their homes and this sad company was herded into a waiting train the next day at the railway station, on its way to transit camp Westerbork.  

Most were murdered in Polish death camps within weeks. Only about 20 survived. But they found that hardly anything from their pre-war life remained. Their parental homes were often occupied by others, sometimes still including furniture from the former home. Sometimes they were not even allowed in. As a result, nearly all the survivors left for elsewhere or emigrated to Israel.  

This monument by Onno de Ruyter was only unveiled in 1997, which includes all the names of the Jewish townsfolk who perished. Since that time, the deportation has been commemorated annually on 3 October at 8.30am. This is done in the presence of the college of the mayor and aldermen and primary school pupils from the nearby school, who have adopted the monument. During the Silent March on 4 May, one of the saddest and most harrowing events in Meppel's history is also commemorated at this spot near the former synagogue. 

Author: Wim Sagel