In the municipality of Hoogeveen in Drenthe, votes were raised to remove references to the controversial mayor Jetze Tjalma. For example, it concerns the Burgemeester Tjalmapark near the town hall. After the capitulation in 1940, Tjalma was the first mayor in the Netherlands to hand over a list of Jewish residents to the German occupiers. He also built a footpath on Jewish tombs over Jewish graves.
In addition to a name change, the SGP in Hoogeveen also wants Tjalma to be denied honorary citizenship. He was mayor of the municipality for almost 30 years. In 1963 he was named honorary citizen, in 1985 he died.
Already during the war, rumors about Tjalma’s “Nazi-friendly” act started, but there was never an official investigation into the citizen father. The Dutch historian Albert Metselaar was the one who tracked Tjalma’s collaboration with the Germans. He investigated the controversial mayor and now advocates no longer honoring him. “An honorary citizen must be someone you look up to. That must be an example,” he says RTV Drenthe.
First investigation by NIOD
The college of Hoogeveen is cautious. The municipal council first wants the Institute for War Holocaust and Genocide Studies (NIOD) to conduct research on Tjalma. The results of that investigation must then be submitted to the city council.
Brand van Rijn, SGP party leader, is afraid that this will take a long time. He wants the issue resolved before Hoogeveen celebrates the liberation in April. “First rectify this injustice, then continue to commemorate.”
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