An impressive number. Perhaps this has to do with the enormous powers of persuasion of resistance leader ‘Uncle Jan’ Wikkerink, who managed to convince many farming families to take in people in hiding. Even here in the attic of Markt 12 there are people in hiding, while the office of the German Ortskommandant is located on the ground floor.
Jan Wikkerink is best known for helping people in hiding. Age plays no role in this. The youngest was put in a box on his doorstep in September 1943. The parents of the newborn Jewish boy had gone into hiding and a baby was too risky. Uncle Jan arranges a ‘pure Aryan’ declaration and gives him the name Willem (after Queen Wilhelmina) Herfstink. After the war, the child was re-registered, this time under his real name. Wikkerink himself was arrested by the SS a year later but managed to escape. Until the liberation, he himself went into hiding.
You can view the attic of that time in the museum. The ‘Onderduikmuseum’ is part of ‘De Aalten Musea’, located in three connected, monumental buildings. The central hall houses the tourist office. It is open Tue-Sat from 10-17h – Sun from 13-17h.