The Mystery of the Hulsbeker Watermill

It was around 1700 that a Klaas Annink was born in the hamlet of Bentelo. There were large groups of day labourers, tramps and small farmers who in times of disaster fell into the worst forms of poverty. The step to crime is then small. Klaas Annink, nicknamed Huttenkloas, literally grew up for gallows and horses. Murder and manslaughter were regular topics of conversation at home with Kloas, his wife Aarne and son Jannes. Things went from bad to worse. At last, the evidence of the murders committed by Huttenkloas and his men became so clear that they were imprisoned in Oldenzaal. Huttenkloas spent 110 days chained to a straightjacket before he was put on trial.