Dutch officers and the Ukrainian Insurgent ArmyUNKNOWN STORIES OF RESCUE

Midwinter 1944. Imagine Dutch officers making their way through the Carpathian mountains while escaping from the German prisoner of war camp in Stanislav, and running into a unit of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivs’k), city in Western Ukraine:

From 1941 to 1944 the region of Stanislav was under German occupation. It was reorganized into Distrikt Galizien centered in Lviv as an administrative unit of the Generalgouvernement.

Under the civil administration of the  Generalgouvernement :

• Ukrainian, German and Polish were the official languages.

• Primary schools were allowed while universities were banned.

• The Ukrainian church was allowed with specific restrictions.

• Any political activity was forbidden.

• Newspapers were censored.

A strong resistance movement against any occupation regime had formed in this region at the beginning of WW II. Despite the fact that aiding partisans carried with it the death penalty, the local population strongly supported activities of the UPA.

In 1943-1944 most of the UPA’s activities were based in the Carpathian mountains. Many partisan camps and military schools were located in the “Black Forest,” a large forestland in the Carpathians. At that time the UPA controlled most of the mountain area between

Poland and Romania.

“When we jumped out of the train in Galicia in early 1944, the balance of power was rather one-sidedly in favour of the UPA. Thus the last German I saw face-to-face in Galicia was the man who locked the cattle car behind me. During our entire journey through the Carpathians, our contact with the enemy was limited to a few shots back and forth when crossing the railroad between Dolyna and Bolekhiv” - Edward van Hootegem

Escape from the German POW in Stanislav

Of that moment I only remember the cold Ukrainian air hitting my woollen cap and the very rapid speed of the train ... when the train slowed down I leapt from the train. I was lucky enough to make the most fortunate landing. Nevertheless, I broke out in a cold sweat when I saw the train gradually reducing speed. A moment later I no longer felt the cold: the last car stopped about 50 meters from the place where I lay hidden and the guards descended from their cabins...”

These are the vivid memories of Lieutenant General Edward J. C. van Hootegem who jumped off the “cattle wagon,” which was packed with Dutch officers-prisoners of war being transported from Stanislav to somewhere in Germany.

Between mid-1942 and the beginning of 1944 the German POW camp Stalag 371 in Stanislav was used to house some 2,400 Dutch officers as prisoners of war. After Germany occupied the Netherlands in May 1940 most of the Dutch officers were taken as prisoners of war and sent to German POW camps in Germany and later on some of them were sent to the POW camp in then occupied Stanislav.

In the beginning of January, 1944 the Soviet Army was advancing to the west; as a result the Wehrmacht planned to transfer 2,400 Dutch officers from the POW camp in Stanislav to a new location “somewhere” in Germany. Having become aware of these plans, some of Dutch officers started making their own plans for escape. About 142 officers broke out of the POW camp in Stanislav. Most of them enjoyed only a very short moment of freedom: some were executed by German firing squads, some died in Soviet prison camps, some were murdered in Mauthausen, and some simply vanished.

Ten of the Dutch officers (see photo above) were fortunate to meet up with UPA soldiers, who rescued them, gave them food and shelter, and led them to Hungary, providing an armed escort. Dutch officers believed that Hungary would intern them and not give them back to the Germans.

We know about three groups of Dutch officers who successfully escaped from the POW camp in Stanislav. One group, consisting of seven Dutch officers, chose to stay and hide in one of the buildings of the POW camp. This structure had been a theatre before WWII and now served as the German inspection point, where Dutch officers were processed before their transport out. These escapees crawled under the stage, behind an imitation wall they had previously erected. There they huddled in two tight rows, squeezed together like “sardines in a can,” scared to make a sound for two whole days. Only two of them, Joop Singor and Syp van der Pol, made their way to freedom. The other five officers died in Soviet and German concentration camps. The second group, consisting of six officers, among them Edward van Hootegen, Harteveld, Lieneman, and Ruijter, successfully jumped off the moving train as it pulled out of Stanislav. Two other officers were less fortunate: Gerry and Jan were caught by the Germans after trying to jump off the train, and were later murdered in Mauthausen. The third group escaped successfully. One of the officers, Byl de Roe adeptly cut a hole in the back of the train car. He and three other officers, Baron Bentinck, Leen Kranenburg, and Brackel jumped out near the town of Halych.

Various thoughts were racing through the minds of the Dutch escapees on that starry Carpathian night when they made their first steps towards freedom, but they had to stay focused, because they were surrounded by Germans and Ukrainians with whom they were unfamiliar, and the cold Carpathian mountains. Most of them lost each other immediately after their jump and continued their journey in pairs or alone, and later to their immense joy were reunited by the Ukrainian insurgents.

All of the escapees chose to move south in the direction to Hungary, hoping that the authorities there would intern them and not hand them back to the Germans. The Netherlands and Hungary technically were not at war.

Many hardships awaited them from the very beginning of their journey, when some headed to villages where they met Ukrainian farmers, some travelled into vast areas of the Black Forest, where they were intercepted by Ukrainian partisans, who sheltered them in their forest camps. Facing all manner of challenges these ten Dutch officers made their way back home to Holland in 1945 with the assistance of people in Ukraine and Hungary.

Ukrainian assistance

Watching interviews with the Dutch officers, I see their faces glowing with warm smiles when they share their stories about the hospitality and generosity of the Ukrainians they met in January 1944. All of the Dutch officers received kind treatment, shelter, and food from the Ukrainians. However, the risks associated with sheltering prisoners were real and could have led to death. We do not know what motivated Ukrainians to shelter and help Dutch prisoners: it might have been humanity or morality, or solidarity with other occupied peoples. We will never know the names of farmers who sheltered Dutch officers, the name of a ferryman who refused to accept Virginia cigarettes as a payment for conveying two Dutch over the Dniester River and silently pointing in the direction of Hungary, the name of a Jewish doctor from Italy who joined the UPA camp in the Black Forest, the name of a French woman who married a Ukrainian and translated conversations in her Carpathian village home, or names of the villages where the officers were sheltered. All we know is that the Dutch officers were wandering in the vicinity of the Black Forest under the surveillance of the UPA.

The regional UPA organization was informed by the local people about the fugitive Dutch officers. While Ukrainian partisans, in the best conspiratorial traditions, were observing the officers moving from one farm house to another, they tried to establish their real identity “as bona fide Dutch officers instead of Russians agents who had been parachuted behind the lines or Germans,” Ukrainian farmers welcomed and sheltered the escapees.

Here are some reflections of the Dutch officers about their experiences in Ukraine, about the customs and nature of the Ukrainians and their household traditions in 1944.

Major General J. A. Baron Bentinck: “In that hard frost, daylight we moved through the village. We passed the school and there were small children singing a rhyme and we thought that it could be Holland, because in the Dutch schools in Holland they do exactly the same. We were happy that nobody paid any attention to us, probably we looked like Ukrainians.… In the first farmhouse, where we asked for water, a farmer took off my shoes and rubbed my cold and wet feet and he said that everything was alright and that we don’t have to worry. The farmer said that we should go and sleep in his bed and he and his wife would sleep on the floor.…On the third day we came to quite a big farmhouse. And there was a cradle hanging up on the ceiling and in the cradle was a baby. I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. And everybody who was passing by the cradle took the rope and the baby was quite happy by swinging around.”

Major General Dr. L. A. D. Kranenburg: “We knocked on the door and we said “zymno,” which was cold. We were invited to come inside and there was a smell of milk and napkins, and it was warm. There were plenty of children, and the mother, of course, busy. And they gave us potatoes with sour cream, but they gave so many potatoes it was almost impossible to eat.”

Lieutenant General Edward J. C. van Hootegem: “During those seventeen days in southern Galicia, we were enriched with invaluable experience for plotting the next stages of escape ... Our experience was certainly not devoid of humorous elements for, whatever the circumstances, the Galician retains his easygoing nature and his lightheartedness.”

Under the protection of the UPA

The most notable aspect of the UPA involvement in this story of rescue is their commitment to organize the safe passage of the Dutch officers across the Carpathians to Hungary. The stakes were high, starting with the constant threat of running into Germans, who were patrolling the main thoroughfares, and ending with the risks to survival of a dangerous journey through a mountain-range in the middle of a snowy winter.

Why did the UPA take these risks and provide assistance to the escapees? Was it a need to establish a contact with Europe, a desire to have their message heard there? Part of the explanation may lie in the need to establish a network of advocates of independent Ukraine abroad. This suggestion is supported by the recollections of van Hootegem that “they [UPA] were fighting anyone who was against an independent Ukraine. At the same time, they were convinced that after the war Ukraine could benefit from having a number of people abroad with whom they were on good terms.” Also, the UPA’s actions may be partly explained by the need to share military expertise. Here is the recollection of Baron Bentinck about his first meeting with UPA commander: “A very tall and lean gentleman came in, armed to the teeth with hand grenades and a pistol and I don’t know what. After a small interrogation, he knew already that we were visitors from the German POW camp, he said “Don’t you worry. We’ll help you. We’ll help you to come to Hungary. Unless,” and then he first told us a long story of Ukrainian freedom movement. And he said: “We are partisans, and we are fighting the Russian communication lines as well as the German communication lines. We are daredevils, but we don’t have necessary training and, in fact, it would be of great help if you could join us.”

While the UPA lacked conventional military training, they were unrivalled masters of conspiracy. Continuing with van Hootegem’s recollections: “In the field of intelligence gathering, we were, in comparison with these Ukrainians, nothing more than rank amateurs who still had to learn the tricks of the trade. Small wonder then that we fell open-eyed into each and every trap set for us. The Ukrainians we met after the war were too polite to laugh at us when we told them of our experiences.”

The intelligence service created by the UPA calls for particular attention; this article, however touches on only some aspects of the tactics the UPA used in surveillance of the Dutch officers.

The reflections of the officers underline the fact that local UPA divisions were familiar with their escape from the POW camp before their first meeting with UPA commanders. It seems as though each step of the Dutch officers was calculated well in advance by the UPA as in a good chess game where the vast terrain of the Carpathians served as the board. However, in this game there were no rivals, and after thorough scrutiny on the part of the UPA, the identity of the Dutch officers was verified and their need for help was enthusiastically supported.

The first level of investigation or “due diligence” – establishing the identity of the escapees – was conducted by the local Ukrainians, specifically by farmers. Apparently, most of the farmers who sheltered Dutch officers were in contact with the local UPA divisions and informed them about the assistance they had offered.

The second level of investigation involved sending “visitors” to the farmhouses, where Dutch officers were sheltered. In fact, these ostensibly “curious visitors” performed something like a cross examination of the Dutch officers. As van Hootegem wrote in his memoir: “They had been sent mainly with the intention of getting all of us to talk at the same time in order to make it impossible for us to communicate with each other and influence each others’ answers. It was not until 1947 that I learned that the teacher who carried out an animated conversation with us in broken German could have just as well talked to us in quite respectable Dutch, having lived for several years in Amsterdam.” This very teacher would arrive at each house before a group of Dutch officers were brought there and would sit in a dark room next to theirs and listen in on their conversations.

After the completion of these preliminary investigations, the Dutch officers were brought at night to a remote locale in the Carpathians, where they met with the highest UPA authority in the area. Due to the highly secret nature of the UPA, the name of the area commandant was never revealed. However, the vivid recollections of the Dutch officers allow us to imagine what this mysterious commandant looked like. Edward van Hootegem described him: “A gigantic man. The area commandant was a true child of his people. As was the case with almost all of his compatriots, good-naturedness radiated from his face. But never underestimate these fellows if they have anything against you. From time to time we saw this good-naturedness combine with a resoluteness that left no doubt whatsoever in our minds. He wore heavy leather boots, a heavy leather jacket, and was equipped with a complete arsenal of weapons.”

The final stage of the investigation was performed on this occasion by the area commandant himself during a generous feast. “After we finished drinking the second bottle, the area commandant began pacing up and down the room with a face that would have inspired a sculptor like Rodin. The silence that fell on the room only served to further underline the great importance of the moment. This lasted about five minutes, then with a broad grin the area commandant sat down again and reached for the third bottle that had appeared out of nowhere. The uproar that now broke out among the Ukrainians was the clearest proof possible that we had been recognized “de jure.”

The Dutch officers had successfully passed this final investigation and were now taken under the protection of the UPA, which shortly thereafter transported them safely to the Hungarian border.

The route to Hungary and transfer of Dutch officers there was thoroughly planned by the UPA. Edward van Hootegem further wrote in his memories: “This route made a wide arc around those German fortifications and outposts which could not be avoided altogether. The suggested route passed through a more accessible part of the Carpathians, a part which – as we soon discovered – was still rough enough for us.” Having discussed the escape route, the officers were brought to another village house where they could rest. The typical procedure was to sleep during the day and travel at night. The third and fourth day of their journey brought the Dutch officers a pleasant surprise, as the UPA reunited them with their escaped compatriots. The group now consisted of ten Dutch officers and two Ukrainian partisans, who served as their guides through the journey. In the next few days extensive and thorough preparations were taken by the UPA: food and water supplies were obtained, grenades, other weapons and warm clothes were given to the Dutch.

The breathtakingly beautiful and serene Carpathian mountains stretched endlessly before the ten Dutch officers and two UPA insurgents, promising them a safe harbor in their challenging journey. Forty five years later the Dutch officers recollected that at that moment they almost forgot the goal of their journey, feeling secure in the hands of the UPA and the Ukrainian Carpathians.

These amazing stories of rescue show us that even in the most dire conditions and in the face of hatred we always have a choice to keep our humanity and to help another human being. It would have been easy for the local Ukrainians or the UPA soldiers to ignore the fleeing Dutch officers. But they risked and helped, because acting otherwise contradicted their nature and their understanding of freedom. As Major General J. A. Baron Bentinck put it: “They were hard people, brave people. I have the greatest admiration for them.” These stories make us realize that our actions do matter and neither war nor other hardships can destroy human longing for freedom.

Natalia Okolita

This article is written on the basis of the UCRDC Oral History Archives and Edward van Hootegem’s memoir “My meeting with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA),” published in the journal Visti Kombatanta No. 3-4, 1974