#Story

Largest robbery in Dutch bank history

On November 15, 1944, the Dutch resistance carried out a bank robbery at the Nederlandsche Bank in Almelo. With a haul of 46.1 million guilders, it remains the largest bank robbery in Dutch history. The money, intended to fund resistance activities, was eventually recovered by the German occupiers.

At Wierdensestraat 27 in Almelo stood a branch of the Nederlandsche Bank, where in 1944 a large amount of cash was stored. The money had been brought there on orders from Reichskommissar Seyss-Inquart, likely for later transport to Germany. The Overijssel branch of the resistance learned of this. Due to the Railway Strike (September 1944) and other sabotage operations in the crucial war years of 1944 and 1945, the national resistance was running out of funds, making this sum highly desirable.

Resistance fighter Derk Smoes, a former bank employee, led the heist. With approval from the headquarters of the Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (Dutch Interior Forces) in London, the plan went ahead. Thanks to Smoes’ insider knowledge, the group gained easy access and forced the pro-German NSB bank director to hand over thirteen cash boxes. These were loaded into a truck, and the group escaped with their loot.

However, before the year’s end, the stolen money was found. The German occupiers launched a large-scale search and, on November 29, obtained information from captured Zwolle resistance fighter Berend Bruynes. Soon after, nine of the robbers were arrested, including Derk Smoes. During interrogations, the hiding place was revealed—a haystack at the Nijland farm in Daarle.

Six of the arrested resistance members died in concentration camps, including Derk Smoes. Two of them are commemorated in Almelo through Derk Smoeslaan and Henk Höftenstraat. The bank building itself was demolished in the 1970s.

Wierdensestraat 27 7607 GE Almelo

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