The first inhabitants were 460 prominent Dutch individuals arrested that day, including politicians, mayors, professors, clergy, lawyers, writers, and musicians.

The Nazis believed that by holding these people as hostages, they could control the Dutch resistance and stated that they would be executed in the event of unrest in the country.

They were Willem Ruys, Robert Baelde, Otto Ernst Gelder, Christoffel Bennekers, and Alexander Schimmelpenninck van der Oye.

[4] Dutch society before World War II was highly pillarised, which meant that Protestants, Catholics, liberals and socialists had separate social institutions and organisations and thus rarely came into contact with each other.

It included Day von Balluseck, Willem Banning, Ton Barge, Louis Einthoven, Pieter Geijl, Marinus van der Goes van Naters, Dolf Joekes, Max Kohnstamm, Hendrik Kraemer, Piet Lieftinck, Nicolaas Okma, Jan de Quay, Maan Sassen, Teun Struycken and Frans Wijffels.