Hom­me Ho­ek­s­tra Denkmal

Whispers of defiance echo through time at the Homme Hoekstra Denkmal. Here, at the corner of Schwarzer Weg and Helmut-Kasten-Weg, a simple memorial stands. It commemorates a man who dared to speak against the Nazi regime in Bremen. Homme Hoekstra, a Dutch forced laborer, arrived in Bremen on June 17, 1943. He was assigned to the Tirpitz camp, a labor camp for Deschimag/A.G. Weser. His job was to remove metal shavings from lathes in Machine Building Hall 2. Homme Hoekstra, a father of two, repeatedly voiced his belief that Germany would lose the war. This simple act of defiance did not go unnoticed. A colleague, Josef Hubalek, denounced him to the shipyard’s security officer on November 11, 1943. The Gestapo arrested Hoekstra at his workplace on January 10, 1944. He was interrogated, transferred to Moabit prison on March 20, and then charged with undermining military morale and aiding the enemy on April 11. The Volksgerichtshof sentenced him to death on May 22 after a mere 100-minute trial. His appeals for clemency were denied. Homme Hoekstra was executed by guillotine in Brandenburg-Görden on June 26, 1944. His family remained unaware of his fate for over fifty years. It was only in February 1997, through the research of the VVN-BdA Bremen and the Dutch Forced Labor Association, that they learned of his final months. The Homme Hoekstra Denkmal, erected here on May 6, 1999, serves as a reminder of his courage and the suffering of Dutch forced laborers during World War II. It is a testament to the importance of speaking out against injustice, even in the face of overwhelming odds. The memorial stands on the grounds of the former Tirpitz barracks. It invites us to reflect on the dark chapter of forced labor in Bremen’s history. It also reminds us to honor the memory of those who resisted tyranny.