Eindhoven removes SS and NSB members names from WWII monument

22 wames will be removed from the war memorial in Eindhoven after an investigation revealed that the people listed were members of the Dutch Nazi party National Socialist Movement (NSB), the Schutzstaffel (SS), or served in the German military during World War II, the Eindhoven mayor and aldermen wrote in a letter to the city council.

"Even though no personal history is entirely black and white, these names do not belong on a monument that pays rightful tribute to the victims of World War II from Eindhoven,” they wrote in the letter. An exception is made for a German man who was forced into service due to his German nationality. Archival records indicated that his family was later fully acquitted by the Dutch government.

The monument also includes the names of people who did not die as a direct result of the war but rather from other causes during the war period, such as traffic accidents. It was decided to keep these names on the monument “out of empathy.”

The memorial, called “Herinner U de Namen,” which translates to “Remember Their Names,” is located on the Stadhuisplein and currently lists 1,096 names. The September 18 Foundation, a group committed to commemorating the liberation of Eindhoven on September 18, 1944, found these names while trying to digitize the names for broader access.

The Foundation also discovered that 155 names were missing on the monument. These were people who died in Eindhoven directly due to the war, as well as Eindhoven residents who died outside the city, including members of the Sinti and Roma communities. The letter stated that it is appropriate to add these 155 names on the monument.

The municipality hopes to get in touch with the immediate family members of those whose names will be removed from the monument "and to provide them with more information about this decision if they wish."