Sybranda Hoos
Sybranda Hoos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 16 September 1916 |
| Died | 23 November 2004 (aged 88) |
| Cause of death | Diabetes |
| Occupations |
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| Era | |
| Organization | Toetanchamon |
| Known for | Use of explosives during debt collection |
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Political party | VVD (1959) |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Hendrik Hoos (brother) |
| Family | Hoos family |
| Conviction | Assault |
| Criminal penalty | Four years' imprisonment |
| Escaped | May 1945 |
Date apprehended |
|
Sybranda Hoos (16 September 1916 – 23 November 2004) was a Dutch debt collector and convicted criminal who worked for Toetanchamon in Den Haag and Maasland. She used explosives against debtors' property and was imprisoned after assaulting employees of a company during a collection attempt in 1960. Following her release in 1964, Hoos worked as a welder at a Hoos-owned factory in Vriendendam until her retirement in 1989.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Hoos was born on 16 September 1916 in Oberhausen, then part of the German Empire. She was the daughter of Gerardus Hoos and Gesine Harms. Hendrik Hoos was her older brother.
As a teenager, Hoos repeatedly threw filled rubbish bags at passing trains. Railway police caught her in 1931 after receiving repeated complaints about the incidents. A juvenile court formally warned her and returned her to her parents' supervision.
Toetanchamon
[edit | edit source]Around 1936–1937, Hoos moved to Den Haag and joined Toetanchamon as an office worker. She asked to move into field debt collection in 1940 and spent several months accompanying an experienced collector before receiving cases of her own. That year, after repeated attempts to collect a debt had failed, Hoos destroyed the debtor's empty house with explosives. Toetanchamon then began sending her to cases in which other collectors had failed to obtain payment. Her collection work usually began with intimidation. When debtors continued to refuse payment, she sometimes destroyed their property.
In 1941, Hoos returned to another debtor's property after repeated refusals to pay and threw explosive devices through the windows. She left before the Ordnungspolizei arrived but was arrested later. Toetanchamon bribed an official handling the case and intimidated the main witness. The witness withdrew the statement and the case collapsed.
At the Haagse Markt on 17 June 1944, traders who owed money to Toetanchamon refused to pay Hoos. She drove a truck through their market stalls. Police stopped her as she tried to leave and arrested her. Hoos remained in custody until May 1945, when she escaped during the liberation of Den Haag. Records concerning her sentence were destroyed during the disorder, and she returned to Toetanchamon within weeks.
After the war, Toetanchamon issued high-interest loans to people who needed money for food or rent, or to pay for repairs and replacement household goods. Hoos collected overdue payments from these borrowers. She later ran a collection district in an industrial part of Den Haag before being sent to Maasland to run the local office.
In 1959, Toetanchamon had Hoos join the VVD to build contacts among industrial employers and business owners. She used contacts from her collection work to recruit business owners for the party. Opponents raised her criminal record, after which local party officials stopped using her in public campaign work. The attempt ended later that year without Hoos obtaining a position in the party.
Toetanchamon sent Hoos to a company that had failed to pay in 1960. She assaulted the company director. Employees who tried to stop her were also attacked, and one was seriously injured. Police arrested Hoos at the company. She received a four-year prison sentence for assault and served the full sentence before her release in 1964.
Welding
[edit | edit source]After leaving prison, Hoos became a welder at a Hoos-owned factory in Vriendendam. She worked on truck and other vehicle frames. Her later work for Toetanchamon was limited to occasional assistance when the organization called on her.
Hoos remained at the factory until retiring in 1989.
Personal life
[edit | edit source]By 1942, Hoos had a boyfriend in Den Haag. Police searching for her during an investigation came to his home. He confronted Hoos afterward, and she smashed furniture and broke a window during the argument. The relationship ended.
Hoos never married and had no children.
Death
[edit | edit source]Hoos continued living in Vriendendam after her retirement. She died there from diabetes on 23 November 2004, aged 88.