The Schuurmans family

The Schuurmans family lived at Dubbeldamseweg 29 in May 1940. At least the following individuals were living at that address:

• Maria Wilhelmina Schuurmans van der Sande (widow of Adrianus Gerardus Schuurmans).
• Antonius Theodorus Schuurmans (son of the above-mentioned individuals).
• Johanna Fransisca Schuurmans Wolkenfelt (wife or partner of Antoon Schuurmans).
• Johanna Maria Antonia Schuurmans (daughter of M.W. van der Sande and A.G. Schuurmans, and sister of Antoon Schuurmans).

The Schuurmans family perished on 12 or 13 May 1940 due to the war violence during the May 1940 in Dordrecht. Mrs. C.J.W. de Koff describes on the website www.zuidfront-holland1940.nl/dordt what happened on 12 May 1940 on Dubbeldamseweg: In the afternoon of 12 May, they were taken out of their homes by German soldiers. There was a dead German soldier in the entrance, and the Germans believed that shots had been fired at them from the houses on Dubbeldamseweg. The houses were searched, and the civilians from Dordrecht were also frisked. Meanwhile, they found Dutch cartridge cases in Evert’s, Mrs. de Koff’s younger brother, pocket which he had found on the street, escalating the situation. A German soldier threw an incendiary bomb into the Schuurmans’ house (number 29).

Despite the neighbor’s shouts that there was still a disabled woman inside, Evert was pressed against the wall, and a German soldier aimed his weapon at him to shoot him. Before he could do so, he was shot dead by Dutch soldiers across the railway. Suddenly, the conflict broke out, with innocent civilians caught in the middle. Mrs. de Koff then describes that she, Annie, and Johanna were forced by the Germans into a cigar shop, and the Germans used them as cover for a cannon they set up. The Dutch soldiers no longer fired. By Johanna, she probably means one of the Johannas from the Schuurmans family. She herself tries to escape and is shot at but survives with relatively minor injuries. She does not mention the Schuurmans family further in her account. They all die either on 12 May or on 13 May. Photos of the affected houses after May 1940 show them completely destroyed. Either they were burned down by German hand grenades or by Dutch artillery, the latter seems most likely given the significant war damage. From Mrs. de Koff’s story, it appears that only one woman was inside when the hand grenade was thrown inside. Since it was the neighbor who shouted this, it was probably Antoon. She also describes being taken away with a group of about 25 people through Mauritsweg and Sophiastraat. Presumably, the Schuurmans family returned to their home after the events and perished due to Dutch artillery fire. However, these are assumptions. It is certain that the Schuurmans family died as a result of the war violence in May 1940. But how exactly, that remains a mystery¹.

The destroyed residential houses on Dubbeldamseweg.