Harlingen May 11 1928 – Amsterdam May 7 1945
Johannes Jan (Hans) Ooms,named after his father, was born on May 11 1928 in Harlingen. He is a son of Johannes Jan Ooms and Antonia Helena de Klerk. The family lived at the 2nd Oosterparkstraat 172-II
His sister Jenny:
My mother was with my brother at the Dam, because the Salvation Army, were they both were connected, would sing in celebration of the liberation. They were not present at the Dam. At 06:00pm the Officer of the Salvation Army came to tell us that my brother was hit by a dum-dum bullet straight through his heart. They brought him to the church and we found my brother in the midst of other victims. On May 10 he has been buried by the Salvation Army, and on May 11 1945 he would have been 17 years old. It was very sad, also for the other relatives.
Yours sincerely Mrs.J.Ooms
H.van Zwol
Hans was a boy of about 16 years old, big for his age.He was being kept inside in the last years of the war, so he wouldn’t be a risk of being caught by razzia’s for the Arbeitseinsatz. We lived in the 3e Oosterparkstraat and saw Hans, if the weather was beautiful, regular on the veranda at the back of the house,so he was still outside. The family belonged by the Salvation Army and they would sing songs at the Dam. Hans Ooms died because of the shooting. I don’t know if he died at once or later in the hospital. I will never forget his funeral with a black coach and black horses. Now I think about it, that it is a miracle that those horses survived the hungry winter. Maybe you will her more about him on other sources.Please your attention for this boy.
Reaction of Jenny Ooms on the text of Hans van Zwol:
My brother was carried by friends of the Christian Youngmen Society and in front played the music corps of Amsterdam Oost where he was a musician. Our funeral procession was on foot from the Vrolijkstraat to the cemetery Zorgvlied in Amsterdam. My mother wore the uniform of the Salvation Army and my sister and I in white. The black horses were not present. Our family was convinced that he is with God.
Nelleke de Krijger
My father used to tell me several times that his cousin was killed on the Dam.I looked it up in the book “Five centuries Ooms”. There is the conformation that Johannes Jan Ooms, born in Harlingen May 111928, died in Amsterdam May 7 1945. Cause of death isn’t mentioned in the book.