Editing Heusden (section)

=== Heusden Town Hall Massacre ===
[[Image:Gedenksteen Heusden.JPG|thumb|Memorial tablet, Heusden town hall.]]
[[Image:stadhuis Heusden.jpg|thumb|Heusden town hall (Summer 2007).]]
In October 1944, towards the end of [[World War II]], the cities of [[Tilburg]] and [['s-Hertogenbosch]] ([[Den Bosch]]) were liberated by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]]. The [[bridge]] across the river [[Meuse]] made Heusden, then still occupied by the Germans, strategically significant. The cellars of the old [[town hall]], built in 1588, were a shelter for civilians during [[artillery]] fire. The German [[Wehrmacht]] used the building as a communication centre and hospital.

A few weeks after [[Operation Market Garden]], the allied [[Operation Pheasant]] started on 20 October 1944. The [[First Canadian Army]] (advancing from Belgium) and the [[2nd British Army]] (advancing from the east) fought to liberate central and western North Brabant. On Saturday 4 November, under heavy artillery fire, two Scottish [[Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons)|Highlander]] [[regiment]]s advanced, and 170 civilians sought shelter in the town hall cellars. In the early morning of 5 November, three German army [[engineers]] detonated explosive charges they had placed earlier in the 40-metre tower.  It collapsed, killing 134 people. Heusden was decimated.  One tenth of the town's population died that night in the town hall cellars.  Seventy-four victims, i.e. more than half of the total number, were children aged 16 or younger. Only hours later, the 5th battalion of the [[Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders]] from the [[51st Highland Division]] liberated Heusden.

Witnesses have stated {{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} that on 4 November German soldiers carried explosives into the town hall tower, and also into two [[Church (building)|churches]], a [[windmill]], and [[dairy products|dairy factory]] in Heusden. [[Non-commissioned officer|NCO]] ([[non-commissioned officer]]) [[Bottnick]], who was probably following orders from [[commander]] [[Pfühl]], a [[mining engineer]], undermined the eastern part of the tower, ensuring that it would collapse on the town hall, not on the street. Later, these events were investigated by the British [[Civil Affairs]]. However, this has never resulted in the trial and punishment of Pfühl, Bottnick, and their accomplices.

A new town hall was erected in 1956. Designed and built in the style of the [[Bossche School]], it has much less splendour than its late-gothic predecessor. A memorial tablet in the forecourt still remembers the lives that were lost in the night of 4 to 5 November 1944. Its inscription: "''Wandelaar, waar gij staat vielen vijf november 1944 honderd vier en dertig burgers den oorlog ten offer.''" ("''Passer-by, where you are, on five November 1944 one hundred and thirty four civilians fell victim to the war.''")

Inscriptions on one of the larger bells in the tower "''Nabestaanden, als ik luid, weet: Uw vele, vele doden zijn niet oorlogs droeve buit, maar aan 't Gastmaal Gods genoden.''" ("''Relatives, when I ring, know: Your many, many decedents are not the sad spoils of war, but the guests of God's banquet.''"), and an epitaph "''5 November 1944. Hier staat in steen geschreven geen daad of droom, geen leven, maar slechts het blijvend feit van hun afwezigheid''" ("''5 November 1944. Here is written in stone no act or dream, no life, but only the permanent fact of their absence''") in the building itself are also dedicated to the memory of the victims.

The massacre ("Stadhuisramp") is commemorated every year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deweekkrant.nl/artikel/2009/november/05/herdenking_stadhuisramp_indrukwekkend|title=Herdenking Stadhuisramp indrukwekkend - Heusdense Courant - de Weekkrant|author=4worx|work=deweekkrant.nl|language=nl|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719020837/http://www.deweekkrant.nl/artikel/2009/november/05/herdenking_stadhuisramp_indrukwekkend|archive-date=19 July 2011}}</ref>

With the fusion of the municipalities of Heusden, Drunen and Vlijmen in 1997, the town hall had lost its original function. Since 2005, the building has housed a visitors centre.