Funding a Witch Monument in The Netherlands – EUR 10.000 (28 May 2024)

In commemoration of women who were tortured and killed for being a witch, a monument will be established. Therewith the National Witch Monument Foundation seeks attention to the horrible persecutions in the 15th and 16th century. It seeks to correct the perception of witches in school textbooks. The monument’s exact location is yet to be determined. The municipalities Montferland, Oudewater and Roermond submitted plans for erection of it, based on their historical connection with witch hunts. Roermond made most victims. In Oudewater, women suspected of witchcraft could have themselves weighed and exonerate themselves. In Montferland a famous woman was Mechteld ten Ham, who was mistaken for a witch and was burned to death.

Witch hunts are a part of European history getting little attention. They are the only mass murders we joke about. Who doesn’t know the mocking picture of the witch with the pointed hat and a broom? The persecution hit women who, for example, had brewed a herbal infusion to relief stomach cramps. Fear about their healing powers was fueled by superstition that they possessed devilish powers. Hence, they were ridiculed and linked to worship of the devil. This gave the male elite the excuse to persecute randomly selected women and murder hem.

heksenmonument