Case File # 12             

Case Title: Deadly Ending of "HiWi's" Uprising

Subject: Russian POW's, put to work at German Anti Aircraft gun positions near the Philips factories in Eindhoven tried to escape one night late in the war. Their captors reacted with machine gun fire and put a deadly end to the uprising.

Date:  Approximately 1944

Location: Eindhoven, Holland

Introduction: As a young boy, Battle Detective Tom asked his Mother, who was seven years old in 1944, if she had ever seen 'dead people' during the war. A common question for boys of Tom's age at that time, we learned later. His mother, Greetje Matla, told the story of Iwan. Iwan was a Russian soldier who was kept prisoner by the Germans. Greetje walked by where Iwan was held, on her way to school on Barrier Weg in Eindhoven, Holland. Although she could not actually speak to him, they were able to communicate somehow. She even shared her school sandwiches with the Russian. One morning she walked by Iwan on her way to school, only to find him lying on the ground. Dead.

A recently discovered photograph of Greetje Matla at the age of 7

on the day of her First Holy Communion in 1944

Unfortunately, Greetje died far too early in 1990. Therefore, Tom had never been able to ask his Mother for more details about this story. However, recent battle detective work sheds more light on Iwan's story. And his death. 

The Story: Battle Detective.com talked to Jan and Jenny Van Hout from Eindhoven. Like Tom, they are members of the Association of Dutch Airborne Friends. Jenny was two years older than Greetje and also lived in Eindhoven during World War Two. Jenny lived on Bosch Dijk. She and Greetje probably went to the same elementary school because Greetje's school was commandeered by the German occupiers of Holland and used to billet Wehrmacht soldiers in it. 

Jenny told about the Russian soldiers who were put to work at a German Anti Aircraft, or "Flak", position on a vacant lot near Marconi Laan. She also spoke of Russians that she and other school children talked to. Jenny remembers throwing her left over sandwiches across the wire perimeter fence around the gun position.

She remembered seeing 'green cupola's', obviously referring to the grassy man-created mounts shown in this period photograph of the gun location on Marconi Laan:

Photograph from the two-volume book by author A. Hermens about WWII air raids on Eindhoven

Jenny's home was also close to the gun site and one night she remembered hearing the sound of automatic machinegun fire. What struck her at the time was that the shooting was not forewarned by the usual air raid sirens. Therefore, Jenny was not particularly worried. During our interview, she even stated that she sort of enjoyed listening to the drumming sound of the automatic fire. How upset was she the next day when she learned of an uprising by the Russians. Local people spoke of an escape attempt by the Russians who had even tried to kill their captors. The escape had failed and some of the prisoners had been killed. Jenny never saw any of the Russians who where shot during the eventful night.

We showed Jenny a detailed and enlarged aerial photograph of the rectangular shaped lot enclosed by Marconi Laan, Bosch Dijk, Lijmbeek Straat and the rail road between Eindhoven and Boxtel. The photograph was taken on the 26th of December 1944. On it, she pointed the various gun emplacements, crew quarters, shacks for the Russian prisoners and other details.
This is the photograph:

(Click on the image to enlarge)

On this aerial photograph, taken over a year earlier on the 21st of October 1943, the Philips factories are visible in the lower left corner. The rail road runs in front of it.

(Click on the image to enlarge)

The Philips factories were of strategic value to the Germans and therefore they made a prized target for the Allied Air Forces. This is a picture of the factories today. The rail road is now built on a raised ramp.

The vacant lot in front of the Philips factories in Eindhoven (in the suburb of Strijp) where the Flak gun positions where, has been developed into a residential neighborhood, making a Now & Then-comparison difficult to produce.

(Click on the images to enlarge)

	Because the vacant lot in front of the Philips factories is now a residential area, it is difficult to make a Now & Then-comparison. The smokestack in the middle of both photographs serves as a reference point.
	Our photographer stood on the rail road ramp and took his picture in the same direction as the photographer in the "Then-" picture. This was taken from one of the factory rooftops in the winter of 1941. The flak guns had not yet been positioned in the vacant lot at that time.
	In April 2011 we were kindly allowed to take a photograph from the same window in the Philips Factory "Clock Building" as the one from which the 1941 photo was taken.

The Russians: Most likely, the Russian soldiers were so-called "HiWi's", an acronym for Hilfswillige (Auxiliary Volunteer).

After the invasion of the USSR thousands of captured Soviet soldiers volunteered to fight against the Soviet regime.

Initially the Germans declined their employment, but because of the many casualties in the Eastern Front and in North-Africa, accepted them in non-combat roles. They were given engineer and supply tasks. In Eindhoven these HiWi's were instructed to work in various Flak positions throughout the city and in the Welschap Luftwaffe Air Base.

This photograph was taken on the 18th of September 1944. It shows five Russian soldiers, taken prisoner by paratroopers of the 101st at a Flak gun location in Eindhoven. The man with the peaked cap is an Eindhoven Police officer. The paratrooper is of "HQ"-Co./506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, trying to determine whose side these men were on. A small portion of the black helmet of a PAN-resistance member can be seen in the far left edge.

We have not been able to substantiate the story about the escape attempt in any documentation so far. We are however pleased that our investigation has confirmed a remarkable story that was told a long time ago.