Location: Julianalaan, Baarn (Baarnse Bos)
Ernst Richard van Kempen was a member of the Baarn underground resistance group, as was his brother.
On April 25th 1945, the Germans took the contents of his father’s wine cellar. Ernst followed them on his scooter (bicycles were demanded by the occupiers) to the headquarters at the Generaal van Heutzlaan. He was frisked and the Germans found the manual of a British hand grenade. The Sicherheitsdiest arrested and manhandled him. He was imprisoned and interrogated at Julianalaan 11. That same night, he was shot without any form of trial and buried in the Baarnse Bos opposite the mansion.
After the liberation, he was re-burried in the uniform of the resistance in the Roman Catholic churchyard behind the Nicolaaskerk at Baarn on June 15th 1945.
The scouting group ‘Ernst van Kempen’, named after him, visit the place of execution every year at St. Georges Day (April 23). A simple wooden cross and a stone testify the tragic event.