Drogt Hendrik

Drogt, Henk Henk Drogt, born in 1920, was a young officer in the military police (marechaussee) in the northern village of Grijpskerk (prov. Groningen). Along with his colleagues in the neighboring village of Grootegast, he was ordered to arrest the seven Jewish residents of both villages on March 9, 1943. All refused to do so. They were warned of consequences, but none were ready to change their minds. A number of the other officers were repeatedly given the option to go back on their decision, but none did. A few days later, the group were arrested and sent to local concentration camps. Dirk Boonstra*, the leader of the group, was sent to Dachau, where he perished on September 9, 1944. Henk Drogt, however, went into hiding two days after the intended raid on the Jews, and could not be traced by the authorities. He reached the town of Meppel, in the province of Drenthe, where he made contact with a local underground cell. Together with the members of this group, he became involved in armed resistance, including attacks on municipal registers and the stealing food coupons and blank identity cards. At the beginning of August 1943, the resistance cell was drawn into a trap by the SD and Drogt and others were caught. He was put on trial, condemned to death and executed on April 14, 1944. On March 19, 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Henk Drogt as a Righteous Among the Nations.