Biography
Susan was a Dutch Catholic Worker from Amsterdam. For 2018 and 2019 Büchel Air Base disarmament actions against U.S. nuclear weapons in Germany, she served a 115-day sentence beginning June 4, 2024 at JVA Rohrbach, later transferred to Koblenz Open Prison.
Source photograph: Susan Crane (left) and Susan van der Hijden at a past peace camp at Büchel air base, as identified by the original caption. The full original photograph is preserved without cropping or alteration. The Nuclear Resister, original image and caption.
A contemporary report identifies van der Hijden among three defendants convicted by Judge Andre Zimmermann in Cochem on May 11, 2020 of trespass and property damage arising from the July 15, 2018 Büchel action. Each fine was calculated as thirty daily-income units plus court costs. The reported €150–€900 range is not allocated individually, and the alternative of up to thirty days in jail does not establish actual imprisonment. This proceeding is separate from her later documented 2024 custody.
The contemporary report names Susan van der Hijden among eleven people detained by military and civilian authorities after entering Büchel Air Base’s main gate on the morning of July 10, 2019 to deliver a treaty-enforcement order against U.S. B61 nuclear weapons. All eleven were released after identification. This initial detention does not establish a jail admission or measured imprisonment duration.
The report also names Susan van der Hijden among eight participants taken into custody after a separate action later on July 10, 2019. Four cut through the fence and four posted notices outside; the article does not assign those roles individually. All eight were taken to Cochem for a hearing concerning a stay-away order, transferred to jail in Koblenz and released early the next day, July 11. This overnight jail episode was distinct from the earlier identification detention; the source gives no formal individual charge, judge, verdict or imposed sentence.
Nukewatch reports reproduced by The Nuclear Resister, July 16, 2019.
Brian Terrell’s first-person account identifies Susan van der Hijden among three people apprehended by German military police at Büchel on July 14, 2019, after entering the airfield with an anti-nuclear banner. They were transferred to civilian police, cited and released. This is distinct from the separately documented July 10 action; the account supplies no jail admission or measured custody interval for July 14.
