The uncle in the photoframe – A Storytelling

• 2 May 2025
  • 20:00 – 21:30

Albertus de Raaf (Bertus) is 21 when he has to go into hiding. He and his brother Albert (Ab) are in danger of being arrested for resistance work. Bertus goes into hiding on a farm in Smilde with other companions, until one day they are arrested. They are taken to the prison in Assen, and soon after they are detained in Camp Amersfoort. In the autumn of 1944 everything changes. The occupying forces become nervous because of the ever-advancing allied armies and Bertus is put on transport to Neuengamme. From there he is transported after some time to Porta Westfalica, more precisely: location Lerbeck. Bertus works there under miserable conditions in an aircraft factory where engines of salvaged aircraft were repaired and dies a few months later according to the book of the dead of heart failure.

In 2010, cousin Bert de Raaf, named after Bertus and family friend Vincent van de Vrede, tracked down Bertus’ final resting place. With the help of the local government, he was found and identified using DNA, and brought home. The memorial journey had Bertus making the journey home in reverse order, symbolically saying goodbye to camps, prison, home and resting place of parents, before being buried posthumously in the grave of favorite brother Ab.

The special commemorative journey caused quite a stir, not least in Germany. There, the municipality of Porta Westfalica decided to give an extra boost to a recently founded association dedicated to the war past. This KZ-Gedenk- und Dokumentationsstätte Porta Westfalica was set up professionally and grew into an active association with several hundred members in just over ten years. One of the main goals is to open up the former labour camps in the caves of Porta Westfalica, the so-called Stolle, where inhumanly hard forced labour was carried out.

Bert de Raaf takes you through the family history from the 1920s in southeast Drenthe, outlines the living conditions, the occupation, the resistance, and the search and

Bertus’ return journey. He will also reflect on the impact on his life as a 2nd generation. The whole will be accompanied on the piano by Yvo Verschoor, film concert pianist.

Start: 20:00 | Doors open: 19:30

Entrance: € 25.00 | Students and up to 21 years: € 12.50

Storytelling concert by Bert de Raaf with Yvo Verschoor: piano

Reservations: info@huismidwoud.nl