#Monument
Memorial Stone - Joppelaan
On 24 September 1944, six men were executed by an SD commando unit at the Schietebult in Gorssel. The execution was carried out in retaliation for acts of sabotage, the disappearance of the population register, and the fact that the mayor and several civil servants had gone into hiding.
SS commander Heinemann, infamous as “the Beast of Zutphen”, compiled a list of 20 names. Six men were executed without trial:
Fr. Bennekers, A.G. Brinkman, G.W.H.J. Loman, L.H.J.J. Mazel, A. Polak, and L.W.F. van Velden. Twelve others survived their imprisonment. Some managed to escape after receiving a warning from the local priest, who had spoken out from the pulpit.
Police officer Meijer, who refused to assist in the arrests, was detained and executed in Vorden that same day. A monument was unveiled in 2004 in memory of the victims. Each year, on 4 May, a memorial service is held at the cemetery in Gorssel, where the six men are buried.