Broekema writes about the fate of brothers Lazarus and Meijer Sleutelberg from Farnsum, a village by Delfzijl. The brothers were in hiding: 'For years, the broad-shouldered, strong men experienced the ordeal of life in a closed space. Sometimes, their existence was so hard for them that they tried to catch a glimpse of the familiar outside world. When they were seen, they had to move on to the next hiding place without fail. In April 1945, they were on a farm by Appingedam, their umpteenth hiding place'.
During the advance of the Canadians to Delfzijl, the Nazis retreated from Appingedam and took up shelter on the Delfzijl position. 'One of them discovered on Tuesday, 24 April, the brothers Sleutelberg. They were transferred to the SD-Dienststelle in Delfzijl. [
] On Wednesday, 2 May, at 7 A:M, the Nazis surrendered and the last part of Groningen was liberated. For Meijer and Lazarus Sleutelberg, however, the Canadians came too late. The SD had killed them. In the night of 24 to 25 April, they were killed on an unknown location in Delfzijl'.
Broekema, Benjamin. Een verzwegen dood (Amsterdam 2001) 234-235
Biography