All the fallen resistance people in Limburg

Henri Joseph Hendrickx (Henri)

Oorlogsgravenstichting

Henri Hendrickx, together with his younger brother Sef, ran the Oud-Schöndeln farm in Roermond.
Cammaert writes about their help to escaped french speaking POW’s: [1]
The farm of the brothers H.J. and J.J. Hendrickx on the Roer near Schöndeln or, as the French themselves said, “près de la Roer entre Melick et Ruremonde”, was very well known.
…
A regular address where Bouman initially picked up prisoners of war was the farm “Oud-Schöndeln” belonging to the aforementioned Hendrickx brothers. H.J. Hendrickx had become a widower in 1940 at the age of 38. He and his five children moved in with his brother. He remarried in 1942. The year before, he and his brother had started looking after French-speaking refugees. These had probably discovered the imposing farm themselves and included it in their itinerary due to its convenient location on the Roer. [2]
The brothers took the refugees part of the way by horse and cart, whereupon they continued their journey towards the Belgian border on their own.
The nearest POW camp was in Arnoldsweiler near Düren, and was also close to the Roer.
Cammaert continues his rather detailed story with an account of how the Dutch policeman and Nazi G. Verheesen arrested three Frenchmen at the beginning of November 1942, after which suspicious objects were quickly taken away. Unfortunately, a rusty old pistol was overlooked. This came to light when the house was searched the next day. This was followed by a period in which both brothers were repeatedly arrested and finally had to appear before the German High Court in Utrecht. In August 1943, they disappeared in the prison in Rheinbach, Germany.
They later ended up in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and finally in Dreibergen-Bützow prison. Forced laborers were imprisoned there during the Nazi era and executions by beheading were carried out. [3]
Sef probably died in Bützow on April 23, 1945, because from then on he was not seen there by his brother.
On May 3, 1945, Henri Hendrickx was liberated by the Soviet army in Bützow. He returned to Dirksberg on 28-06-45. His health was so poor that he died of tuberculosis and meningitis on September 5, 1945.
His remains lie in the old part of the municipal cemetery Kapel in ’t Zand in Roermond, grave 1 C27. [4]
More information on oorlogsgravenstichting.nl. [6]
There you will also find the French decoration Croix de guerre avec palme (War Cross with Palm) awarded to him posthumously for helping more than a hundred escaped French prisoners of war to regain their freedom.
In fact, this applies to both brothers.
He is listed in the “Erelijst 1940-1945” (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [5]


Croix de guerre avec palme

Footnotes

1. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
   3. Hulpverlening aan uit Duitsland ontvluchte (Franstalige) krijgsgevangenen, p.160, 164
2. OpenStreetMap Laan van Schöndeln, Roermond
3. Zuchthaus Dreibergen-Bützow, 1933 – 1945, Wikipedia • Deutsch
4. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting (@ Nationaal archief),
   Dossier • Henri Hendrickx #7
5. Erelijst 1940-1945
6. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
7. https://www.4en5mei.nl/oorlogsmonumenten/zoeken/135/roermond-oorlogsmonument