- Herbertus Bikker
Herbertus Bikker (born
July 15 ,1915 inAlblasserwaard ), also known as "De Beul van Ommen" ("The Hangman of Ommen"), is a Dutch war criminal.Bikker was a member of the
Waffen-SS . In this function he served as a guard at the prison and work camp Erika nearOmmen . He received his nickname due to his brutal behaviour at the prison camp.Bikker is the alleged murderer of
Dutch resistance fighterJan Houtman who was killed, twenty-seven years old, on 17 November 1944.Following the end of
World War II , he was sentenced to death by a Dutch court. Together withKlaas Carel Faber ,Sander Borgers and four other convicted war criminals, he managed to escape from prison inBreda on 26 December 1952 and fled toGermany , crossing the border atUbbergen nearCleves . Settling in the city ofHagen , he lived in Germany undetected until 1995. Following a decree from 1943, foreign members of the Waffen-SS automatically received German nationality. Germany does not extradite her own nationals.Finally, being one of the few surviving war criminals, he was taken to court after all in Germany. Bikker's only chance to evade prosecution and trial was to claim
diminished responsibility due to illness. When a doctor attested Bikker's limited responsibility, his case came to court. However, following a breakdown and fainting in court,neurologist s advised against Bikker standing trial due illness. Court was adjourned on 2 February 2004.Today, Bikker still lives in Hagen as a pensioner.
External links
* [http://www.stern.de/?id=331353 „»Gnadenschuss« im Stall“] , "Stern", 29. Oktober 2002
*Leon de Winter : [http://www.welt.de:81/data/2003/08/25/158957.html „Der Führer schützt die Mörder noch“] , "Welt Online", 25. August 2003
* Elisabeth Zimmermann: [http://www.wsws.org/de/2004/jan2004/bikk-j06.shtml „Später Prozess gegen ehemaligen SS-Mann Herbertus Bikker“] , "wsws.org", 6. Januar 2004
* Achim Scheve: [http://www.hagalil.com/archiv/2004/02/bikker-prozess.htm „Bikker-Prozess: Auf der Zielgraden gescheitert“] auf "haGalil", 12. Februar 2004
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