Fatal curiosity –
Johannes (Jan) van der Zwan

Johannes (Jan) van der Zwan
4 June 1931 – 20 January 1945 (aged 13)
Berkenhove Cemetery, grave 369

At the beginning of the Second World War, the Scheveningen families had to evacuate by order of the occupiers. Their houses are demolished. There the “Atlantic Wall” is built, a line of defense along the Dutch coast. On 12 January 1943, a group of five hundred people from Scheveningen ended up in Aalten on the other side of the Netherlands, where families had been obliged by the municipality to take in one, two or more people. They are mainly older people and women with children, whose husband and father are at sea. The people of Scheveningen remained in Aalten until after the liberation.

A fatal accident in the house
During the war, thirteen-year-old Jan van der Zwan stayed with his father (widower) with the H.A. Onnink family in the hamlet of Barlo, municipality of Aalten. The Van der Zwan daughters are in the house of the Luiten family a little further down the Markerinkdijk. Father Van der Zwan has found work in the nearby town of Bredevoort at the button factory “Dutch Button Works”.

Jan is having a great time at his guest address, a sweet family with a grocery store at home opposite the primary school. There in the house the Germans have set up a so-called “Schreibstube”, where a somewhat grumpy German soldier is working.

This German and Jan get along well and Jan regularly sits at his office.
On 20 January 1945, a loud bang sounds in the house. Jan appears to have taken the German’s loaded revolver to take a closer look. He accidentally shoots himself. After the shot, Jan can just stumble to the kitchen, where mother Onnink catches him. Jan dies in her arms. The great drama makes a big impression on Mrs. Onnink, her family and the people in the area. What happened has never been forgotten.

Father van der Zwan visited the Onnink family in Barlo for years until his death and then Jan’s simple grave was always visited.

Placement of tombstone on 1 May 2010 in Aalten
On May 1, 2010, a ceremony will take place in the afternoon at two new memorial stones at Berkenhove cemetery, organized by the Onnink family. One stone will be placed on the grave of the elderly Scheveningen couple Van der Toorn-Bruin, who died just after the liberation and until then was buried nameless. The other beautiful stone will be placed on the grave of Jan van der Zwan where no stone was ever placed. Present are the widows Hogeweg and Onnink who at the time with their family provided hospitality to Scheveningen evacuees in their homes. Jan van der Zwan’s sister, Lies van der Zwan from Venlo, also came to Aalten to attend the ceremony.
Herman Onnink reads a part of the Bruin family Bible, which was once donated by the Bruin family to the National Hiding Museum. The ceremony makes a big impression on those present. Both stylish tombstones, which contain an image of the people, were donated by GUV funeral care Aalten

Sources:
Dwars door Barlo, authors: Aleid Bongen-Luiten and Thea Onnink-Stronks
© Collection National Hiding Museum Aalten

Johannes (Jan) van der Zwan
4 June 1932 – 20 January 1945 (13 years)
Cemetery Berkenhove, grave 369