The railway strike

Official instructions of 19 and 25 May 1944, Railway Museum Collection.

In February 1944, the NS management board took an important measure that was also being prepared at other Dutch companies. The board issued a circular announcing that one monthly salary had been reserved for all employees in case an invasion was to prevent the regular payment of wages and pensions. This reserve was informally known as the ‘invasion pay fund’. The advance salary was paid on 19 May, but on 25 May an official instruction was issued stating that the Germans had ordered the payment to be refunded immediately. In this particular case, J.H. Bergman was required to refund 140 guilders.

Adapted schedule of 17 July 1944, Railway Museum Collection.

Up until the day the Dutch government called the railway strike of 17 September 1944 via Radio Orange, NS continued train services in spite of the growing danger from attacks and sabotage. On 17 July, NS issued this adjusted schedule for services between Haarlem and Zandvoort-Bad.

Weekly ticket for the route between Zuidhorn and Veenwouden, and photographs of Anna Toppen-Dinkela, Railway Museum Collection, donation by Heerema.

Anna Toppen-Dinkela (1888-1971) ran a grocery in the village of Noordhorn, province of Groningen. She made regular business trips. On 4 September 1944, she bought a third-class weekly ticket to travel for business between Zuidhorn and Veenwouden. That was one day before ‘Mad Tuesday’, 5 September 1944. That day, NS needed many extra trains to transport scores of Germans and pro-German Dutch citizens who tried to flee to Germany ahead of the imminent Allied invasion.

Photograph of locomotive crew at the Roosendaal depot, Liberation Museum Zeeland / WO2 NIOD Image Base.

When the Allies had liberated Antwerp on 4 September 1944, Radio Orange wrongly reported hat they had already crossed the Dutch border. Tens of thousands of NSB members and Germans made a desperate attempt to flee to Germany in or on any vehicle that would carry them. On 5 September, ‘Mad Tuesday’, train services were extremely chaotic owing to the crowds trying to flee the country amid several attacks on trains. The photograph, taken near the NS signal box on Patijnweg in Goes, shows German soldiers trying to escape in great haste by locomotive.

Photograph of NSB members and German soldiers at Staatsspoor Station in The Hague on 5 September 1944 (‘Mad Tuesday’), WO2 NIOD Image Base.

On ‘Mad Tuesday’, this group of NSB members and German soldiers was found waiting, with bags and baggage, for a train that would take them to Germany, at Staatsspoor Station (today The Hague Central Station). They had a dangerous journey ahead of them: the Allied forces attacked twenty trains that day, killing five NS employees and 46 passengers.

Bilingual authorisation form (Sonderausweis) printed on blue paper, extended until December 1944, Railway Museum Collection.

The Germans had designated various ‘prohibited areas’ in the Netherlands for strategic reasons, which meant they were off limits for civilians. First-class NS guard Wilko Patje from Utrecht travelled across the country for work. His Sonderausweis, a special type of ID card, gave him permission to access the prohibited area near Velzen and travel to Utrecht along the shortest route. In July 1944, the validity of his Sonderausweis was extended until December of that same year.

Diorama of the destroyed railway station Oosterbeek-Laag, created in 2013 by model builder Hans Udo, Railway Museum Collection.

‘Market Garden’, the long-anticipated Allied operation, started at noon on 17 September 1944 with airborne landings near Arnhem. German resistance was unexpectedly fierce, with the village of Oosterbeek ending up on the front line. The diorama depicts the heavily damaged railway station of Oosterbeek-Laag during the battle between the Germans and the Allies.

Photograph of the Gerbrandy II Cabinet by an unknown photographer, second half of 1944, National Archives of the Netherlands.

On 17 September 1944, the first person to be updated by the Supreme Allied Command on the invasion near Arnhem was C.L.W. Fock, head of the Intelligence Office in London. He received an urgent request to inform the Dutch government that it was now highly desirable for NS employees to go on strike. However, Prime Minister P.S. Gerbrandy and War Minister O.C.A. van Lidth de Jeude were not in London at that time and did not receive the message. Only in the course of the afternoon did they learn of the Allies’ request to call a railway strike. Gerbrandy decided to honour the request immediately, but Lidth de Jeude had his doubts. He consented nevertheless, given the urgency of the matter. They then formulated the call that was transmitted via Radio Orange later that day. The Council of Ministers and Queen Wilhelmina were not brought up to speed until after the broadcast.

Illegal radio, brand Philips, type 915 X, Resistance Museum Collection, Amsterdam.

After the strike of April-May 1943, all Dutch citizens were required to hand in their radios, because the Germans felt Radio Orange had incited the Dutch people against them. Many people however found ways to continue listening to radio broadcasts. Those who had two radios, for example, handed in one and hid the other one in the cellar, in the attic or behind a hatch, such as this Philips radio, which was used to listen to Radio Orange broadcasts in secret.

A ‘crystal receiver’, or illegal radio, Resistance Museum Collection.

Many people in the Netherlands had their own home-made illegal receivers built from simple materials. These tiny ‘crystal receivers’ enabled them to listen to Radio Orange broadcasts in secret.

Radio Orange, 19 September 1944, public domain.

Unfortunately, the audio recordings of the call to strike of 17 September 1944, read by author and radio presenter A. den Doolaard, are in a very poor condition and cannot be played anymore. A call transmitted by Radio Orange several days later has survived, however. In it, the government expresses it appreciation for the fact that so many railway employees complied with the call.
Below is a verbatim transcript of the call broadcast on Radio Orange on 17 September 1944, at 17.45:
‘In response to a request received from sources in the Netherlands and in consultation with the Supreme Command, also in connection with the operations that were launched in the Netherlands today, the Government believes the time has now arrived to call a general railway strike so as to obstruct enemy transports and concentrations of enemy troops as much as possible.
The Government is aware of the huge responsibility it has assumed, but is convinced, following ample consideration, that the military importance of this deed is such that it should now be implemented without delay.
Fully cognisant of the difficulties this will create, the Government allows you to decide on the manner of implementation and wishes all of you, loyal and brave compatriots, the strength to carry out this action to the best of your abilities.’

Radio Orange, 8 October 1944, public domain.

On 8 October 1944, Prime Minister Gerbrandy read out a statement about the railway strike on Radio Orange. He claimed that the strike had been called following ample consideration, but that was not at all the case. Due to the secret nature of Market Garden, only Gebrandy himself and his Minister of War had been informed about the wish of the Allied forces to call a strike in order to delay transports of German troops and weapons.

Print and explanation of ‘Versteeg’s children should now go to bed’, made by J.H. Moesman, offprint from Het Rechte Spoor, 15 September 1945.

In a print that appeared in Het Rechte Spoor magazine in September 1945, the well-known magic realist painter and NS employee J.H. (Joop) Moesman explained exactly what the expression ‘Versteeg’s children should now go to bed’ was meant to convey. The sentence was not read aloud on the radio, as it was the secret code agreed between the NS management board and a resistance fighter who had contacts with the Dutch government. The code was issued after the radio broadcast, so the NS management board could be sure it was the Dutch government that called the strike. ‘Versteeg’ was one of Hupkes’ nicknames and his ‘children’ were the NS employees, who had to go into hiding.

Plywood panel with veneer inlay depicting a deserted railway station, made by C. Edelman; photograph of Arnhem railway station, Railway Museum Collection.

The wooden inlay depicts a completely deserted railway station during the railway strike. The panel was probably made after the war, based on a photograph taken at Arnhem railway station on the first day of the strike.

Photograph of the totally destroyed homes of the Veldhuizen and Hofhuis families in Geldermalsen, taken after the war by railway employee and artist Piet Mulder. Private collection, Mulder heirs.

The homes of two railway families, Veldhuizen and Hofhuis, in Geldermalsen were burnt to the ground by the Wehrmacht on 12 November 1944, in reprisal for a meeting that had been held in one of the two houses just after the call to strike. During that meeting, resistance fighter Johannes van Zanten managed to persuade several railway employees from Geldermalsen to join the strike. Apparently, the Germans got wind of the meeting and took revenge. The Veldhuizen and Hofhuis families had gone into hiding by then, but their homes were reduced to ashes.

Photographs of destruction at Arnhem railway station, Railway Museum Collection.

Whole districts of the city were destroyed during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. NS employees had pictures taken of the disastrous consequences of the battle, showing a part of the station, the roof over the platform and the station yard in ruins.

Photograph of deputy President Willem Hupkes at the address where he had gone into hiding, Railway Museum Collection.

When the call to strike was broadcast on Radio Orange on 17 September, deputy President Hupkes was out playing golf. He did not hear the news until he got back back, and was greatly surprised and indeed indignant that the government had not notified him in advance. He also thought it made no sense to issue the call by radio, as the Germans could be expected to have been listening in. He dashed off to a secret address where he went into hiding. This was a villa in the town of Maartensdijk, with a bathroom converted into an office. He used a false name, ‘doctor Huisman’, and received ‘patients’ who in reality were members of the resistance movement, couriers and colleagues.

Two photographs of the signal house at Breukelen during the railway strike, Railway Museum Collection.

During the railway strike, all train traffic in the part of the Netherlands that had not yet been liberated was at a standstill. The signal house near Breukelen was not in operation either. Instead, it was used as a wash house, probably by the signalman’s wife.

Forged ID document of F.F. de Bruyn, loan by De Bruyn family.

During the war, F.F. de Bruyn was Personnel Manager at NS. He went into hiding in his own home in Ramstraat (Utrecht) during the railway strike, with plenty of spaces where he could hide in an emergency. It soon appeared however that the Germans focused mainly on the actual war operations, rather than on hunting down people who had joined the railway strike. On 26 September 1944, De Bruyn had this false ID document made in the name of Everardus Johannes Wiggers. In the course of time, it made him feel secure enough to go outside.

Cap of Jitze Buursema, Railway Museum Collection, donated by Marianne Plijnaar.

Jitze Buursema (1879-1958), a qualified mechanical engineer, was depot head at Rotterdam Delftsche Poort Station. Like all NS officials, he had a special cap unique to his position, which he wore up to the day of the railway strike.

Diary and account of Jeldrich Buursema from the years 1944/1945, loan by Marianne Plijnaar.

Jeldrich Buursema (1912-1992) worked as a railroad assistant at the station of Rotterdam Delftsche Poort. The razzias held by the Germans in the autumn of 1944 were not specifically intended to round up railway employees: the Germans simply arrested every male person they deemed suitable for forced labour in Germany. This included Jeldrich Buursema, a railroad assistant in Rotterdam, who was arrested during the big razzias held in that city on 10 and 11 November 1944. He was sent to Germany on forced labour, as part of the Arbeitseinsatz. During his time in Germany he kept a diary in a small notebook: a detailed account, in pencil, of being transported in goods carriages and forced to work on the German railways and elsewhere. He also wrote extensively about the food he was given and about his physical complaints, attempted escapes and working days of more than 12 hours. He produced a typed version of the original diary after his retirement, and kept his memories in a blue ring binder.

Plate in honour of railway employee G.J. Volmer, Railway Museum Collection.

Until the railway strike on 17 September 1944 G.J. Volmer was a railway worker at NS in Roermond. The Germans were keen to remain in control of this southern city for as long as possible, to prevent the Allied forces from moving up towards the Ruhrgebiet. They held a razzia on 12 October 1944, in which Volmer was arrested and sent to Germany on forced labour. In late December, another three thousand or so men from Roermond were rounded up and sent on forced labour. Women, children and elderly citizens stayed in Roermond for a while until the Germans evacuated the city and transported them to Friesland and Groningen in January 1945. On 20 December 1945, in addition to being issued with a certificate celebrating the 25th anniversary of his employment with NS, Volmer received a commemorative plate as a gift from NS. The rough seas and the peace dove refer to the turbulent times he had experienced working for NS.

Diary of G.J. Volmer, Roermond Municipal Archives.

G.J. Volmer, a railway employee from Roermond, kept a diary during the period of his forced labour in Germany. He wrote that he and 60 other men had been crammed into a closed goods carriage, without food or drink, for deportation to a camp in Wuppertal, in October 1944, and were forced to work on the railways there. He did not return to Roermond until 8 May 1945.

Panel featuring a swastika, Railway Museum Collection.

During the railway strike, all trains that were still running in the Netherlands were German trains served by German personnel. In the first few months of the strike train services were highly erratic, but from 1 November the Germans managed to operate a fixed timetable using both German locomotives and confiscated Dutch ones. The German good wagons, carriages and locomotives prominently featured two Nazi symbols: the eagle and the swastika. Rolling stock featuring these symbols was found after the war, abandoned by the Germans. The symbols shown here were mounted on a wooden panel and donated to the Railway Museum.

Fragments from a film made in The Hague, September 1944, NIOD Collection, Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

A film made in The Hague in September 1944 shows the deserted and silent tracks and stations during the railway strike in the part of the Netherlands that was still under German occupation.

Glazed earthenware decorative tile commemorating the resistance by the National Support Fund, Railway Museum Collection.

The ‘invasion pay fund’ set aside by the NS management board proved wholly insufficient to continue the strike for almost eight months, so the National Support Fund helped pay the wages of NS employees during that period. The Fund managed to secure the required cash through a clever strategy that has since become known as the ‘largest bank fraud of all time’. In a scheme known to the Dutch government in London, 51 million guilders’ worth of Treasury bonds (securities) issued by the Rijkspostspaarbank were exchanged for forged securities. This was done right in front of the President of the Dutch Central Bank, NSB member Meinoud Rost van Tonningen. Next, the bonds were exchanged for Treasury bills which, in turn, could be exchanged for cash. Officially, these funds were required for factory employees who had been put on half-pay due to wartime factory closures. In reality however the money went to people who had gone into hiding in the Netherlands, including railway workers who had joined the strike. The tile was produced to commemorate the important role that the National Support Fund played as the ‘resistance banker’ from 1943 to 1945.

Oil painting of F.Q. Den Hollander by S.C. Schröder, 1960, Railway Museum Collection.

F.Q. (Frans) Den Hollander (1893-1982), who was later to serve as President of NS, was a key player in the National Support Fund’s strategy to generate cash to support people in hiding. Just before the war, Den Hollander was appointed managing director of arms manufacturer Artillerie-Inrichting in Zaandam. During the war, for reasons of principle he largely switched to the production of agricultural machinery. In 1943, he was sent on half-pay by the Germans and became the chairman of the (legal) Dutch Industry Key Division of the Department of Trade, Industry and Shipping. In that capacity he claimed to need huge sums of cash to pay factory workers who were on half-pay due to the countless wartime factory closures. In this way he enabled the NSF to obtain considerable funds that it used to support people in the Netherlands who had gone into hiding. Den Hollander himself would regularly set out on his bicycle with wooden wheels to distribute cash amounts to the railway strikers.

Photograph of a pay distribution list drawn up on behalf of the Economic Affairs Department of NS, 16 December 1947, Railway Museum Collection.

Hundreds of couriers criss-crossed the country on their bikes to distribute wages, food coupons and even Christmas bonuses to all railway strikers. Most couriers were women, because the Germans were less suspicious of women. They also ran a smaller risk than men of being arrested and sent to Germany on forced labour. After the war, NS photographed a ‘pay distribution list’ kept by such a courier.

Award presented by NS to G.W. van Rheenen commemorating his illegal railway activities during the strike, Railway Museum Collection.

After the war, resistance fighter G.W. van Rheenen was presented with this award in gratitude for his services as a courier distributing wages to the railway strikers. This was dangerous work that had to be done in all secrecy.

Six documents pertaining to the payment of railway strikers’ wages, drawn up by G.W. van Rheenen, November 1944 – March 1945, Railway Museum Collection.

G.W. van Rheenen, member of the resistance, kept detailed records of payments to railway strikers in Utrecht. His lists also stated those who were not in when he called to make the payment, as well as those who were ill or had had an accident.

Notebook in which Fiet Koster kept records of payments to railway strikers in Amsterdam, Resistance Museum.

Courier and member of the resistance, Fiet Koster was involved in the payment of wages to railway strikers in Amsterdam’s Transvaal district. Fiet used this notebook to keep records of the payments made and amounts due. That was tricky, as she also wrote down all the names and addresses of the railway strikers concerned.

Food coupons from 1944, Railway Museum Collection, donated by C.de Cock.

In addition to financial support, the strikers also needed coupons to obtain foodstuffs. Risking their own lives, the couriers – mostly women – distributed these coupons as well as cash on their rounds, enabling the strikers’ families to buy food.

Letter from Walraven van Hall dated 30 November 1944, HUA 948, 570.

On 30 November 1944, Walraven van Hall (using his pseudonym Van Tuyl), on behalf of the National Support Fund (NSF), wrote a letter to NS President Hupkes. His letter concerned the problems that had arisen in the payment of wages to railway strikers in Haarlem and Amsterdam. The Staff Council members appointed by the NS management board in those cities had clashed with other railway employees and NSF members. Van Hall wrote, in no uncertain terms: ‘My impression is that you have not been sufficiently informed about the immense tact and patience required for this work, performed in this context by the NSF officials. Neither have you been given a realistic picture of the tensions to which the Staff Council has given rise in railway circles’.

Report dated 10 February 1944, Railway Museum Collection, donated by Cornelis de Cock.

In Amsterdam huge difficulties arose in the distribution of payments to railway strikers, mainly because a group of railway workers associated with the communist newspaper De Waarheid wanted to be involved with the payments. The NS management board, fearful of communist influence, strongly objected to this. On behalf of the National Support Fund, Walraven van Hall had a report of the quarrel drawn up by a certain ‘Van Aemstel’. This was a false name used by W.L. Viersma, a town hall official and member of the National Organisation for Helping People in Hiding (LO). Later, Van Hall discussed the report with NS President Hupkes.

Documents from the archive of W.J.C. Brouwer, Resistance Museum Collection.

Before the war, W.J.C. Bouwer had been a salaried member of the board of the Dutch Association for Railway and Tramway Personnel (NV). In August 1942 he was appointed representative of the NS Staff Council in Amsterdam. The NS management board was keen to remain in control of the payment of wages to its employees during the railway strike. The idea was that NS-appointed representatives should take the lead in this operation. In many places, however, this plan failed. In Amsterdam things came to a head when too many railway employees, including a group with communist leanings, aimed to take charge of the payments. NS President Hupkes wrote a letter in which he expressly held Brouwer accountable for the payment of wages to all railway strikers.

Letters by Brouwer, written in Amersfoort concentration camp, Resistance Museum Collection, Amsterdam.

During a strike gathering, W.J.C. Brouwer was arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), detained and transported to the Amersfoort concentration camp. He wrote several letters to his family during his imprisonment. In an interview with professor Rüter after the war, he said he was convinced that he had been betrayed by a group of communist railway employees who wanted to control the payments to the railway strikers.

Cartoon about the railway strike made by André Kokke, 1945, Railway Museum Collection.

According to this cartoon made just after the war, it was the railway strike that ‘finished him off’ – Hitler that is. However, that is an exaggeration. In fact the railway strike hardly affected the course of the war at all, from a military point of view. It did have a strong effect on people’s morale, however. By continuing the strike for almost eight months, the strikers came to be regarded as a symbol of perseverance of the Dutch against the German occupiers.

Poster with German propaganda against the railway strike, 1944, Railway Museum Collection.

Propaganda was one of the tools the Germans used in their attempts to crush the railway strike. They tried to make the Dutch people believe that their misery was caused by the fact that food supplies by train had come to a standstill. However, food transports also depended on shipping. So when Reich Commissioner Seyss-Inquart banned shipping until mid-October 1944 and the rivers then froze over in severe winter weather, both transport modes had been eliminated. That unfortunate coincidence was the real cause of the misery referred to on the poster.

Poster with German propaganda against the railway strike, Railway Museum Collection.

During the railway strike, posters with propaganda against the strike appeared at various locations. The Germans tried to turn the Dutch people and railway employees against the strike by claiming that it was in fact the principal cause of the shortage of resources such as coal, gas, food, electricity and water. However, their propaganda was unable to crush support for the strike.

Letter from Hupkes about NS food transports, January 1945, Railway Museum Collection.

Food shortages became acute in the winter of 1944-45, partly because there were no trains to supply foodstuffs. Worse still, due to the exceptionally cold weather all waterways were frozen over, so there was no shipping either. Deputy President Hupkes wrote a letter of thanks to H.G. Tulp, who had worked as a railway inspector before the strike. During the Dutch Famine, Tulp spared no effort to distribute emergency foodstuffs to NS employees, in cooperation with the National Organisation for Helping People in Hiding (LO).

Fragment from ‘Hunger’, a film made by Rudi Hornecker in The Hague, 1944-1945, NIOD Collection, Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

Rudi Hornecker was a German commercial draughtsman and avid amateur film-maker who had emigrated to the Netherlands in the 1920s. Concerned about the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, he tried to obtain Dutch citizenship just before the war. His attempt failed, but he did manage to avoid conscription and find a job as a cameraman during the occupation to film the German fortifications along the coast near The Hague. During the Dutch Famine he secretly filmed people struggling to cope in The Hague, using a camera he could hide under his coat when necessary. After the war, Hornecker edited the footage to create an impressive film called ‘Hunger’.

Plaque, ‘The great system will grind to a halt’, 1946, Railway Museum Collection.

The first time that railway employees had gone on strike was in 1903, in protest against the poor working conditions. This served as inspiration for an evocative phrase highlighting the power of the workers: ‘You have the power to set the wheels in motion, or make them grind to a halt’. NS quoted this phrase on the plaque it presented to the railway employees after the war.

Cartoon featuring a poem about the railway strike, Railway Museum Collection.

In this post-war print, artist Wim van der Valk depicted the railway strike as a giant act of resistance. According to the accompanying poem, by Ida-Marie Kriesz, there was nothing that ‘Jerry’ could do now that the trains had stopped running. In actual fact, however, the railway strike hardly impeded the operation of German trains, which were soon running again – even without Dutch railway workers.

Decorative plate commemorating the railway strike, 1945, Railway Museum Collection.

This richly decorated plate commemorated the fact that on 17 September 1944 the Dutch government called the railway strike in a Radio Orange broadcast. The letters ‘BBC’ ar for British Broadcasting Corporation – as Radio Orange was aired via the BBC’s European Service.

Commemorative award, issued to H.C. van den Berg, Railway Museum Collection.

After the war, various individuals received an award for their commitment to helping railway employees. One of them was H.C. van den Berg, who was commended for his ‘illegal railway activities’.

Wooden panel: ‘The wheels have stopped turning. To the memory of those who fell’, 1945, Railway Museum Collection.

After the war, NS employees who had not survived were commemorated on small wooden panels. The one shown here features a railway employee with a red halt sign who barely manages to keep his head above the water. It is thought that these panels were distributed among the families of those who didn’t survive the war.

Tile and painting depicting the resistance put up by the railway strikers, Railway Museum Collection.

NS regarded the railway strike as an act of resistance, as is clearly reflected in this tile that was distributed among its employees. The red sign with the word verzet (resistance) is shown in front of a deserted railway.

Copper medal produced by NS to commemorate the railway strike, 17 September 1946, Railway Museum Collection.

As a token of gratitude for complying with the call to strike, all approx. 30,000 NS employees who had joined the strike were given a commemorative medal for their ‘courageous conduct’. The medal was presented on 17 September 1946, a year later than scheduled, owing to the lack of materials in the post-war period.

Small, wooden panel commemorating the railway strike, Railway Museum Collection.

This panel was produced after the war to commemorate the railway strike, which had been called ‘by superior order’ and lasted until the liberation. The railway employee is carrying an orange flag showing a winged wheel, the international railway symbol.

Poem on the railway strike by W. ter Heersche, Railway Museum Collection.

Epitomising the audacity of the Dutch people, the railway strikers were praised in a variety of ways after the war had come to an end. For example, a poem by W. ter Heersche emphasised that many railway employees left in ‘trackless haste’ to go into hiding. The poem dwells upon the unpleasant period in which people were robbed of household items and possessions and suffered all manner of hardships in severe winter weather.

‘In praise of our railway lads; recovery of the railways presents huge opportunities’, article in De Waarheid newspaper, Amsterdam, 16 May 1945.

Immediately after the war, the NS management board and Staff Council were also the subject of criticism, especially from former resistance fighters. On 16 May 1945, just days after the liberation, communist newspaper De Waarheid published a critical article. The author demanded a thorough investigation into the role of the NS management board and, especially, of Staff Council chairman Joustra who, it was claimed, had unduly exposed himself to German influence by retaining his chairmanship of the union.

Article in De Nieuwe Post newspaper, Saturday 27 November 1948.

A critical newspaper article in 1948 questioned the idea that the railway strike had actually been helpful. According to the author, the strike had proved disastrous for the Dutch people in general, by blocking food transports, and for the families of the railway strikers in particular. The article also stated that around one thousand families had suffered greatly from German reprisals, and were still awaiting compensation in 1948.

Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau badge and the associated nomination, Willem Hupkes heirs.

Immediately after the Second World War, the railway strike was seen in the Netherlands as a major act of resistance. On 12 December 1946, on the recommendation of the then Minister for Traffic, Queen Wilhelmina appointed NS President Willem Hupkes Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Hupkes was presented with the badge in the form of a four-pointed star, which is worn on the left just above the waist. This distinction is reserved for people who have made an outstanding and disinterested contribution to promoting the Dutch cause.