The last woman executed in Holland, after being sentenced to death by a civilian court, was 33 year old Sara Janse Geldof, who was publicly strangled at Middelburg on Monday the 24th of September 1838. Male criminals were hanged at this time but women were strangled at the stake for the sake of decency. The execution took place on a scaffold erected in front of the town hall.
The Vlissingsche Courant of the 25th of September 1838 reported: “In the afternoon of September 24, 1838, Middelburg had the awesome ceremony of the execution of the sentence, passed on Sara Janse Geldhof, housewife of Pieter Johannes Huissoon, by the Court of Assise. She was condemned to death, by strangling at the pole. Everything was completed in the best order, and a deep silence prevailed in execution. The convicted person behaved very well.”
Sara had killed thirteen year old Catherina Block in March 1838 to rob her of the golden finery on her bonnet. She grabbed her and pulled her behind her house where she stabbed Catherina to death and afterwards her body was thrown into a cesspool behind her house.
When Catherina failed to return home a search was launched and the authorities questioned local residents. Sara was observed to be nervous and fidgety when she was being spoken to.
Sara was tried at Middelburg in early July 1838. A petition for a pardon was denied and Sarah was reportedly “very much remorseful of her atrocity.”
It is not known whether Sara was stood or seated at the stake. The executioner stood behind her and passed a rope around her neck and around the stake and then tied the ends to form a noose. Into this he inserted a stick which he turned to tighten the rope until Sara was strangled. In her final agonies she kicked off one of her shoes. The shoe in the photograph was one of the pair she wore to her execution, which was picked up afterwards and became an exhibit in the Middelburg museum.
The last execution for murder in the Netherlands took place on the 31st of October 1860 when 27 year old Johann Nathan was hanged. Capital punishment for murder was abolished 10 years later on the 17th of September 1870.
Leave a Reply