Post-war reconstruction
The railway strike came to an end when the German troops capitulated, on 5 may 1945. In the last few months before the liberation, the Germans had severely damaged the railways in the Netherlands. They had destroyed whole sections, removed equipment and taken it to Germany, blown up bridges and caused havoc in offices and workshops. Even so, the railway strikers proudly emerged from the war with a new goal on the horizon: restoring the railways and reconstructing the Netherlands. In that context, Hupkes, Van Rijckevorsel and Giesberger felt that any contribution by former President Goudriaan, who had been dismissed in 1941, but was temporarily restored in his function after the liberation of the south of the Netherlands, would be out of place. They even threatened to call another strike if Goudriaan were to be restored to his former position. Given the lack of support for Goudriaan, he was granted honourable discharge in June 1945 and succeeded by Hupkes. The new NS President faced some considerable challenges, as only 1000 kilometres of railway tracks (out of a total of 4500 kilometres) could still be used after the war. Thanks to an enormous effort, however, by September of the same year 3100 kilometres were available. One top priority was to restore the connection between the north and the south of the Netherlands so as to resume coal and food transports.
The liberation of the southern part of the Netherlands
The Tilburg Workshop
The Tilburg Workshop
One page from the photo album donated by employees of the Tilburg Workshop to J. v.d. Berg, 1928-1966.
Following the city’s liberation on 27 October 1944, NS, under Goudriaan’s leadership, gained control of Tilburg’s central workshops. However, these had been completely destroyed by the Germans. This photo album, presented to an NS staff member employed at this workshop in 1966, contains photographs of the damage to the building, furniture and fittings taken just after the liberation of Tilburg . ‘My first visits to these workshops are among the saddest memories I have of the war,’ Goudriaan later wrote in his memoires. ‘The rubble crunching under my feet, rain seeping in all over the place and corroding the few machines that had not been totally destroyed by German dynamite. Despite all of that, the mood among our NS employees under the leadership of M. Langelaan and his staff was excellent.’
Repaired bridges
Repaired bridges
Cardboard box with black-and-white pictures of destroyed and repaired bridges in the liberated southern part of the Netherlands, October 1944 – March 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
Many of the railway bridges in the liberated southern part of the country were repaired by the Allied forces. Several photographs of the repair works have survived in this cardboard box. One, taken in December 1944, shows the work being done to make the railway section between Boxtel and Tilburg passable again. To that end, soldiers used wooden beams to build a temporary bridge.
Eindhoven-Roosendaal
Eindhoven-Roosendaal
Two photographs of the first train between Eindhoven and Roosendaal, 12 March 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
The first train on this section travelled from Eindhoven to Roosendaal, via Den Bosch and Tilburg, on 12 March 1945, attracting considerable crowds. Radio Herrijzend Nederland (Holland Re-emerging) broadcast an eye-witness account and the all press agreed that NS had done a wonderful job, according to an article in the Spoor-en Tramwegen magazine.
Liberation of Blerick
Liberation of Blerick
Two photographs of the first train between Eindhoven and Roosendaal, 12 March 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
In the far south of the country, the Germans were keen to remain in control of several support bases. One of those was Blerick, a district of the city of Venlo. The heavy presence of German troops in Blerick made it virtually impossible for people to go into hiding there. This explains why railway employees at Blerick station and the workshop never left their posts until the district was liberated, on 3 December 1944. However, as Blerick was situated on the front line of the fighting, the Allies then decided to evacuate the entire population. It was not until the liberation of the eastern bank of the Meuse, on 2 March 1945, that the evacuees were allowed to return. The photographs of the first train leaving from Blerick railway station were taken after that date.
Calendar
Calendar
Calendar from the liberated (southern) part of the Netherlands, 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
President Goudriaan arranged the publication of an NS calendar for 1945 for the ‘liberated territories’. At that time, nobody knew for how long the occupation of the north of the country would continue. The calendar leaves are torn off until October 1945, by which time the whole country had been liberated for four months.
Goudriaan takes charge again
Goudriaan takes charge again
Manual stamp used by the director of NS in the liberated territories, Railway Museum Collection.
After the liberation of the south of the country, the Dutch government in London appointed NS President Jan Goudriaan, who had previously been dismissed by the Germans, director of the railways in the liberated territories. Assisted by the Allied forces, Goudriaan undertook a major effort to restore tracks and railway bridges that had been destroyed. Goudriaan used a manual stamp to formally approve official documents in that period.
Weekly tickets in the liberated territories
Weekly tickets in the liberated territories
Coupon booklet with weekly third-class tickets for the liberated territories, Railway Museum Collection.
The coupon booklet with its red paper cover contained pre-printed weekly tickets for rail passengers travelling third class in the liberated southern part of the country. The tickets feature a vertical red bar on the left and had to be filled in by hand. The owner used about half of the tickets; the rest is still in the booklet. During the last phase of the war there was no contact between the liberated part of the Netherlands and the part still being occupied. That is why the weekly tickets were not printed at Van Boekhoven in Utrecht, but at J. van Poll Suijkerbuijk in Roosendaal, in the south of the country.
NS bicycle ticket
NS bicycle ticket
NS bicycle ticket from liberated part of the country, Railway Museum Collection.
In September 1944, reconstruction of the railways in the south of the country began under the leadership of NS President Jan Goudriaan. Thanks to considerable effort and improvisation, train services were resumed on more and more parts of the railway network in the south of the country. Passengers who wanted to take their bikes with them on the train needed a special bicycle ticket, printed at J. van Poll Suijkerbuijk in Roosendaal.
Liberation of Maastricht
Liberation of Maastricht
Film footage by H. Defesche, created on 13 September 1944 and made available by his son, Juan Defesche.
On 13 September 1944, H. Defesche, a surgeon from Maastricht, made unique footage of the liberation of his city, probably using a Honeywell camera. He filmed a train travelling towards Liège, with open and closed goods carriages pulled by a steam engine of the US army’s Transportation Corps. The train was carrying a large number of probably Belgian or French refugees, who had managed to find a place to sit – or stand – on top of the carriages and waved at the camera in high spirits.
Liberation
Finally free!
Finally free!
War-time picture book by Ton van der Tast, published after the war by Uitgeverij Kompas, The Hague, Railway Museum Collection.
Shortly after the liberation, illustrator Ton van der Tast created a ‘war-time picture book’ about the Second World War. His illustration about the railway strike comes under the heading ‘Resistance’. The predominant mood was one of celebration; people were overjoyed and even felt free to make jokes about the war.
Long live the Queen!
Long live the Queen!
Drawing and letter of welcome on the occasion of the return of Queen Wilhelmina to the Netherlands, De Cock collection, Railway Museum.
After the liberation, Dutch citizens were extremely happy to see Queen Wilhelmina return to the Netherlands, and expressed their joy in all sorts of ways. The family of railway employee Cornelis de Cock was no exception. As a resistance fighter during the war, Cornelis had made a significant contribution to the distribution of workers’ pay in Amsterdam during the railway strike. This drawing and text welcoming Queen Wilhelmina are from his personal estate.
Resumption of services
Resumption of services
Notice instructing employees to resume their duties on 16 May 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
In a speech held on 8 May 1945, Deputy President Hupkes thanked NS employees for their perseverance during the railway strike. He also referred to NS operations during the war, emphasising that things had been far from easy. ‘We had a very difficult task, being required to accept a certain degree of cooperation with the relevant German authorities without surrendering our autonomy. The challenge was to keep our company free from alien influences, the NSB and the N.A.F. and protect our staff where possible from being transferred to Germany.’ On 16 May, the entire workforce was officially instructed to resume their duties and report for work and further instructions at their local station master.
First food train
First food train
Sign celebrating the ‘First Dutch food train’, 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
This orange sign originates from the first Dutch food train that was deployed for the urgent transport of foodstuffs from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, Haarlem, Alkmaar and Den Helder after the liberation, on 22 May 1945. The steam engine pulling the good carriages had been made available by the British army.
Food parcel
Food parcel
One of the food parcels distributed after the liberation among all NS employees, Railway Museum Collection.
After the liberation, NS distributed food parcels to all NS employees, including temporary workers who had served NS from 17 September 1944 to 15 July 1945. The foodstuffs and goodies in the parcel were meant as ‘… a modest expression of our enormous appreciation for the patriotic attitude demonstrated by our employees over the past years and especially during the period of the railway strike’.
Liberation parades
Liberation parades
A photograph of the liberation parade in Utrecht, Railway Museum Collection.
Parades were held all over the country to celebrate the liberation, and many of them included railway employees. They converted carts and carriages into locomotives and trains for the occasion, and joined the parades standing or sitting on these vehicles, sometimes in fancy dress. The photograph shows the festivities in Utrecht.
Orange armband
Orange armband
Orange armband, Railway Museum Collection.
After the liberation, parties and parades were organised all over the country. During the celebrations, railway employees wore orange armbands featuring the Dutch national coat of arms.
First Staff Council meeting
First Staff Council meeting
Photograph of the first joint meeting of the Staff Council and the Management Board after the liberation, Railway Museum Collection.
Railway employees went back to work soon after the liberation. That included the members of the Staff Council, who had assisted and counselled the Management Board during the period of the occupation. This first meeting after the liberation was felt to be a significant milestone, worthy of a photograph.
Back from Germany
Back from Germany
Photograph of the first repatriates from Germany, Railway Museum Collection.
Dutch nationals in German labour and concentration camps returned to the Netherlands after the liberation. Some went on foot; others travelled on trucks or by rail, like this group of repatriates at Utrecht Central Station. Scouts welcomed them by offering coffee and food at the station. Note the drawing of Hitler swinging from the gallows on one of the carriage doors.
Left behind
Left behind
Number plate with the text ‘Fried. Krupp A.G. Lokomotivfabrik Essen’, Railway Museum Collection.
Utrecht’s Maliebaan Station, the venue of today’s Railway Museum, was confiscated and held by the Germans during the war. The Wehrmacht left some of its equipment behind, such as diesel engine D 311.04, which was found here after the liberation. This engine, designed to pull heavy artillery, was far too heavy to run on Dutch rails for any prolonged period of time. After the war, the German railways bought and revamped this loco and kept it operational until around 1970. Its original number plate has survived and is now part of the Railway Museum Collection.
Commemorating the railway strike
Commemorating the railway strike
Photograph of a ceremony commemorating the railway strike, Utrecht, Dom Church and market hall, Railway Museum Collection.
A consecration ceremony in Dom Church (Utrecht) marked the first commemoration of the railway strike. The ceremony was followed in the afternoon by a meeting for employees and invited guests in the Fruit and Vegetables Auction Hall, which was festively decorated for the occasion. There were speeches by Transport and Energy Minister Van Schaik, NS President Hupkes and others, and a mixed choir of railway employees sang a number of songs.
Speech by the Minister
Speech by the Minister
Photograph of Dr Th.S.G.J.M. van Schaik during the ceremony commemorating the railway strike, Utrecht market hall, 17 September 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
During the first commemoration of the railways strike, Transport and Energy Minister Van Schaik held a controversial speech. In it, Van Schaik appeared to give priority to the economy rather than to the suffering of the victims of deportations. Below is a section from his speech: ‘Your trains were used to drag Dutch resources out of the country, to transport and deport our boys and to send unfortunate victims to the concentration camps. You did it all the same, and much to your credit: it was a duty that the Dutch government required you to perform, as the railway company is one of the economic pillars of Dutch society that needed to remain in place for as long as possible.’
Finally free
Finally free
Fragment from ‘After seven months’, a film commissioned by NS and issued in December 1945 by the Nederlandsche Werkgemeenschap voor Filmproductie. The director was Allan Penning. Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.
Commissioned by NS, the film ‘After seven months’, directed by Allan Penning, presents a good picture of the sense of joy among NS employees after the liberation of the Netherlands.
War damage
Number plate
Number plate
Number plate ‘NS 66’ made of enamelled metal, Railway Museum Collection.
During the war, countless trains, locomotives and carriages were destroyed in bombing raids and sabotage campaigns. This fate also befell diesel train (DE 5) number 66. However, its number plate was left unscathed and later entered the Railway Museum Collection.
Destroyed
Destroyed
Painting signed ‘H. Westeneng.Jun’ of the destroyed railway station of Maarsbergen, ca 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
More than two hundred NS buildings were destroyed as a result of acts of war. This included Maarsbergen railway station. After the war, the artist H. Westeneng made this oil painting of the station in ruins.
Lorries
Lorries
Photograph of passengers being transported in lorries, Den Bosch, 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
Owing the shortage of rolling stock, NS decided to deploy lorries for passenger transport at several locations, such as Den Bosch.
Cattle cars
Cattle cars
Photograph of passengers in a cattle car, 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
Following the liberation, the acute shortage of carriages caused NS to deploy Belgian cattle cars for passenger transport on the Dutch railways.
Chock-a-bloc
Chock-a-bloc
Photograph of a packed train after the liberation, Railway Museum Collection.
Trains were overcrowded due to the lack of rolling stock. You’d be hard put to find a seat in this third-class carriage.
Railway bridges
Railway bridges
Binder containing photographs of ‘The eighth trip through the Netherlands’ documenting the destruction. Dated 15-20 October 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
An NS delegation travelled through the country from 15 to 20 October 1945 to document the damage inflicted on the railway system. They took pictures of the destruction and kept them in a binder.
Transport disruptions
Transport disruptions
Railway map from December 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
This railway map was used to highlight the lines and sections that were operational at 31 December 1945. As such, they reflect the speed of reconstruction work by the railway company.
Looted office
Looted office
Photograph of a room in NS Main Building III in Utrecht, 1945, Railway Museum Collection 29912.
After the liberation, NS discovered that the Germans had also looted many of its buildings. Part of the furniture of Main Administrative Building III, for example, was found to have been stolen; archives had been turned upside down or destroyed.
Damage to workshop
Damage to workshop
Album with photographs of the damage in workshops, Railway Museum Collection.
A series of photographs – by an unknown photographer – commissioned by NS after the liberation shows the damage in the various departments of the Utrecht workshop. German – and occasionally Dutch – thieves had stolen machines and equipment from the workshops during the railway strike. The rest of the furniture and fittings was destroyed almost completely.
Stolen trains
Stolen trains
List of stolen and recovered rolling stock owned by NS, Railway Museum Collection.
Just after the war, NS installed a committee tasked with identifying the Dutch rolling stock that had been confiscated by the Germans. On 8 February 1946, the committee published a list of locomotives that had been found in Germany and needed to be returned to the Netherlands.
After seven months
After seven months
Fragment from ‘After seven months’, a film commissioned by NS and issued in December 1945 by the Nederlandsche Werkgemeenschap voor Filmproductie. The director was Allan Penning. Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.
After the war, NS commissioned a film named ‘After seven months’, which showed the extent of the damage inflicted on the railway system during the railway strike and the reconstruction challenge awaiting NS.
Victims among NS employees
To those who fell
To those who fell
Plaque in memory of those who fell in 1940-1945, made by H.Th. Boermeesters NV Ateliers on behalf of Kunstnijverheid Winkelman in Amsterdam, 1948, Railway Museum Collection.
The plaques put up at NS buildings and railway stations in memory of railway employees who fell during the war were designed by NS architect H.G.J. Schelling. On 7 December 1948, NS unveiled a memorial in Arnhem in memory of the railway employees who had died in this city. The memorial was donated to the Railway Museum after a new plaque had been put up inside the new station building, which was opened in 1954.
Klaas Landsman
Klaas Landsman
Plaque in memory of Klaas Landsman, made by H.Th. Boermeesters NV Ateliers on behalf of Kunstnijverheid Winkelman in Amsterdam, 1948, Railway Museum Collection.
Klaas Landsman (1903-1943) was a railway assistant based in Wormerveer. He sustained severe injuries during an air raid on 3 July 1943, and died several days later. This memorial featuring his name was put up in Wormerveer railway station in 1948, but removed later when the station was demolished. His name was then added to the list on the plaque at Amsterdam Central Station, and the plaque from Wormerveer was donated to the Railway Museum.
Johannes Hoogveldt
Johannes Hoogveldt
Plaque in memory of Johannes A. Hoogveldt, made by H.Th. Boermeesters NV Ateliers on behalf of Kunstnijverheid Winkelman in Amsterdam, 1948, Railway Museum Collection.
Johannes A. Hoogveldt (1899-1944) was a permanent way worker at NS in Westervoort. He was killed in a bombing raid in 1944. A plaque featuring his name was put up at Westervoort railway station. When that station was closed, his name was added to the list on the plaque at Arnhem railway station.
Jan Vlug
Jan Vlug
Plaque in memory of Jan Vlug, made by H.Th. Boermeesters NV Ateliers on behalf of Kunstnijverheid Winkelman in Amsterdam, 1948, Railway Museum Collection.
This plaque in memory of Jan Vlug was unveiled in the main hall of Weesp railway station in 1948. Following the demolition of this building, his name was added to the list on the plaque at Amsterdam Central Station and his own plaque was donated to the Railway Museum Collection.
Monument
Monument
Photograph of the inauguration of the monument in memory of railway employees who had fallen during the war, in front of the management board’s office, Main Administrative Building III, Moreelsepark, Utrecht, 17 September 1948, Railway Museum Collection.
On 17 September 1948, a rainy day, the then NS President F.Q. Den Hollander unveiled a special monument in Moreelsepark, Utrecht in memory of all railway employees who had fallen during the war. Created by Willem Valk, a sculptor from Groningen, the group of two men and two women (one of whom with a child) symbolises the joint resistance during the railway strike.
Commemorative bench
Commemorative bench
Commemorative bench featuring the names ‘Lever’ and ‘Van Leeuwen’, Railway Museum Collection.
H.J. Lever and L.J.C. van Leeuwen, two employees of J.J. Beijnes, a Haarlem manufacturer of carriages and railway cars, died during the early days of May 1940. Hendrik Jan Lever (1905) had been called up as a soldier and died on 11 May. Louis van Leeuwen, born in Bussum in 1918, was a sergeant in the Dutch army. He died on 14 May, aged 22. In memory of these two soldiers, Beijnes created a bench which is now in the hall of the Railway Museum Library.
Purges
Settlement
Settlement
Audio fragment Arnold van Herk, Railway Museum Collection.
Arnold van Herk, a member of the administrative staff at Hollands Spoor station in The Hague, was sent on forced labour to Germany in October 1943. He fled to The Hague in March 1945. After the liberation he witnessed how woman Nazi collaborators and NSB members were dealt with at his station. The women were rolled across the bottom of an empty tender, emerging all black covered in coal dust. Male NSB members were forced to perform humiliating chores at the station.
Purge
Purge
Official instruction dated 5 May 1945 regarding the establishment of purging committees at NS, Railway Museum Collection.
Even before the war had ended, NS President Hupkes and the Staff Council joined forces to install several purging committees within NS. Without having asked permission from the government or the relevant minister, Hupkes announced that the committees were to consist of two NS employees affiliated with a trade union, two representatives of illegal workers among NS employees and a chair appointed by the management board. The board lost no time and distributed an official instruction among the workforce to announce this approach on 5 May 1945, the day of the liberation. The government subsequently endorsed NS’s strategy to implement the purges.
Silent threads
Silent threads
Watercolour by Jan de Haan with a poem by Cees van den Hoeven, dated 1 January 1947, Railway Museum Collection.
In this poem by Cees van den Hoeven from 1947, the ‘silent threads’ represented the destruction wrought by the Germans on the railways during the railway strike. He presented the immobile steam locomotives as ‘fiery horses’ that emerged from the war like mere skeletons after maltreatment by the Germans. Commercial draughtsman Jan de Haan made a dark-toned watercolour to depict the destruction of the railways, while he painted the post-war reconstruction in lively colors.
We accuse
We accuse
‘We accuse, purges at NS’, manifesto dated July 1945, IISG Collection, Source 683/2.
The Eenheidsvakcentrale (EVC, a confederation of trade unions) severely criticised the way in which NS went about purging the company. All other Dutch companies had purging committees that also included outsiders. On top of that, NS had started purging operations even though the management board itself had remained intact. The EVC especially targeted Joustra, whose behaviour, in their view, had been objectionable. He had retained his membership of the EVC while it was headed by NSB member Woudenberg, had made a luxury trip to Germany, embraced de New Order (Neuordnung) and still served as chairman of the NS Staff Council.
Charge against Hupkes
Charge against Hupkes
Letter by J. Goudriaan to the purging committee, NIOD 182d, File 6, 89.
On 11 March 1946, former NS President Goudriaan sent a letter to the Purging Council containing a charge against President Hupkes and several other senior officials at NS. In the letter, Goudriaan complained extensively about the way in which he had been sidelined by Hupkes in the operational management of the company and negotiations with the Germans. The real dynamite in his letter, however, was his criticism of the management board’s policy as regards military transports and deportations of Jews, forced labourers and prisoners of war. He also claimed that Hupkes had done everything he could to please the Germans. However, the purging committee led by professor J.M. van Bemmelen declared these complaints to be unfounded, since they remained unproven or concerned measures that had been inevitable in the context of the war.
Completion of the purges
Completion of the purges
Official instruction dated 15 October 1948 regarding the purges at NS, Railway Museum Collection.
On 15 October 1948, the NS management board announced that the internal purges had been completed. The measures imposed could no longer be reviewed or repealed.
Recovery
Moerdijk Bridge
Moerdijk Bridge
Oil painting on canvas, signed and dated ‘L. de Swart, 1946’, depicting the Moerdijk Bridge, Railway Museum Collection.
The railway bridge across Hollandsch Diep near the town of Moerdijk was a crucial connection between the north and south of the Netherlands. In the night from 5 to 6 November 1944, the Germans blew up both the road bridge and the railway bridge in an attempt to halt the advance of the Allied forces. After the war, restoring the north-south connection was a top priority, especially with a view to resuming coal transports from the province of Limburg. On Saturday, 24 August 1946 NS President Hupkes was able to officially open the restored railway bridge at Moerdijk. On that same day, NS received a painting of the bridge by L. de Swart, as a gift from the nearby city of Breda.
Commemorative album
Commemorative album
Commemorative album on the occasion of the re-opening of the Moerdijk Bridge, Saturday 24 August 1946, Railway Museum Collection.
First-class Inspector H.G. Tulp made a photo album to commemorate the opening of the Moerdijk Bridge across Hollandsch Diep. Tulp had played an important role in maintaining food supplies during the railway strike and was also involved in the re-opening of several bridges after the war. The album opens with a drawing of the bridge signed by ‘F. Schouten’. The next page is devoted to the measures taken by Tulp to streamline the renovation process. The album also contains a table arrangement for the dinner with guests held in the presence of President Hupkes and Prince Bernhard on board the W.F. van de Wijck, as well as a large number of photographs of the opening ceremony.
Eindhoven railway station
Eindhoven railway station
Plate commemorating the opening of the new railway station at Eindhoven, 10 August 1956, Railway Museum Collection.
Eindhoven was severely bombed during the war. It took many years to rebuild the city. To modernize the city a new station building was essential. The new railway station, designed by architect Koen van der Gaast, was opened in a festive ceremony on 10 August 1956. To mark the occasion, the private collector of railway artefacts by name of A.J.A. Spoorenberg, designed a plate. Six of these plates were made by tile bakery Zenith and presented among others to architect Koen van der Gaast and Miss. M.A. Asselberghs of the Dutch Railway Museum.
Reconnected
Reconnected
Poster designed by Fedde Weidema, ‘The direct connection between the north and the south restored’, 1947, Railway Museum Collection.
When the bridges near Hedel, Zaltbommel and Baanhoek were restored in 1947, the north and south of the Netherlands were fully connected once again. NS publicised this among the general public by commissioning Fedde Weidema to design a poster featuring an electric train.
Tommy
Tommy
Commemorative plate featuring the name ‘Tommy’, Railway Museum Collection.
In 1969 the British Railways produced a commemorative plate for the very first electric engine to be operated in the Netherlands. Owing to the shortage of rolling stock, NS borrowed this locomotive of the London and Eastern Railways (LNER, No. 6000) from British Rail between 1947 and 1952. NS employees’ pet name for the engine was ‘Tommy’, after the nickname for Allied British soldiers.
War locomotive
War locomotive
Manufacturer’s sign of the British diesel engine WD 70269, created by London-Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), 1944, and a photograph of locomotive NS 508, Railway Museum Collection.
The manufacturer’s sign originates from a diesel engine of the British army from 1944 that was used for shunting operations. The engine was incorporated into the NS vehicle fleet in 1946 and re-numbered NS 508. It is now part of the Railway Museum Collection.
Swedish locomotive
Swedish locomotive
Number plate of locomotive ZG 1 made by Nydqvist Y Holm AB (NOHAB) in Sweden, 1944, Railway Museum Collection.
Even before the end of the war, NS ordered 15 steam engines from the Swedish railways to reinforce its own fleet, which had been decimated during the war. The engines were supplied between 1944 and 1946. The first one of the series was accidentally given a wrong name. NS had intended to use 4700 as the serial number for these goods locos. However, the manufacturer used ZG 1 for the number plate, based on the name of the order (Zweedse Goederenlocomotief [Swedish Goods locomotive]), instead of 4701. The error was corrected even before the loco was sent to the Netherlands in 1944, but the original number plate has survived.
Departure of President Hupkes
Departure of President Hupkes
Menu on the occasion of the departure of W. Hupkes on 30 December 1946, signed ‘Schokk’, Railway Museum Collection.
NS President Hupkes retired on 30 December 1946. Like other senior members of railway staff, he was offered a copious farewell dinner that included oysters, trout and fruit. The menu gives a bird’s eye view of various railway projects and elements associated with Hupkes: the construction of steam engines and electric trains, his accommodation in Main Administrative Building III and the restoration of the railway bridges during the reconstruction period.
Den Bosch railway station
Den Bosch railway station
Text of a song performed during a diner on the occasion of the desiscion to build a new railway station at Den Bosch, 18 January 1951, Railway Museum Collection.
During the war, Den Bosch railway station had been damaged to such an extent that restoration would be both difficult and expensive. This is why the municipal council decided, in October 1950, to commission a new station. During a dinner for invited guests held in January 1951, participants sang a song about the old and the new railway station of Den Bosch to the tune of ‘De moord van Raamsdonk’, a popular song of the day. The first letters of the first lines of the song produce ‘Den Hollander’, which was the surname of the then NS President. The drawing of the raven is a reference to Sybold van Ravesteyn, the architect who was to design the new station building.
Opening of bridge
Opening of bridge
Plaque commemorating the opening of the Catherine Miller bridge, November 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
The bridge across the river IJssel near Deventer was blown up twice during the war. The first time was in 1940, when the Dutch army tried to halt the advance of the Germans. The second time was just before the liberation, when the bridge was damaged beyond repair by the German armed forces. An emergency bridge was built by a team led by lieutenant colonel Miller and with support from the British Corps of Royal Engineers. Meant as a temporary solution, the emergency bridge remained in use for the next 37 years. It was named after Miller’s daughter, Catherine.
Tommy helmet
Tommy helmet
Fireman’s helmet, used around 1946, Railway Museum Collection.
Material shortages during the reconstruction period meant that the reuse of materials was inevitable. For example, NS used the helmets of British soldiers (‘Tommies’) as fireman’s helmets, providing them with a prominent new NS logo in 1946.
Longmoor
Longmoor
War locomotive W(ar) D(epartment) 73755, built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow in 1945, Railway Museum Collection.
Steam engine WD 73755 ‘Longmoor’ was built in Britain in 1945 and subsequently shipped to France, where it was used for a variety of purposes, including the provisioning of the British army in the liberated areas. In 1947, NS acquired the ownership of over a hundred war locomotives from this series. Made of cheap and non-durable materials, they only lasted for a few years, until 1951. The name ‘Longmoor’ is a reference to the Longmoor Military Railway Corps of the British army tasked with the deployment of war locomotives.
De spoorwegen spreken
De spoorwegen spreken
Fragment from ‘After seven months’, a film commissioned by NS and issued in December 1945 by the Nederlandsche Werkgemeenschap voor Filmproductie. The director was Allan Penning. Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.
The progress made in reconstruction activities was discussed every Sunday in a radio programme called ‘De spoorwegen spreken’ (The Railways Talk). During the show, Chief Inspector and Head of Scheduling Operations at NS, Dr P.Th. Posthumus Meyjes, highlighted the great drive shown by NS in repairing buildings and equipment.
Marshall loc
Marshall loc
Electric engine 1202, delivered in 1951, Railway Museum Collection.
NS was able to buy the 25 locomotives from the 1200 series thanks to American financial aid through the Marshall Plan. Designed by two American manufacturers, Baldwin and Westinghouse, the locos were built by the Werkspoor company in Utrecht and delivered in 1951.
Silent strings
Silent strings
AQUAREL MET GEDICHT VAN 1 JANUARI 1947 MET GEDICHT VAN CEES VAN DEN HOEVEN EN ILLUSTRATIES VAN JAN DE HAAN, COLLECTIE SPOORWEGMUSEUM.
In een gedicht van Cees van den Hoeven uit 1947 stonden de stille draden symbool voor de vernielingen die de Duitsers tijdens de staking aan het spoor hadden aangebracht. De stilstaande stoomlocomotieven werden voorgesteld als ‘vurige paarden’, die na de oorlog door de Duitsers zo beschadigd waren, dat ze wel geraamtes leken. Reclametekenaar Jan de Haan verbeeldde de verwoestingen van het spoor in sombere schetsen, terwijl hij de wederopbouw in vrolijke kleuren vastlegde.
NS historiography
Seven months
Seven months
English brochure, ‘They had seven months’, published by NS, ca 1946.
An English brochure published by NS in 1946 presents the railway strike as the most significant act of resistance in history, one that completely paralysed German military transports. The strikers were described as heroes. The once modern railway company had been stripped bare and demolished by the Germans in the war, but had launched the reconstruction effort with tremendous drive. This is the message that the NS management board continued to spread until long after the war.
Running and striking
Running and striking
Book by Dr A.J.C. Rüter, Rijden en staken; de Nederlandsche spoorwegen in oorlogstijd [Running and striking: the Dutch railways during the war years], The Hague 1960.
As early as in 1946, the Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation (today NIOD) asked professor Rüter to write a book about the railway strike. Rüter produced a profound study of NS during the war years, examining not only events surrounding the railway strike itself, but also the organisation, management board, and Staff Council, the resistance and the aftermath of the strike. One of Rüter’s conclusions was that the effect of the railway strike, from a military perspective, had been very small. He also believed that rather than being seen as a coordinated deed of resistance, the strike had been an effort under the local leadership of railway employees who might or might not have been appointed for that task by the management board. Due to persistent objections against this point of view, especially from former President Hupkes, publication of the study was postponed for five years in total – despite the fact that Rüter in fact sympathised with the management board for the dilemmas it had had to contend with during the war, and did not comment on the role of NS in the transports of deported Jews at all.
Goudriaan
Goudriaan
Professor J. Goudriaan, Vriend en vijand; herinneringen aan de Nederlandsche Spoorwegen 1938-1948 [Friend and foe: memories of the Dutch railways in 1938-1948]; Book by Arie van der Zwan, Goudriaan’s collision with NS, ‘koopman in dienst van de gemeenschap’ [merchant in public service], Schiedam, 1991.
Former NS Presidents Goudriaan and Hupkes had one thing in common: they totally disagreed with professor Rüter’s conclusions in his book ‘Running and striking’. Goudriaan felt that his reputation had been tarnished and wrote a book himself, ‘Vriend en vijand’ [Friend and foe], to demonstrate that he had done a very good job as President. The witch hunt in the senior echelons of NS, which would not accept interference from an ‘outsider’, had eventually forced him to resign. More than 30 years later, another study into the matter was published. Its author, Arie van der Zwan, demonstrated that the NS board had availed itself of the circumstances at the time – and some help from Spitzen, Secretary General of the Department of Public Works and Water Management – to rid itself of Goudriaan. However, the issue that fuelled the most intense debate among members of the public and the press was not the Goudriaan case, but the transports of Jews, Roma and Sinti.
Apologies
Apologies
‘This is where the train to Auschwitz used to depart’, poster, Railway Museum Collection.
On 29 September 2005, the then NS President Aad Veenman offered his ‘sincere apologies’, on behalf of NS, for the role the railway company had played in the deportation of Jews, Roma and Sinti. On that day, posters were put up at nearly 70 railway stations carrying a stark message: ‘This is where the train for Auschwitz used to depart’. Designed in close cooperation with the Central Jewish Council in the Netherlands, the campaign aimed to remind travellers of the deportation trains in the Second World War that were used as a logistic instrument to transport Jews, Roma and Sinti to transit and concentration camps.
Reparations
Reparations
Photograph of a meeting of the Committee on Individual Compensation for Victims of WWII Transport by NS on 26 June 2019, NS.
Thanks to the efforts of a single individual, in 2018 NS eventually decided to provide financial compensation for the victims of the deportations. Journalist and publicist Salo Muller is known mainly for the work he performed as physiotherapist at Ajax football club. Still a child, he had been in hiding during the war while his parents were deported to Auschwitz and killed there. He instituted legal proceedings against NS to force the company to provide financial compensation for the deported Jews, Roma and Sinti and their next of kin. However, NS felt it was better not to await the proceedings. So, on 27 November 2018 NS established a special Committee for Individual Compensation for Victims of WWII Transport by NS, headed by Job Cohen. The Committee proposed a compensation scheme for the victims and their next of kin, which was adopted by NS at a meeting in the Railway Museum on 26 June 2019. In addition to attracting a great deal of positive feedback, the compensation scheme also generated many questions and objections from the Jewish community and among the Roma and Sinti communities in the Netherlands.