This walking route leads you through Harlingen and into the surrounding villages of Herbaijum, Wijnaldum, and Midlum—each of which played a role in the final chapter of the war. Along the way, you’ll walk along the Dokkade of Harlingen where German forces were disarmed and removed after the city’s liberation. In the center of Harlingen, you’ll hear gripping stories from its citizens, the occupation and the fighting for liberation. The trail outside the city combines the Frisian landscape with stories in among others Herbaijum, Midlum and Wijnaldum, where you'll find some Commonwealth War Graves—a solemn reminder of the price of freedom.

The Netherlands

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Canadian route Harlingen

On the night of Friday 13 to Saturday 14 April 1945, after burning all their documents, the Customs Officers stationed in Harlingen left their buildings on the Voorstraat and Zuidoostersingel roads. Other German units followed their example, withdrawing over the Afsluitdijk causeway or by ship to ‘Festung Holland’ (Fortress Holland), a strategic defense concept and fortified area in the Netherlands designed to protect the port of Rotterdam and other vital infrastructure from a potential Allied invasion during World War II.&nbsp;On 14 April, acting police commander Lieutenant P.A. Sanders announced:&nbsp; ‘By order of the local battle commander, it is announced that it is forbidden to be on the streets without absolute necessity. Standing still is strictly prohibited. In case of violation, military patrols will use their weapons.’&nbsp;That same evening, two civilians were killed: 24-year-old Sijbren Kuiper and his wife, Satske Kuiper-van Ingen. Following the escape of their small dog from their house, Mr. Kuiper asked his wife to call it back. As he opened the door of their small house on Steenhouwersstraat road, he began chatting with his neighbour, who was also standing in his doorway. Satske joined them, meanwhile the dog had returned. A German soldier, positioned at the corner of Steenhouwersstraat, fired his weapon when Mr. Kuiper leaned too far outside the door, killing him instantly. His wife, standing behind him, was wounded on her forehead and taken to the hospital by German forces, where she stayed overnight and later died. Meanwhile their baby, Piet, was left alone in his bed. Later that night&nbsp; their neighbours, the Koster family, took him in.&nbsp;On Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 April, a chaotic procession of retreating German soldiers, with fleeing Dutch collaborators, Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging members (Dutch National Socialist Movement), Landwachters (members of the Landwacht, Dutch paramilitary organisation founded by the Nazi occupiers), and other traitors passed through Harlingen toward the Afsluitdijk causeway. They travelled by car, horse and wagon, bicycle, and on foot. Some local farmers were forced to transport them, after those from Dantumadeel municipality were allowed to return home after reaching Harlingen. Residents noted that many of the retreating German soldiers were very young.&nbsp;On Sunday 15 April, the population was only permitted on the streets except between 16:00 and 18:00, to buy supplies. That same day, the remaining German troops in Harlingen began acts of destruction, which escalated the next day and the bridges on the Midlumerweg and Kimswerderweg roads were blown up.&nbsp;Despite the curfew, on realising that German forces were barely enforcing it, many residents looted abandoned German buildings. This included the cold storage warehouse where pork had been stored and a freight train loaded with 40+ cheeses. Some even stole large coal briquettes from the locomotive tender. These actions were risky, as about 500 German soldiers were still present in Harlingen at the time.&nbsp;

 The days before liberation in Harlingen 

Much road traffic between the cities of Franeker and Harlingen originally travelled along the Midlumerweg (now the Midlumerlaan, or Midlumer Avenue). The locks of Van Harinxmakanaal and Tjerk Hiddes had not yet been built.&nbsp;Here on the Midlumerweg, the German forces had placed a so-called Rollsperre near the bridge over the Ried Canal. This was a roadblock where the passage was closed with a large round stone that could be rolled into the opening.&nbsp;During the liberation, Canadian forces shelled Harlingen with artillery. This barricade was also targetted because it was on the main access road to the city and the occupying forces had almost certainly placed troops there.&nbsp; Another Rollsperre was also placed on one of the two access roads on the south side of Harlingen, the Westerzeedijk.&nbsp;After the war, the barricades were demolished by the Royal Canadian Engineers.&nbsp;

Rollsperre in Harlingen

The church tower in the village of Midlum served as an observation post of the 14th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery during the shelling. The tower was operated by several Canadian soldiers with a radio transmitter and staff maps. The German forces fired back from Harlingen and the tower was hit twice in the process, wounding the Canadian Lieutenant Colonel George Alleyne Browne and Lieutenant Gordon Edward Whitaker. The latter was injured on his spine, leaving him paralysed for life. He is honoured, along with the three Midlum residents who died during the war, on the war memorial near the village church. Browne, the commander of the 14th Field Regiment, was only slightly wounded and was able to resume his duties immediately.&nbsp;Additionally, an Auster reconnaissance aircraft was also used to make aerial observations. This was a small two-seater aircraft that could fly slowly and was therefore ideally suited for artillery reconnaissance. The pilot and the observer sat side by side and reported their observations to the fire chief by radio. The fire chief sat together with section commander Cleem Heeger in a jeep by the side of the road by a farm near the Old Station on the Harlingerstraatweg road just behind Midlum. Heeger later said of the reconnaissance plane that the reconnaissance plane flew so slowly that ‘it looked like it was standing still in the air’.&nbsp;The Canadian forces were able to carry out the shelling with such accuracy and focus was due in most part to the maps of Harlingen made by Arie Veth. The lead administrator of the Geheime Dienst Nederland (Secret Service Netherlands, Dutch Resistance group). J.C.A.H. van Stapele, who brought the maps to the Canadian forces, wrote in his report: ‘Thanks to the accurately mapped German artillery positions, the Canadian artillery did not have to make a mess of Harlingen, but forced the Germans to surrender with only a few well-aimed salvos’.&nbsp;Another reason the German positions could be quickly and effectively eliminated was the action of B Squadron of the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars. By provoking German fire, the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment was able to establish some positions of the German forces from Midlum. The coordinates were passed on to the artillery. Commander Major Charles Wesley MacLean was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 10 November 1945 in part for this brave action at Midlum.&nbsp;The attack on Harlingen began just before the artillery was due to fall silent. From 20:00, infantry of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada, supported by tanks of the Canadian Sherbrooke Fusiliers, launched the attack. During heavy fighting, Canadian forces managed to penetrate the city centre around 22:30. By 04:30 on 17 April, the German forces in the city had been defeated. Around 500 of them were captured.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Midlum and the attack on Harlingen

A landing at Harlingen harbour seemed likely, so the city was surrounded on the land side with Luftlande-hindernisse (obstacles to prevent aircraft landings), Panzer-sperren (tank walls), and minefields. The railway line could also be closed if needed&nbsp;For "protection" on the coastal side, structures such as Vorstrand Hindernisse were used. These consisted of three-legged concrete and iron constructions with an iron spiral tip. These tripods were placed in the sea, protruding above the water at low tide but invisible at high tide. The idea was that, in the event of an invasion, Allied landing boats would get stuck on them.&nbsp;There was a storage site for these tripods in the harbour at this very location.&nbsp;Harlingen residents, despite the warning signs, did not seem very impressed by the minefields. This prompted the Mayor, from the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland (Dutch National Socialist Movement), to issue posters throughout the city, warning against entering these areas and threatening imprisonment for violations.&nbsp;Harlingen was also regularly sealed off by the German forces during the war, for example, when they expected a landing or paratroopers

German forces fear of a "Normandy" in Harlingen 

In the city of Harlingen, over 400 German soldiers were left behind, ordered to defend the town against the advancing Canadian troops. On 15 April 1945, they began carrying out acts of destruction. The bridges in the Midlummerweg road over the Ried Canal, the Kimswerderweg road over the Bolswardervaart Canal, and the railway bridge over the Achlumervaart Canal were all blown up.&nbsp;The occupying forces sunk ships in the harbour mouth and in the Nieuwe Willemshaven harbour to hamper shipping from the Wadden Sea. The engines of the shipyard, cranes and floating sheerleg cranes were destroyed, although the shipyard and port installations themselves were spared.&nbsp;To delay the advance across the inland waterways, ships were also sunk in the Zuiderhaven (South Harbour) before the Kleine Sluis (Lesser Lock) and in the Noorderhaven (North Harbour) before the Grote Sluis (Great Lock). These locks were the only entrances from Friesland's hinterland across the water to the Wadden Sea. The present-day Van Harinxmakanaal and Tjerk Hiddes locks were only constructed after the war. Finally, several ships were also grounded at the Harbour Bridge and the Prince Hendrik Bridge. All in all, seventeen vessels had been sunk in Harlingen by the occupying forces.&nbsp;That the destruction could have been much greater is evident from the statement of the then Hafenkapitän Leutnant zur See (Harbour Captain Lieutenant at sea), Dr Hans Günter Heinze in 1983. He stated:&nbsp;‘Incidentally, as harbour captain of Harlingen, I was later able to ensure that the quay walls there were not blown up as planned, but that a few barges and a ship in the harbour entrance were sunk there as a lesser evil.&nbsp;The commander of the naval artillery there, as the local commander, also wanted to blow up the water tower and the locks in order, as he thought, to put the whole of Friesland under water. Only when I asked him whether he thought the Canadians would then stop their advance for fear of dying of thirst, and that if he had the bold plan to submerge the whole of Friesland through the small locks, he would have to leave the locks intact in order to close them at low tide, did the whole thing stop. To set the record straight, he only wanted to flood the area around Harlingen in defence of the city, but didn't know that the hinterland was a large polder covering Friesland.’&nbsp;&nbsp;During the Canadian artillery shelling of Harlingen on 16 April 1945, the harbour was also a prime target because German artillery was still positioned there. The tugboat ‘Edzo Jan’, with which the Hafenkapitän and some other German soldiers tried to escape, was discovered from the air during the liberation and hit by Canadian artillery shelling. This resulted in several deaths on board and the ship then returned to port.&nbsp;

Destruction in Harlingen to slow the Allied advance    

Before the Canadian infantry could launch their attack on the city of Harlingen, the artillery, including many light Flak (aircraft fire) guns first had to be eliminated. To achieve this, artillery bombardments began on the evening of Monday 16 April 1945.&nbsp;The shelling was carried out with relative accuracy thanks to the resistance having created maps indicating all German positions and occupied buildings.&nbsp;Nevertheless, several civilian homes were hitt, including a house on Dokstraat rpad which was completely destroyed, though fortunately there were no injuries. However, there were civilian casualties due to the shelling. In total, five civilians lost their lives. One of them was 7-year-old Jacob Christiaan (Japie) Kuijper, who lived with his parents on Weeshuisstraat road.&nbsp;The printing house at Lanen number 21, with its upstairs residence inhabited by the Van Vliet family, was also hit. Wieger Pieter van Vliet, officially recorded as 22 years old and a printer, and his brother Pieter Wieger van Vliet, recorded as 24 years old and a medical student, were killed. Also present in the house was 20-year-old G. Zijlstra, who was injured and later had to have a foot amputated.&nbsp;24-year-old Petronella (Nelly) Nota, who lived on Trekweg road outside Harlingen, was seriously injured during the fighting between Canadian and German forces and later succumbed to her wounds.&nbsp;A day earlier on 15 April, after sabotage actions in the village of Herbaijum, the German forces fired shells toward Kiesterzijl hamlet. Some of these shells also landed in Midlum village, where 31-year-old carpenter, Lodewijk Tichelaar, was injured and died a few days later.&nbsp;During the liberation of Harlingen, at least nine German soldiers were killed, whilst on the Canadian side there were only a few (lightly) wounded.&nbsp;

Civilian casualties at Harlingen during the liberation 

In 1941, on behalf of the German forces, a Harlingen construction company built a gun repair workshop for the German Navy (Marine Flak Abteilung 246) on Kimswerderweg road in the city of Harlingen. This so-called MAZa building (Marine Artillerie Zeugamt) was designed in the rural architectural ‘Heimatstil’ style, which referenced traditional farmhouse construction in Germany and was used by the German occupiers to camouflage military complexes from the air. The German forces referred to this complex as the ‘Siemens Werkstätte’.&nbsp;On 17 April 1945 at 04:30, the Canadian forces had taken control of the city, with only skirmishes remaining at the auction site on Spoorstraat road and here at the MAZa. Around 60 German soldiers had entrenched themselves inside the MAZa.&nbsp;A small incident quickly changed the German forces' rigid stance. While refueling a Wasp flamethrower, in full view of the German defenders, someone unexpectedly pulled the trigger causing flames to shoot out. The German troops hesitated no longer and finally surrendered to the Canadian forces after 11:00.&nbsp;During the liberation, at least nine German soldiers were killed, and approximately 400 were taken prisoner. On the Canadian side, there were only two minor injuries.&nbsp;Since 2014, this renovated complex has provided 14 assisted living residential units, allowing people to live independently in their homes.&nbsp;

The last skirmishes in Harlingen 

Harlingen was not only defended by the German forces from the sea side but also had defensive structures on the eastern side. Minefields were laid, an anti-tank trench was dug, and a 47mm gun was positioned on Midlumerweg road (now: Midlumerlaan). Additionally, the bunker complex in the Engelse Tuin (English Garden) included concrete bunkers and machine gun nests. The drawings below depict all the German defensive structures.&nbsp;The artillery and searchlights that illuminated the skies over Harlingen on the night of 16 to 17 April 1945 were positioned near Herbaijum. The bombardment was carried out by the Canadian 14th Field Regiment and the 7th Medium Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery, and was directed from the roadside near a farm beyond the Old Station.&nbsp;During the bombardment, six of the nine 40mm guns of the German forces were destroyed by direct hits. Following this, approximately 900 infantrymen from the Highland Infantry of Canada, supported by Sherman tanks from the Canadian Sherbrooke Fusiliers, advanced toward Harlingen.&nbsp;The professional manner in which the bombardment was directed, including fire adjustments from a jeep, greatly impressed Mr. Heeger, the local section commander of the Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (Dutch Interior Forces) in Harlingen. He also noted the contrast between the nonchalant, whistling, and smoking Canadian soldiers, who advanced on both sides of the road, and the German soldiers, who had behaved quite differently.&nbsp;

Artillery near Herbaijum 

The Atlantikwall is considered one of the largest construction projects of the twentieth century. Built between 1942 and 1945, this defensive line was intended to prevent an Allied invasion of mainland Western Europe from the sea. The Atlantikwall consisted of a series of independent, self-sufficient strongpoints—both small and large—that could provide mutual fire support. Many of these strongpoints included bomb-proof bunkers, sometimes with walls and roofs up to two meters thick, made of reinforced concrete. Due to shortages of labour, materials, and fuel, only 510 of the planned 2,000 bunkers had been completed in the Netherlands by 1 May 1943.&nbsp;Harlingen was designated as a base as early as 1939 for the occupation of the islands of Terschelling, Vlieland, and Ameland, which the Luftwaffe (German Airforce) deemed necessary.&nbsp;In 1942, control of coastal defense was transferred to the naval forces stationed in the city of Groningen. In 1943, the Wehrmachtsbefehlshaber in den Niederlanden (Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht in the Netherlands), General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen, visited Harlingen and its Hafenkapitän (Harbour Captain). Christiansen considered a Normandy-style landing on the islands and at the port city of Harlingen a possibility and expressed concerns about the limited combat strength of the Wehrmacht in the area.&nbsp;A German bunker from the Atlantikwall remains in the Engelse Tuin (English Garden) in Harlingen. This bunker is 20 metres long and 5 metres wide and is one of a total of 27 bunkers in the city. It served as the Commandopost Verbindingen – Gefechtsstand (Command Post Communications – Combat Headquarters), the nerve center coordinating the Frisian coastal defense between the villages of&nbsp; Kornwerderzand and Zurich and the city of Franeker. The Gefechtsstand in the English Garden was protected by three smaller Tobruk Bunkers—small reinforced concrete structures that typically housed a machine gun. However, when Canadian forces liberated Harlingen, the bunker posed a small obstacle during the city's clearing operation.&nbsp;On the evening of 16 April 1945, following a brief artillery bombardment, infantry from the Highland Light Infantry of Canada waded through the Ried Canal at the Riedkade. With support from Sherman tanks of the Canadian Sherbrooke Fusiliers, they pushed the German forces back to the outskirts of Harlingen. Once inside the city, Captain William Douglas Tipper’s D Company focused on securing the Franekerpoort Bridge and the English Garden. The destroyed bridges prevented the tanks from entering, but some armoured carriers, equipped with heavy machine guns, successfully joined the urban combat.&nbsp;By 22:00, the Canadian forces had advanced deep into the city, and German resistance quickly collapsed. By around 04:30 the next day, Harlingen was fully under Canadian control. The German forces entrenched in the fortified English Garden had also failed to stop the Canadian advance.&nbsp;During renovations to the English Garden in 2009, the bunker briefly became visible again. The three Tobruk Bunkers remain, filled with soil but still identifiable. One is located near the Hoogstraat road, while the other two are situated in the middle of the garden.&nbsp;The English Garden was built on an old fortress embankment, which provided an elevated position—ideal for bunker construction. The Tobruk Bunkers were hidden within the park, making them difficult to spot from above, but they offered the German defenders a clear view of the surrounding area.&nbsp;

Bunkers of the Atlantikwall in Harlingen

On 13 May 1943, at 23:17, Halifax JB924 bomber aircraft of British No. 78 Squadron Royal Air Force took off from RAF Linton-on-Ouse (near York, United Kingdom). The aircraft was part of a large formation of planes, the night's target being the city of Bochum, Germany. On the return journey, the aircraft was intercepted by a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighter aircraft from Fliegerhorst Leeuwarden (large German air force base in Leeuwarden, Netherlands at that time).&nbsp;The pilot of the German aircraft was Major Helmut Lent, a highly decorated fighter ace. He quickly had the Halifax in his sights and opened fire. The Halifax became nearly uncontrollable and was effectively lost. By then, the aircraft was flying over the Wadden Sea. Pilot Officer Richard Edward Bragg made a final attempt to steer the aircraft inland. During this maneuver, the oxygen supply failed, and the entire crew temporarily lost consciousness.&nbsp;As a result, the aircraft plunged downward. Bragg regained consciousness when the Halifax was only a few hundred metres from the ground, and his order to bail out could only be followed by navigator John Miller Farrell and bombardier Harry Gell.&nbsp;Gell landed with his parachute near Schalsum. Despite a broken ankle, he managed to crawl to the Attema farm. Aware of his medical condition and the risk of endangering the Attema family, he decided to surrender to the German forces.&nbsp;Farrell did not survive his jump from the aircraft, likely hitting part of the plane during his exit. Bragg and the rest of the crew perished when the Halifax crashed at 2:55 AM on April 14 in the Holleweg near Wijnaldum.&nbsp;Sippie van der Meulen from Wijnaldum village witnessed the crash:&nbsp;‘We saw the plane burning. At that moment, it seemed like the whole world was on fire. The next day, after school, we went to look. An Englishman was hanging in a tree. He had a cap on and wore a leather jacket with a fur collar. It smelled terrible, I think decomposition had already begun. On the day of the funeral, everyone cried. We cried too because we thought it was so sad.’&nbsp;During the war, more than 400 Allied aircraft were shot down over Friesland, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of crew members. The following crew members of Halifax JB924 lost their lives:&nbsp;The Canadian crew members:&nbsp;Warrant Officer Class II John Miller Farrell (buried in the cemetery at the Protestant church in Dongjum village)&nbsp;Flight Sergeant Allan Alfred Kew&nbsp;The British crew members:&nbsp;Sergeant David Baxter&nbsp;Pilot Officer Richard Edward Bragg&nbsp;Flight Lieutenant Robert Grey&nbsp;Sergeant Rodger David Matches&nbsp;Sergeant Edwin Pritchard&nbsp;

War Graves of Allied Airmen in Wijnaldum 

Many German soldiers fled via Harlingen to North Holland in the final days before the liberation. North Holland was part of ‘Festung Holland’ (Fortress Holland), a strategic defense concept and fortified area in the Netherlands designed to protect the port of Rotterdam and other vital infrastructure from a potential Allied invasion during World War II. The soldiers escaped on foot and with vehicles via the Afsluitdijk causeway, as well as by ship through the port of Harlingen.&nbsp;After the surrender of Nazi Germany, the harbour was used to transport German Prisoners of War from North Holland back to Germany. Friesland was on this route. Of the approximately 140,000 prisoners of war, around 25,000 were transferred from the municipality of Den Helder to Harlingen by ships and landing craft on 21 May 1945.&nbsp;Most of the prisoners were escorted by Canadian units in large groups across the Afsluitdijk causeway to Friesland between 25 May and 5 June 1945. A rest stop was made in the area between the villages of Zurich, Witmarsum, and Pingjum. The march then continued through the cities of Bolsward and Sneek, and the villages of Akkrum, Beetsterzwaag, Siegerswoude, and Bakkeveen towards Germany.&nbsp;The Harlingen harbour was also used to transfer Dutch collaborators who had fled to Terschelling to various internment camps. One such person was P.J.E. Dekker, the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (National Socialist Movement) Mayor of Harlingen. He had escaped to Terschelling but was brought back ashore at this location.&nbsp;

German prisoners of war transported to Germany via Harlingen    

From the start of the German occupation in 1940, bells were no longer allowed to be rung.&nbsp;In June 1941 an order was issued that metal objects such as lead, copper and tin had to be surrendered, but church bells were not included at the time. As metals became very scarce during the war, in the autumn of 1942 this exemption was withdrawn. Refusal was punishable by up to five years imprisonment.&nbsp;In the Netherlands, a total of 6,700 bells were removed from their towers, including in the municipality of Harlingen. On 11 March 1943, the bells of the former Roman Catholic Church were removed. On 12 March the bells of the City Chambers’ tower followed, and on 12 April the bell of the Dutch Reformed Church suffered the same fate.&nbsp;The bell of the former District Court building, popularly known as the 'Havenmantsje', had previously disappeared when the upper part of the tower was demolished by German forces.&nbsp;After the war it turned out that not all the bells had been melted down. 150 bells of all sizes and from all over Friesland were brought back to Harlingen harbour on Sunday 18 November 1945. That Monday, the historic event was solemnly commemorated in a ceremony which featured many speakers. Meanwhile the ‘Havenmantsje’ clock, dating from 1562, was found in France in 1947 and was subsequently returned.&nbsp;In the end, it turned out that only the bells of the Roman Catholic Church had been melted down. For this loss a compensation per kilo was fixed, and so a compensation of 3117 Dutch Guilders (the currency at the time), plus a further 590.90 interest was paid for these looted bells, not nearly enough to have new bells cast from them.&nbsp;

Bells stolen from the towers of Harlingen 

‘Barka’ was the barracks camp of Marine Flak Abteilung 246, a German Anti-aircraft Artillery unit. For most of the war, gunners of this unit ran the anti-aircraft artillery batteries on the islands here, and the Headquarters was here in Harlingen.&nbsp;Barka was located on the Ried Canal, on the other side of which, at the time of liberation, there were plant nurseries and orchards. The bridge over the Ried near Midumerlaan street had been destroyed by the German forces, and so the first infantrymen liberators had to wade through the canal via the Hoogland family’s orchard to a residential area called Rode Dorp (the Red Village). Shortly afterwards, they built an emergency bridge and the neighbourhood was cleared of German troops street by street.&nbsp;Immediately after liberation, the barracks camp was reallocated and work began on transforming it into an internment camp. It retained the name Barka and was used as an internment camp for traitors and collaborators: people suspected of working with the occupying forces. These included petty traitors, members of the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (National Socialist Movement, NSB), Nederlandse Volksdienst (Dutch People's Service) and Nationaal Socialistische Vrouwen Organisaties (National Socialist Women's Organisations), and women who had or had previously had a relationship with a German soldier.&nbsp;The Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (Internal Armed Forces, BS) were initially responsible for surveillance, but on 7 May 1945 authority was formally transferred to the Militair Gezag (Military Authority), with the BS remaining to help guard the camp.&nbsp;After liberation, initially only 'bad' Harlingers were housed in Barka. Later, this was expanded to include prisoners who lived or had lived in the jurisdiction of Harlingen. Similarly, NSB mayor Dekker, who had fled to the nearby island of Terschelling, was transferred to Harlingen on 8 June 1945 and placed in Barka on 13 July. Seven other NSB mayors were already there at that time.&nbsp;Eventually, prisoners from other provinces were also interned in Barka. Among them were German Prisoners of War and Nederlandse SS (Dutch Secret Service) members. They were deployed to clear minefields and ammunition near Harlingen and the Afsluitdijk causeway.&nbsp;A total of 500, and later up to 800 people were initially interned at Barka. The Barka camp operated until 26 November 1946.&nbsp;