Revealing unique inscriptions of a Nazi collaborator in Doodencel 601 of the Oranjehotel

Joost Wempe,Jilt Sietsma,Esmée Mooldijk,Joris Dik,Ruben Wiersma,Nienke Feirabend,Rick Van Den Brink

doi:10.1186/s40494-020-00418-8

Abstract

During the Second World War the German occupants of the Netherlands made ample use of the Scheveningen prison near The Hague, popularly nicknamed the Oranjehotel. One former death cell in this infamous prison (Doodencel 601) has been preserved in its original condition, showing wartime inscriptions on the cell walls. Interestingly, a small section of the wall has been given an additional plaster layer, presumably covering inscriptions. Here, we report on the visualization of this enigmatic text, which so far had escaped the reach of historians. Our visualization methodology was threefold. First, we determined the cell-wall stratigraphy and its composition based on a sample cross-section. Second, we prepared a physical model wall, mimicking the layering of the original cell wall. Third, we tested a combination of raking light photography and infrared thermography on the model wall. Applying this methodology on the original wall revealed the inscriptions, including the author’s name Daniël de Blocq van Scheltinga, a prominent Nazi collaborator, as well as a calendar and an important date of his post-war trial in the fall of 1945. Our visualizations flawlessly dovetail with archival findings. Together, they offer an intimate view of an early post-war inmate of the Scheveningen prison, whose message was covered up once the cell was transformed into a war monument in 1946.

Highlights

During the German occupation of the Netherlands between May 1940 and May 1945, more than 25,000 people were held captive in the Deutsches Untersuchungsund Strafgefängnis in the Scheveningen prison, near The Hague [1]
The present paper reports on a historic text that was revealed by application of non-destructive raking light photography and infrared thermography
Raking light photography and thermography results of the physical model wall This section describes the obtained results of the raking light photography and infrared thermography applied to the physical model wall

Summary

Introduction

During the German occupation of the Netherlands between May 1940 and May 1945, more than 25,000 people were held captive in the Deutsches Untersuchungsund Strafgefängnis in the Scheveningen prison, near The Hague [1]. Sentences included the death penalty, resulting in 215 resistance fighters being led from the Oranjehotel to their execution in the nearby dunes, the infamous Waalsdorpervlakte. The first post-war warden, E.P. Weber, recognized the unique historical and emotional significance of the Oranjehotel. A committee that he founded and chaired decided to establish one death cell as a war monument by excluding it from further prison use in 1946. Doodencel 601 (Fig. 1), effectively became a time capsule, preserving its wartime significance. The walls bear inscriptions carved by resistance fighters and other wartime prisoners: texts, names, calendars, drawings expressing hope and despair, Wempe et al Herit Sci (2020) 8:74

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