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War Memorial in Aachen-Eilendorf
Limburg 1940-1945,
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The fallen resistance people in Limburg
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Lambertus C.M. Ravenhorst (Lambert)
∗ 22-06-1907 Griendtsveen (Horst) † 10-03-1945 Neuengamme (37)
- Horst -
Lambert Ravenhorst, from Horst, and Nora (Eleonora Gerardina Wilhelmina) Vork married on February 18, 1933 in Bathmen near Deventer. They had two children, Co (Jacobus Gerardus) in 1935 and Riet (Maria Christina) in 1939.
From March 1938 Lambert lived with his family above the grocery store he ran as a branch manager for the Victoria chain.
During 1941 he joined a resistance group. It is difficult to find out whether this resistance group was affiliated with a larger organization. Because of the professions of some members of that group (police and army [1]) and also because the infiltrator Bert Brune [2] had many contacts with the Ordedienst, it could be the latter. But as long as that is not certain, he remains here listed in the category of unorganized resistance. As a result of the betrayal by Brune, he was arrested and transferred to Arnhem Prison on October 9, 1942. Via various camps, including the Amersfoort concentration camp, Lambert was finally transferred to the Neuengamme concentration camp on October 16, 1944, where he had to do forced labor. [1] There he died on March 10, 1945. [3]
His picture comes from the collection of his daughter Riet Putto-Ravenhorst. She writes the following about her father: [4]
I hardly knew him, as I was born shortly before the war, in 1939. We lived in Deventer and my father was a hard-working entrepreneur and member of the air-raid wardens, as was common just before the war. Many of these strong and brave men formed a resistance group at the beginning of the war. Of course, my mother was not happy about his participation and often warned him of the possible consequences. But in this case, national interests took precedence. After numerous wanderings among farmers and relatives in the Bathmen area, where we now lived with my grandparents, the whole thing became too risky and my father moved to relatives in Amsterdam. He was picked up at a streetcar stop by SS men and deported to Arnhem, that was in 1942. From there to the concentration camp Herzogenbusch/Vught and then back to Arnhem. My mother was allowed to visit him a few times in Vught and bring him food and cigarettes. Their correspondence was frequent and that cheered him up, the privations were terrible, but of course they did not talk or write about that. From the many letters I still have, everything seemed fantastic, no worries, take heart, cheer up, I’ll be home soon! After a tip from a friend, we were given the opportunity to see our father, but on the strict condition that we were not allowed to say anything or to show that it was us. With a self-made "horse harness", I was the horse, my brother the coachman, we walked along with the prisoners’ column. Fortunately, my father walked on our side. Like children playing, we ran along for a while to show Dad that we were all right. At all four corners of the column a German guard with a rifle. How happy and sad he must have been to see us, and how hard it must have been not to show that we belonged to him. This view of us has always remained with us.
Shortly after, in November 1944, he was transported to Neuengamme, where he died on March 10, 1945, 14 days before liberation, from malnutrition, the terrible privations and the hard work. A young family had to move on, in our house there was a lot of talk about my father, and life was not easy for my mother, but she was brave and determined, and we, my brother and I, had a pleasant childhood. (Riet Putto-Ravenhorst)
Photos & scans: oorlogsbronnen.nl [5]
Footnotes