The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Jacob Melis van Laar (Jacob)

Oorlogsgravenstichting

The civil servant Jacob Melis van Laar was an inspector for plant diseases. [1]On July 29, 1944, the SiPo-Maastricht conducted a raid, accompanied by G.H. Holla, a pub owner from Roermond who was also NSB man and department commander of the Hulplandwacht (nazi auxiliary police), by A. Roselle, the chief of the Roermond police, who lived with Holla [2], and by police officer G. Verheesen … With brutal force and intense interrogations, the SiPo hoped to find out more about the local resistance. Neither the searches nor the interrogations turned up anything. … 51-year-old J.M. van Laar died in the Maasricht prison of heart failure. [3]
He is buried in Roermond [4] and is commemorated on the resistance monument in Maasniel. [5]
This person is listed in the “Erelijst 1940-1945” (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [6]

Footnotes

1. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting (@ Nationaal archief), Dossier Jacob van Laar #2
2. maasniel.nl Het verzet in wereldoorlog 2
3. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
   6. De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, p. 623
4. gemeentelijke begraafplaats Tussen de Bergen
   Kitskensdal 50, Roermond
   graf D-III-54.
5. 4en5mei.nl Maasniel verzetsmonument
6. Erelijst 1940-1945
7. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl