Beek, Limburg, Netherlands — Northwestern Europe

Sinti Monument

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2024

1. Sinti Monument - upper panel

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Wij lieten hen gaan

Deportatie Familie Franz 16 mei 1944 naar Auschwitz

(English translation:)
We let them go

Deportation of the Franz Family May 16, 1944 to Auschwitz

Erected 1993.

Topics and series. This monument and memorial is listed in this topic list: War, World II. In addition, it is included in the The Holocaust series list.

Location. 50° 56.271′ N, 5° 47.953′ E. Monument is in Beek, Limburg. It is on Stegen, on the left when traveling west. The monument is located by the entrance to the municipal cemetery. Touch for map. Monument is at or near this postal address: Stegen 60, Beek, Limburg 6191 TR, Netherlands. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Europe,

the European Union,

Atlantic Europe,

the Benelux Low Countries,

the Schengen Area,

Western Europe,

and the Western World.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Roman Empire

and specifically also the Holy Roman Empire.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Hell on Wheels (about 180 meters away, measured in a direct line); Restaurant “De Lindeboom” (about 210 meters away); Voormalige Bakkerij / Former Bakery (about 240 meters away); Hervormde Pastorie / Reformed Parsonage

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(approx. 0.2 kilometers away); Joods Monument Beek / Beek Holocaust Memorial (approx. 0.2 kilometers away); Beek Synagogue (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); German Deserter Saves the Life of a Persecuted “Gypsy” (approx. half a kilometer away); Nooit Echt Bevrijd / Never Genuinely Liberated / Nie Wirklich Befreit (approx. half a kilometer away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Beek.

More about this monument. The SHOB notes that the location of the monument is near where the Franz Family kept their caravan.

Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker.

Also see . . .
1. Sinti Monument "Wij lieten hen gaan” (Stichting Herdenking Oorlogsslachtoffers Beek, in Dutch).

Excerpt (in translation): The monument was erected in memory of the Franz family (father, mother, four sons and three daughters), who were arrested by two Beek police officers in Beek on 16 May 1944 and deported to Auschwitz via the Westerbork transit camp. Only three of them survived the war.

The monument is a hard stone column with relief. It depicts the daily life of a wandering Sinti family on both sides. On the front: father Franz, playing the violin next to the caravan, two children dancing to the music. On the back: the same caravan with
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2024

2. Sinti Monument - lower panel
two women next to it. One does the laundry, the other probably takes care of a child.

The memorial bears the text: “WE LET THEM GO”. An expression of regret, but also a warning to the residents of Beek, who simply let the deportation happen. This text caused a lot of controversy in the municipality at the time.

… For a long time, this memorial was the only Sinti monument in the South of the Netherlands.

(Submitted on August 1, 2024.)

2. Romani Holocaust (Wikipedia).

Overview: The Romani Holocaust was the planned effort by Nazi Germany and its World War II allies and collaborators to commit ethnic cleansing and eventually genocide against European Roma and Sinti peoples during the Holocaust era.

Under Adolf Hitler, a supplementary decree to the Nuremberg Laws was issued on 26 November 1935, classifying the Romani people (or Roma) as "enemies of the race-based state", thereby placing them in the same category as the Jews. Thus, the fate of the Roma in Europe paralleled that of the Jews in the Holocaust.

Historians estimate that between 250,000 and 500,000 Romani and Sinti were killed by Nazi Germans and their collaborators—25% to over 50% of the estimate of slightly fewer than 1 million Roma in Europe at the time. Later research cited by Ian Hancock
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2024

3. Sinti Monument - wide view
estimated the death toll to be at about 1.5 million out of an estimated 2 million European Roma.

(Submitted on August 1, 2024.)

Close-up of artwork on the rear of the monument image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2024

4. Close-up of artwork on the rear of the monument

Credits. This page was last revised on August 1, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 1, 2024, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 139 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 1, 2024, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.