Sybranda Hoos

Sybranda Hoos
Sybranda Hoos
Born	16 September 1916; Oberhausen, German Empire
Died	23 November 2004 (aged 88); Vriendendam, Netherlands
Cause of death	Diabetes
Occupations	Debt collector; Welder;
Era	Vader Era; Middenvader Era; Vriend Era;
Organization	Toetanchamon
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Parents	Gerardus Hoos (father); Gesine Harms (mother);
Relatives	Hendrik Hoos (brother)
Family	Hoos family
Conviction	Assault
Criminal penalty	Four years' imprisonment
Escaped	May 1945
Date apprehended	1941; 1944; 1960;

Sybranda Hoos (16 September 1916 – 23 November 2004) was a Dutch debt collector and convicted criminal who worked for Toetanchamon in The Hague and Maasland. She used explosives against debtors' property and assaulted people who refused to pay. In 1960, she received a four-year prison sentence for assault. After her release, Hoos worked as a welder at a family-owned factory in Vriendendam until her retirement in 1989.

Early life

Hoos was born on 16 September 1916 in Oberhausen, then part of the German Empire. Her parents were Gerardus Hoos and Gesine Harms. She was the younger sister of Hendrik Hoos.

As a teenager, Hoos repeatedly threw rubbish bags filled with waste at passing trains. Railway police received complaints about her behaviour and caught her in 1931, when she was 14 years old. A juvenile court gave her a formal warning and returned her to her parents' supervision.

Criminal career

Around 1936 or 1937, Hoos moved to The Hague and began working in the office of Toetanchamon, a debt-collection organization operated by the Hoos family. She asked to become a field collector in 1940 and spent several months accompanying an experienced employee before receiving assignments of her own. When repeated demands for payment failed that year, she destroyed a debtor's unoccupied house with explosives. Toetanchamon subsequently sent her to collect debts that other employees had been unable to recover. She generally began by threatening debtors and sometimes destroyed their property when they continued refusing to pay.

In 1941, Hoos returned to the property of another debtor who had repeatedly refused payment. She threw explosive devices through the windows and left before the Ordnungspolizei arrived. Police later arrested her, but Toetanchamon bribed an official handling the case and intimidated the principal witness. After the witness withdrew the statement, the proceedings collapsed.

On 17 June 1944, Hoos went to the Haagse Markt to collect money from traders who owed debts to Toetanchamon. When they refused to pay, she drove a truck through their market stalls. Police stopped her as she attempted to leave and arrested her. Hoos remained in custody until May 1945, when she escaped during the liberation of The Hague. Records concerning her sentence were destroyed during the disorder. Within weeks of her escape, she had returned to Toetanchamon.

After the Second World War, Toetanchamon began issuing high-interest loans to people who needed money for food or rent. Borrowers also used the money to repair their homes and replace household goods. Hoos collected overdue payments from these borrowers, continuing to threaten those who refused to pay. She eventually took charge of collections in an industrial district of The Hague before Toetanchamon sent her to Maasland to manage its local office.

In 1960, Toetanchamon sent Hoos to a company that had failed to repay a debt. She assaulted the director and then attacked employees who tried to stop her. One employee suffered serious injuries. Police arrested Hoos at the company, and she was convicted of assault. She served a four-year prison sentence and was released in 1964.

Welding

After leaving prison, Hoos began working as a welder at a Hoos-owned factory in Vriendendam. She welded frames for trucks and other vehicles, having left regular debt collection following her conviction. Toetanchamon occasionally called on her for assistance, but she continued working at the factory until retiring in 1989.

Personal life

By 1942, Hoos had a boyfriend in The Hague. During a police investigation, officers searching for her visited his home. He confronted her about the visit, and an argument followed in which Hoos smashed furniture and broke a window. The relationship ended afterward.

Hoos never married and had no children.

Death

Hoos remained in Vriendendam after retiring from welding. She died there from diabetes on 23 November 2004, aged 88.